Should we Pray According to God's Will or According to His Word?

Many years ago, I believed that when you pray, you should always pray according to God's will, and this sometimes amounted to very general, and not always heartfelt prayers of faith.  I didn’t really know of any other way, or additional way to pray.  For me, I thought it meant a passive resignation to let things be, and that there would be nothing more for me to do. Whatever happened, happened.  The problem with praying this way, however, is that it in no way grew my faith, and it did not always yield the results that I was hoping for. It also did little to nothing to increase the faith of the people I was praying for. Also, I was not drawn closer in relationship to God. 

When you think of it, can you really pray effectively if you don't know God's will?  Scripture is abundantly clear that God wants us to know His will.  For one thing, Jesus said that we are His friends, not His servants, and He has made ALL THINGS known unto us!! 

Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 

God has always revealed His will to those who are close to Him.  Scripture records it over and over again.  There is absolutely no doubt that He wants to be in close relationship with us, and this includes our prayer life especially, the times when we stop what we're doing and talk to Him. 

If we pray "only" according to His general will, this can become a religious, fearful, unbelieving ritual.  We take our hands off completely, and we let God take control.  Now we can relax and not involve our faith at all.  We can start to become lazy, but "Faith without works is dead" (see James 2:17-26).  Without faith we cannot please Him (see Hebrews 11:6).  If we don't take Him at His Word, how can we say that we really believe in Him? 

Here is a question:  Do our prayers fill us with peace? Joy? More love for the Lord? Adoration? Worship?  Or is it just a passive resignation that we hope He hears and answers, and now we're done with it, but we have little assurance that He will answer? 

Php 4:6    Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Php 4:7    And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

The disciples didn't know how to pray, and so they asked The Lord.  An important part of the Lord's Prayer mentions God's will being done. 

Mat 6:10    Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 

Wow! That is a powerful prayer!  But there's more.  In the following verse, it is also something we participate in: 

Mat 16:19    And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

When we bind and loose, things happen in the supernatural.  This works when we need healing, finances, and any other number of things.  It is very powerful.  If Jesus gave us these keys, then He did for a very good reason, and we must make use of them. 

God wants us to know His specific will. We do this by renewing our mind: 

Rom 12:2    And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Without getting into the Word, we will not transform our minds, nor will we know the will of God.  We will be so filled and focused with the thoughts of the world around us, and the many messages they send, that we will not be in tune with the Word of God, much less begin to understand His will.  The more we get into the Word, the more we understand what His specific will is. 

A way to ensure that we are praying according to God's will is to realize that the Holy Spirit is already making intercession for us.  We need to wait on Him, and also ask Him what specific prayer is needed, since He already knows anyway.  When we pray, we need to ask for His leading, for He is there to help us, and He wants to participate with us in the prayer: 

Rom 8:26    Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

Not until recently did I discover another way to pray, and that is to pray according to God's Word, and there's a big difference. When we literally speak God's Word, things happen.  His Word goes forth because it is living and active.  The angels respond and start to carry it out.  God responds to His Word.  When He hears it, He honors it.  But this is where we must understand what His will is, and ensure that it is not our own will.  This is where we can start to get confused, and start praying according to our will and not His will.  Regardless of the outcome, God desires that we pray IN FAITH BELIEVING, and even the faith we have is what He has already given us (see Hebrews 12:2a).   

And after we pray, we must continue to believe, and this is extremely important, because the devil will come around, and try and do his dirty work – he will try to steal, kill, and destroy (see Matthew 10:10).  He will try to destroy our faith with thoughts of doubt, fear and unbelief.  We must not give him a chance to do this.  We need to stand firm believing in God's Word instead, no matter how bleak things may look.   

Heb 10:23    Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 

The purpose of speaking God's Word, also increases our faith and the faith of those whom we are praying for.  

Rom 10:8    But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Rom 10:9    That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:10    For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Notice in verse 9 in the following, it says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth."  Notice again in verse 10, "with the mouth confession is made." 

Clearly, we need to pray both according to God's will, and according to His Word.  How do we do this?  First, we need to be in the Spirit, and not rely on our own understanding, or the flesh, to try and figure things out.  It is simply by doing what is suggested above in Romans 8:26 – we ask for the Holy Spirit's help and guidance, then we pray according to His leading.  After we pray, we need to stand firm in our faith that the Lord has heard and He is already answering.  A wonderful response is to also begin to thank Him.  By this time, we should be experiencing His peace and an assurance that He has both heard and He is also honoring our heartfelt prayer that has been uttered according to His will, and is in line with His Word.