THE FIVE Ws OF PRAYER
As I was driving into work early in the week, God dropped the title above in my spirit and challenged me to look at the prayer that I offer up each and every day and dissect it to figure out what these five “Ws” were and why they were so important.
So, here we go! Here is my prayer:
“God, Your Word says that if we believe that we have whatever we desire when we pray, then it will come to pass. Your Word also says that we send it forth to do what we want it to accomplish and it does not return void. And God, Your Word also says if we pray anything according to Your Will and Your Word, then it will be done.”
Did you catch the five Ws? Let’s look at that prayer again:
God, Your Word says that if we believe that we have whatever we desire when we pray, then it will come to pass. Your Word also says that we send it forth to do what we want it to accomplish and it does not return void. And God, Your Word also says if we pray anything according to Your Will and Your Word, then it will be done.”
The Scripture reference for the first part of that prayer comes from 1 John 5:15:
“And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.” (Holman Christian Standard Bible).
I love how the International Standard Bible translates this Scripture:
“And if we know that he listens to our requests, we can be sure that we have what we ask him for.”
Our faith in God and His Goodness is the key to believing that He hears us. It’s His Word. God wants to give us the desire of our hearts. It’s up to us to put the “when” into action and take matters into our own hands and pray.
The second part of the prayer speaks to the power of God’s Holy Word. The Scripture reference is found in Isaiah 55:11, which reads:
“…so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
We send God’s Word on a mission (the “what”) each time we pray.
The third part of the prayer is how God’s will and His Word are so interconnected. The Scripture reference for this last part of the prayer is 1 John 5:14:
“Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
God’s Word is His will. And if we want to know His will for situations in our lives, we need only to look closely at His Word. The devil, the big liar, would like us to be confused about what God’s will is. It’s this way that he makes us ineffective in our walk and in our lives. God’s will is revealed in His Word. It’s spelled out right there for us. And God is not going to steer your down a wrong path that contradicts His Word.
When we pray, seek His face, and do our best to obey Him, we are in His will. Simple as that!
~Barb Scott
