Discovering What God Wants

Praying for what God wants – Interceding for God’s Will on Earth: What does God want… and how do we know? As we walk with God, we learn His word and His thoughts as He has expressed them in the Bible – and to us personally. We deepen our relationship with Him and our understanding of who He is. Then, we learn to hear His voice and to pray how He wants us to pray. Ready: Let’s deepen our relationship with God and our knowledge and understanding of His Word.

Set: There is a time for war and a time for peace (Ecclesiastes 3) and we as intercessors must learn the difference. Whether we are a very new Believer or have prayed for family members for as long as we can remember, each of us has a call to pray. What does God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven” actually signify? There is so much to say about intercessory prayer. It is different from personal prayer in that it is tapping into God’s will for the moment, isn’t it, and praying His desires for the earth. We might be called to pray for our nation, for another country, or for circumstances beyond our full comprehension or experience. But whatever the issue, we are called to prayer. In Heaven, there is no pain, no suffering, no conflict. In Heaven, the victor is enthroned and angels bow before Him in worship and adoration. I for one would like the same to be on the earth. It will come one day (Revelation 21:4) and in the meantime we can pray that God’s will is done so as to hasten the time when the earth will be full of the glory of the LORD. In order to intercede we can do the following in the long term: 1. Become abundantly confident with scripture. Memorize verses that you enjoy as you read. Study the Word so that you know the law, history, poetry, prophets of the Old Testament/Old Covenant. 2. Learn the stories Jesus told, the miracles he performed and the difference between the Two. Learn how the Holy Spirit moved after Jesus ascended into heaven. Discover how Paul communicated to the various churches so that they would learn God’s will for His church. 3. Find the similarities and differences between Paul and the others’ who wrote letters in the New Testament/New Covenant. 4. Pray with fervor, enthusiasm, commitment on issues that you care passionately about, asking God to lead you in understanding His will in the situation.

Go: Study the Bible, pray as you feel led and don’t be concerned about ‘getting it right’. God wants us all to grow. Growing means trying and being willing to learn as we go. If everyone waited until (s)he was ready to pray, there’d be precious little praying going on.