Praying for What God Wants for You
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What do you think God wants for you?
This is an important question because we have spent a lot of time talking about praying for our needs and wants. There is no doubt that this is part of your prayer life. However, another important part is for you to be praying about what God wants for you.
So, ask yourself again, what do you think God wants for you in your life?
Wanting to Be Closer
This may seem like an odd question to ask yourself. However, it shouldn’t be. In any close relationship you will have, especially in your marriage, there will be times where you will ask your friend or wife what he or she wants for you.
Again, this may seem like an odd question but consider this for a moment. We are often blinded to what is good for us. We make poor decisions and let our emotions or habits lead us into making big mistakes.
It would not be surprising that your parents, spouse, friends, even your children have seen the things you are doing and have tried to talk to you about the mistakes you are making. They have tried to warn you, lead you in a different way, and share their hopes for you. God wants to do the same thing as well.
However, it is not always about changing behaviors. Your friends and family may also recognize a talent or skill you have that you don’t see yourself. Many of us have such a poor self-image that it is difficult to believe that we have something special to offer to others. Your friends and family see this, and seeking their counsel can assist you in finding a good pathway for yourself.
This is what God wants for you as well – for you to feel so close to Him that you would seek His direction and counsel. That you would want Him to be a part of the decision-making process for your life. When you do that, it only draws you closer to God. It demonstrates that you trust and seek His wisdom.
Do you seek God in the decisions you make? Why or why the?
God Wants Good Things for You
We have talked in a recent lesson about praying to be more like God, and we will return to that in this lesson as well. At this point, one thing that is important for you to remember is that God wants good things for you. In Jeremiah 29:11, God declares, “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.”
God has good plans for you, plans for you to have great success. Hopefully, that is something that you want as well. Do you want the good things that God wants for you?
It may be difficult to embrace the idea that God wants good things for you, but God wants you to know that there is a hope for your future (Jeremiah 31:17).
God Wants You to Be Holy
God wants the ultimate good thing for you – for you to be like Him. This is what God wants more than anything else. Romans 12:1-2 tells us:
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
God is calling upon us to be a “living sacrifice,” someone who lives a life that is holy and worthy of the amazing sacrifice that Jesus paid for us on the cross. He also wants us to transform the way that we think, not choosing the ways of the world but, instead, walking in the ways of God.
Paul says this in a different way in Ephesians 4:22-24, where he writes:
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
God is asking you to put off the things that corrupt deal, and to have the spirit renew your mind. This will create a new self, one that acts like our Father in heaven.
Of course, to be able to achieve this goal, we must know what our God is like. Can you describe God?
With this in mind, what are some of the things that God would want you to pray to be transformed to be more like Him?
He Wants You to Seek His Will
It is good to seek to be more like God. The goal of every believer should be to be more like our Father. That is the goal of God as well.
God also wants you to know His will for your life. He wants you to know what He would like for you. One of the most important things to realize is that God wants to be involved in every aspect of your life. As you are praying in God’s will for you, understand that God is concerned with every detail: the job you will have, where you will live, your wife, how your children will be raised, how you will get along with your neighbors, how you will talk to coworkers, what kind of car you will drive, where you will take a vacation, and every other detail. There is nothing too small or insignificant to God about your life.
So, how can you know the will of God for you? This is the easiest question to answer of all – by asking Him. God will gladly direct or show you the direction you should go. Understand that when He shows you it may mean that He takes some options away. You may find that you are trying to accomplish something, but your plans simply don’t seem to work. That is God saying to you that this is not His will for you.
God wants you to be praying and asking Him the direction that He wants you to go. You can also pray that He would shut the door for options that you should not be following. In essence, you are asking God to show you the right and wrong way.
Can you think of some times when you had a plan, but it simply did not work? Could you see God’s hand in that situation?
You Can Trust God
God has an ultimate plan for you. It is one that He knows is absolutely the best option for you. It can be hard to trust that at times, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that God knows everything about you. It is not just that He knows the type of person you are or the things that you like, but that He knows exactly how you are wired. He knows how you will respond to difficult times, things that anger you, things that make you happy, things that feed your lusts, and things that crush you. Because of His intimate knowledge of you, He knows exactly what is the best situation for you.
So, how can you know or even pray for what God wants from you? It starts in the most simple place of all – acknowledging that God knows best. Start your prayer life by asking God about specific things but acknowledging that He knows what is best for you.
For example, this could look something like, “Father, I really would like an amazing wife, who loves fishing and camping, who is a great mother who nurtures our children, makes amazing meals, is very good at the career she chooses, and feels fulfilled in being my wife. Father, I don’t know who that woman is, but I know she is out there. I am asking for you to reveal the person who would be perfect for me. The woman who will be the completion of me. I pray that that woman would be exactly who you want for me.”
In John 14:13-14, Jesus made this statement:
“13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Are you asking for things in Jesus’ name? Are you asking for God to reveal what is best for you? These are the kinds of things that you need to focus on. Keep in mind that God wants you to give you good gifts. Are you ready to receive those gifts? Then let us pray.
Bible Passages for the Week:
Monday – 1 John 5:14-15
Tuesday – James 4:3
Wednesday – John 15:7
Thursday – Ephesians 6:18
Friday – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
Saturday – Pick a passage from Scripture that teaches you about what it means to pray.
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© 2024 Dr. Robert Pannier, Hope CDA, All Rights Reserved
