Oh Lord God, Father Almighty who created me and everything I see and enjoy,
blessed and beautiful Jesus, love of my heart,
bounteous Holy Spirit of God who is so kind as to be with me and comfort me whenever I ask, I thank you for all that I am and all that I have had in my life.
Thy will be done, my God. I ask only that you let me know your will for me, for I am often confused or conflicted, and I seek your guidance.
Knowing your will for me, let me be anxious for nothing.
And I pray for the strength, the power and the energy, to accomplish your purpose, both today and in the week to come.
All glory be to you, one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who was before time and will be forever,
Amen.
Morning Prayers: Powerful Prayers To Start Your Day
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A Prayer to Know God’s Will for Your Life
By Rachel-Claire Cockrell
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Whenever I want something so badly that I can’t trust my own heart, I ask God for a Brick Wall. We tend to seek God’s will in a way that implies we need to take action, but what if it’s inaction that puts us on the path God asks of us? Not all decisions are black or white, good or bad. Sometimes something that appears good can be placed in front of us, but not all good things are part of God’s plan for our lives.
Let me be clear, there is no “magic prayer” that can keep us from making the wrong decision. I would also like to clarify that this is something that helps me when I am faced with a decision and my own desires are preventing me from thinking clearly or even caring if what I want is in God’s plan for me.
God knows what he’s doing. Sometimes I forget, but he has a plan. I struggle with figuring out what that plan is most of the time, but one step I will never leave out is the Brick Wall Prayer. God knows my heart. He knows what I desire. He wouldn’t withhold something out of spite. He has plans to “prosper and not to harm , to give a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). I challenge you to take this prayer, mold it to fit your own life, and see how it changes your perspective.
The Brick Wall Prayer (A Prayer to Know God’s Will)
God, you know me better than I know myself. You know my fears and my desires. You know how much I want this. You know how much I will be devastated if this doesn’t happen. I know you love me. I know you have a plan for me. Please, Lord, don’t let my desires blind me to your will. If this is not within your plan for me, throw up a Brick Wall. Give me an obstacle I cannot get past. Help me follow your will, Father. Give me peace about whatever is to come. If this falls through, I will know it is your hand.
Thank you for loving me,
Amen.
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Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
– Matthew 6:10b
In the third petition of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus instructs us to pray for God’s will to be done. This request flows from the petition for God’s kingdom to come, for the Lord’s kingdom is present where we find righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Such fruits are possible only as we do the will of God.
Yet, it might seem strange to pray for God’s will to be done. Scripture is quite clear that God’s will, at least in some sense, is always done. Ephesians 1:1, for instance, explains that the Lord “works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Psalm 115:3 adds that “our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” Such passages refer to what is commonly called the decretive will of God. In keeping with Deuteronomy 29:29, which tells us there are some things the Lord has revealed and some things He has not, Reformed theologians distinguish between the decretive and preceptive wills of God. The decretive will refers to God’s sovereign decree of whatsoever comes to pass. For the most part, this will is hidden from us, but it includes everything that actually happens in creation. If God ordains something in His decretive will, it will certainly come to pass.
Our Creator’s preceptive will, on the other hand, refers to those things that He finds morally pleasing in themselves. Think of the Ten Commandments—the positive things they enjoin such as the preservation of life, chastity, contentment, and so forth are pleasing to God. It is His will that such things be done because He approves of them. However, we know that God’s preceptive will is routinely broken. People violate the commandments; they go against His preceptive will. Yet, in such cases, we note that they are not going against His decretive will. For the sake of some greater good, God decrees some things that are in themselves detestable—sin—and that violate His preceptive will. Christ’s crucifixion is a good example of this. God ordained that those who murdered His Son would do their evil deed. Considered in itself, He hates that act of injustice (Acts 2:23). Those men who had Christ killed violated God’s preceptive will against murder. Even so, God decreed the crucifixion for a greater final good, namely, our salvation and His glory (see Rom. 8:28).
To pray for God’s will to be done is to pray for His preceptive will to be kept. Yet, it is more than that. It is to ask that people would do this will not merely out of duty but because they want to serve God with all their hearts.
Table of contents
Coram Deo
It is not wrong to do God’s will because it is our duty to obey Him. However, God wants us to be content with His will, to seek to do His will not merely out of duty but because we are delighted to follow His commandments. By His grace, over the course of our lives, He makes us increasingly willing to obey Him even when it is hard. Let us pray that He would make us willing to do His will this day.
Passages for Further Study
Deuteronomy 5:1–21
Psalm 51:12
Mark 3:31–35
Luke 22:39–46
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Is God’s will unconditional or is it conditional? Does His will just happen, or at times must it depend upon actions by others? This is the big question concerning prayer. What does the Bible say? The Lords prayer says this, ‘your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.’ Prayer is the release of faith, and faith is the release of God’s known and heard will. Apparently, the will of God doesn’t happen on its own all the time. From what the scripture says, at least some of God’s will is conditional on man’s ability to have faith, and his willingness to pray.
Daniel having to pray for the release of the Hebrews from Babylon, even after the allotted time of their captivity had passed. (Daniel 9:2-3)
God encouraging the watchmen to not stop beseeching Him until “Jerusalem becomes a praise and blessing to the world. (Isaiah 62:6-7)
God looking to and fro for a faithful person to stand in the gap, so God would not destroy the land. (Ezekiel. 22:30)
Jesus commenting on how he couldn’t do certain miracles in a region because of people’s unbelief. Which suggests that the reason we don’t see miracles today is that the church lacks the faith required to bring the miracles into effect. (Matthew 13:58)
God’s admonition in 2 Chronicles. 7:14 that “if my people…humble themselves and pray…” God would heal their land. The land’s healing was conditional upon God’s people humbling themselves and praying.
Even though God conditionally binds some of His actions upon the faith and prayers of His people, He is still sovereign. He requirements, and the decision to base His actions on those requirements, are His decision and His decision alone.
We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. John 9:31
…and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:27
Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. Colossians 4:12
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (15) And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. I John 5:14, 15
If the will of God always happens, then why are we exhorted to pray for it?
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” John Wesley
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