John 16:12–15 ‘He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.’(v14)
We can find ourselves praying because of circumstance. I well remember when Katey (my first wife) and I were told we couldn’t have children; we turned to God in urgent prayer. We had a need and we figured God would fix it. Our new-found fervency in prayer, driven by our own selfish need, was surprised to find that God fondly welcomed us. Thrilled to have us praying so regularly, and taking us at our word that we wanted to surrender to Him, He invited us to address a host of issues, yet not one was our need for children. We discovered that God works in prayer to nurture our understanding of Himself, which in turn schools us in holy obedience. We two disobedient disciples reacted before finding the humility to yield to God’s way.
In prayer, we hear God and discover both His purpose and will. Only as we do can our prayers come into alignment with His plan, not for our lives, but for the world we are called to serve. God is the antidote to selfishness since His actions are always in the interests of others. As we learn to live God’s way, we discover how to pray for God’s will and kingdom. And where we are unable to utter prayer within us, the Spirit Himself speaks to all God is in reality revealing, even whilst it remains hidden to our conscious understanding. The wonder in it all is that God wants to reveal everything about Himself to us (v15).
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Ps. 40:4–8; Lam. 2:15–19; Luke 12:1–12; Rom. 8:9–17.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: Are there areas into which you’d prefer God not to speak? Why is that?
A PRAYER TO MAKE:‘Lord, open my ears that I might hear Your voice clearly and order my life in ways that You direct. Amen.’
