This promise:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
‭‭I John‬ ‭5:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Do you believe this is true? This is a wonderful promise from the heart of the Father,  but there is a caveat to this promise. There is small print: “According to His will…”

In my naivety, I use to believe I could grab a scripture, stand on it and I was praying God’s will.

Now that I am older and perhaps wiser, I’m learning God’s will encompasses more than just his word. God’s will includes His timing, His plans, and His heart. 

Perhaps, discerning God’s will requires more than just grabbing a scripture that fits our narrative. Truly knowing God’s will requires spending time in His presence discerning His heart for a matter. Maybe it’s surrendering our will, our desires, our dreams to Him and allowing Him to refine, repurpose, reimagine our dreams to align with His narrative and not mine.

I encourage you to spend time with God today in a posture of surrender. Humbly lay at His altar and give him your desires. Allow Him to mold, and reshape your desires. Invite Him into the process. God wants to give us so much more than you can ever, think, dream, or imagine. But first, we must surrender.

But here is the good news, once  you have discerned His will, you can pray with confidence, you can pray with tenacity! You can rest assured, he will answer. His word is true, my friend.