Discovering God's Will

Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Is the almighty God whom we pray, capable of giving all things that we ask for?

Acts 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

Breath is more important than food. You can live in days without food but you can not live within an hour without a breath, though we must eat less in order to live longer.

What is our assurance that God will do all the things that He promised.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

2 Timothy 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Hebrew 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Remember that the Father which is in heaven give good things according to his will.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Why is it then that we have prayers mostly not granted?

James 4:10 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

When the prayer is not in accordance with His will, and will not do us good, He don't even listen.

Lamentations 3:44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

For a prayer to be surely granted, we must know first the will of God.

Just to give you an idea, I will cite below some prayer which are in accordance with His will.

The will of God is: Ephesians 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

The Prayer: Father, please heal my wife who is sick. Make her healthy like me because I love her and I can't bear to see her suffer.

The will of God is: Romans 12:20 Therefore “ If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

The Prayer: Father, give me extra food that I may share it to a neighbor who is my enemy for years.

The will of God is: Proverbs 19:14 Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the LORD.

The Prayer: Father, You are the only one who can search the heart of every man, give me a prudent wife that I shall love as my own body.

You may have a prayer more acceptable to God than mine. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Evidently, the prayer of a righteous man, Elijah revives the Widow’s Son.

1 Kings 17:20-22 Then he cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.

What is the will of God to Elijah?

1 Kings 17:8-9 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”