Prayer and God’s Will
“Devote yourselves to prayer.”
– Colossians 4:2
Does it surprise you to realize that Romans 8:28, probably one of the most quoted verses in the Bible, is set in a context of prayer? Most people who quote verse 28 forget that verses 26-27 precede it. Before you can know that God is causing all things to work together for your good, you have to have a prayer life that is aligned with His will.
In other words, the Spirit has to rearrange your prayers so that you want what God wants for you. The connection between verses 27 and 28 is this: Those for whom God is causing all things to work together for good are the ones for whom the Spirit is interceding according to God’s will.
The Spirit will help you see the plan of God taking shape in your life.
So if the Holy Spirit is aligning your prayer life with the will of God, you will begin to see how God is fitting it all together. The Spirit will help you see the plan of God taking shape in your life.
But you only get the Spirit’s help when you are on the Spirit’s program. You are only going to enjoy what God is doing when He is free through the Spirit to take what you are expressing and align it with His kingdom plan.
Romans 8:28 really is a great verse to recall when you’re flat on your back due to difficult circumstances because if you love God and are called according to His purpose, He can use even that experience to bring about His will in your life. But if you have a dynamic, Spirit-directed prayer life, you won’t need a friend to remind you of that.
The Holy Spirit can remind you when you look to Him for help.
You’ll already be plugged into God’s will emotionally and spiritually. The Holy Spirit can remind you when you look to Him for help. That doesn’t mean you won’t hurt or that everything that happens to you will be pleasant. But you’ll have God’s peace and perspective on it.
Have you ever flown over a farm and seen how orderly the fields are? They were like that all the time. You just couldn’t see it from the ground. But now that you are elevated to a whole new level, you can look down and see how orderly things are. That’s what the Spirit does for you when you get your prayer life lined up with God’s will.
Check out more from Dr. Tony Evans @tonyevans.org