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Main Scripture
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
—1 John 5:14–15, NKJV
Prayer gives us freedom to bring our real desires before God. We can tell him what we want, what concerns us, and where we need his help. But prayer also teaches us something deeper: how to bring our desires into alignment with his will.
John writes that “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” This is not a restriction designed to make prayer uncertain or timid. John describes it as a source of confidence.
We can pray confidently because we are bringing our lives before a God whose wisdom is greater than ours and whose purposes are good.
Prayer is personal communication with God. We come into fellowship with him, bring our needs before him, and learn to yield ourselves more fully to him. As that relationship deepens, prayer becomes more than asking God to give us what we want. We begin to care more deeply about what he wants.
Jesus teaches this in the Lord’s Prayer:
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
—Matthew 6:10, NKJV
And in Gethsemane, facing the cross, Jesus brought his anguish honestly before the Father while remaining surrendered:
“Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
—Matthew 26:39, NKJV
Jesus did not pretend that he had no desire of his own. He expressed it. Yet his prayer remained rooted in trust and submission to the Father.
We can pray the same way.
We can tell God plainly, “This is what I want. This is what I am asking you to do.”
Then we can also pray:
“Your will be done.”
Those words do not weaken faith. They express it.
To pray according to God’s will is not to bend God’s will toward ours. It is to bring our will under his. As we grow in prayer, we begin to learn what it means to want what God wants.
That does not mean our desires disappear. Some requests carry deep emotion. We pray for healing. We ask for a relationship to be restored. We seek an open door, provision for a need, or relief from a painful situation. God invites us to ask, but mature prayer also recognizes that we do not see everything he sees.
We do not see every consequence or every way God may be working through a situation.
Surrender means trusting God with what we cannot see.
There are also many areas in which God’s will is already clear. Scripture tells us how God wants his people to live. We do not have to wonder whether he wants us to love our neighbor, forgive, walk in truth, resist sin, seek wisdom, and grow more like Christ.
The more deeply God’s Word becomes part of us, the more it begins to shape our prayers. In the sermon that first developed this theme, I put it this way: the way to know God’s will is to stay in his Word. As Scripture takes root in us, God’s desires increasingly shape our own.
That is important because praying according to God’s will is not mainly an exercise in trying to discover a hidden plan before we are allowed to pray.
We begin with what God has already revealed.
If Scripture clearly shows us what faithfulness requires, we can pray confidently for the grace to obey.
Other situations are less clear. We may not know whether a particular opportunity will work out, whether an illness will be healed, or whether a difficult circumstance will change.
In those moments, we still ask.
We bring the request honestly before God and then entrust the outcome to him.
This kind of surrender can bring freedom to our prayer lives. We no longer have to carry the burden of figuring out exactly how everything should turn out. We ask faithfully, act responsibly, and trust God to handle the situation in the way and timing he knows are best.
Prayer also allows us to participate in what God is doing. Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” We are not spectators to God’s purposes. Through prayer and obedience, we place ourselves at his disposal.
That may mean God changes a circumstance.
It may also mean that God changes us.
He may reshape our desires, redirect our plans, or help us respond more faithfully.
Either way, prayer draws us more deeply into relationship with him.
This week’s spiritual practice is to bring one real request before God and consciously place it under his will.
Do not choose something artificial. Bring him something you genuinely care about.
Tell him what you want.
Ask boldly.
Then pray:
“Father, this is what I desire. But I trust your wisdom more than my own. Your will be done.”
Stay with that prayer for a moment.
Surrender does not mean that you stop caring about the request. It means that you trust the One to whom you have brought it.
Try It This Week
Choose one request that is important to you.
Bring it before God and ask yourself:
What do I honestly want God to do?
Tell him plainly.
Then consider whether Scripture gives you any clear guidance about the situation.
Finally, pray:
“Your will be done.”
As you return to the request during the week, notice what happens in you. Your desire may remain the same. But you may also find that God begins to reshape the way you are praying, what you are seeking, or how you understand the situation.
Reflection Question
Am I bringing my requests to God while remaining willing for him to answer according to his wisdom and will?
A Prayer for the Week
Father, thank you that I can bring my real desires and needs before you.
You know what I want, what I fear, and what I hope will happen.
Teach me to ask with confidence while trusting your wisdom more than my own.
Where your will is clear, give me grace to obey.
Where the outcome is uncertain, help me place it in your hands.
Shape my desires so that I increasingly want what you want. Let your kingdom come and your will be done in me and through me.
Amen.
Closing Thought
Bring God your real desires. Ask with confidence. Then trust him enough to say, “Your will be done.”
A Note to Readers
The Dialogue is an online Bible study and formation community for people who want to grow in Christ through Scripture, spiritual practice, and thoughtful conversation.
This week’s practice continues our preparation for Session 5: Learning to Pray, where we will explore prayer as a learned practice of communion, dependence, and trust.
You can learn more at wholenesspathway.org.
