Chapter Five

Error Four: All Prayer Requests Must End With "If It Be Thy Will"

It has been well said that if you want to feed a dog poison, put it on a piece of meat. Satan has learned this trick very well. He feeds God's people poison by putting it on a piece of truth. Many errors that are taught in the body of Christ are based on portions of truth. Satan knows that he cannot sell most of God's people a complete lie.

The "If it be thy will" error has so much truth to it that you can go into error one way or another. We can either go into error by believing that ALL prayer requests must include the statement "if it by thy will" or we can go to another extreme that is just as dangerous by never seeking the will of God in certain matters.

Making the statement "If it be thy will" is dependent on what you are praying about. You will never find a Scripture in the Bible that says God has called you to go to India as a missionary, to become a pastor, evangelist, etc., or any thing of such nature. That is when you have to seek God's will.

Anyone who refuses to seek the will of God in these areas can expect no blessing from God (Prov. 27:1; James 4:13-17). They are praying from selfish motives and asking God to bless things He did not ordain. They do not even have a guarantee that they will live the next day to see their plans fulfilled.

However, when we pray in line with God's will for us then we have a GUARANTEE that our prayers will be answered:

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5:14-15)

The confidence you gain that you have a sure answer to your prayer request is the fact that you prayed in line with the will of God. God promises that when you do this then He will hear you. If He has heard you are guaranteed an answer. There are times when God chooses not hear and you can bet there will be no answer (Ps. 66:18; Prov. 21:13; Isa. 59:1-2).

There are two ways to know the will of God. One of the ways is through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He lives in you and Jesus promised that He [The Holy Spirit] would guide you into all truth and show you all things that God has for you (John 14:26; 16:13-15; 1 Cor. 2:12).

Usually when we are asking God if it is His will to do something or have something we are usually desiring the Holy Spirit to reveal to us God's desires in the areas we are seeking Him for. However, most people have used the "if it be thy will" statement as some sort of a lucky charm. They are "hoping" that God will do or give them what they are asking but they are not CONFIDENT that He will. This is a wavering person and that person can expect to receive nothing from God (James 1:5-8).

The other way to know the will of God is to pray in line with His Word:

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7)

Let’s read again Wuest’s translation of this passage:

"If you maintain a living communion with me and my words are at home in you, I command you to ask, at once, something for yourself, whatever your heart desires, and it will become yours." (John 15:7; The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest)

A.B. Simpson who was the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church made this statement: "How shall we know God's will? At least, we may always know it by His Word and His promise. We may be sure we are not transcending its infinite bounds if we ask anything that is covered by a promise of His Holy Word."[1]

The problem with people who always end their prayers with "if it be thy will" do not take time to search the Word to first find out what the will of God is in the area that they are praying in.

I personally do not like "hits and misses." I like GUARANTEED things. I am not going to waste my time praying about anything that I am not sure that I am going to get. I like to know that when I give my requests to God that I am sure of an answer. Yet you can have this confidence of a GUARANTEED answer if you will take time to search and meditate on the Word of God.

When the Bible gives no clear and definite promise concerning the thing that you are praying about, then it is essential to ask God to reveal His will to you concerning the subject. However, when there is a clear, definite promise in the Bible concerning the thing that you need or desire then you need not ask God about His will. It has already been revealed to you through His Word.

When you pray in line with the definite promises in God's Word you are guaranteed a "yes" answer to your prayer:

"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Cor. 1:20)

The great evangelist of the last century, D.L. Moody is quoted as saying: "Faith takes God without any 'ifs'. If God says anything, faith says, 'I believe it'; faith says, 'Amen' to it."[2] A close friend of Moody's, R.A. Torrey made a similar statement when he wrote: "....when you have a definite promise in God's Word you do not need to put any "ifs" before it. All the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. They are absolutely sure, and if you plead any promise in God's Word you need not put any "ifs" in your petition."[3]

God has given to us "exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Pet. 1:3-4). These promises are His will for us. God has already said "yes" to any promise He has made in His Word before you ever even pray for it. Although you should still bring the promise before God to remind Him of it (Isa. 43:25-26), we need not ask Him if it is His will to give us something that He has already said that He would do.

The word "amen" is not just the classic way to end a prayer. This word is a statement of faith. It means "so let it be." When you say this you are telling God that you know that your request is answered.

When you pray in accordance with God's promises then you can end your prayers with an "amen" instead of an "if it be thy will." You can end your prayer with a statement of confidence instead of one of that implies a lack of assurance.

Some say that it is selfish to ask God for His blessings. They accuse us of "seeking His hand instead of His face." They think that to pray specifically for something with confidence is a sin. Yet God has promised us several benefits and tells us not to forget them:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Ps. 103:2-5)

These are some wonderful benefits that God has promised to give us. They belong to us. They are the will of God for us. They can be claim through faith and prayer. We are told not to forget them. Therefore it cannot be selfish or unspiritual to ask for anything that God has already made available.

It is silly to ask God "if it be His will for something He has told you is already yours. We need to learn to simply take Him at His Word. We find an example of this in Luke 5:1-7.

Jesus borrowed the boat of some fishermen so that He could preach the Word to the crowd. After it He was finished He told them to let down their net again for another catch:

"And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless AT THY WORD I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake." (Luke 5:5-6)

Now Peter did not go to Jesus and say "Oh Lord, if it be thy will please give us a drought if I let down this net." He already had the Word of the Lord. Peter did not say "if it be thy will" to imply doubt. Instead He said, "at thy word" to imply faith. He took the Lord at His Word.

When it comes to healing, forgiveness, victory, or any other good thing that God has specifically and clearly promised then there is no need to question God's will concerning it.

If you want to be able to pray with faith and confidence then find out what God's will is BEFORE you pray. This can be done by simply searching the Bible and finding what God has promised you. When you find His promises then take Him at His Word and act on it.

The church has based the "if it be thy will" error on Matthew 26:36-46 and Mark 14:35-39. This is the incident where Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane. Let us look at this prayer of Jesus and see exactly what has been recorded under the guidance of the Holy Spirit:

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.... He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. (Matt. 26:39, 42)

The first thing that we must point out in these passages is the fact that the words, "If it be thy will," do not appear in these verses or in Mark's version. This is not to say that this phrase should never be used in prayer (see the next chapter) but we cannot justify using this phrase by saying that Jesus used it when in fact He did not. One cannot teach that we are patterning our prayer after Jesus when He did not pray, "if it be thy will."

The second thing we notice from this passage is that Jesus seemed to have already known the will of God. Judging by the way He prayed, He knew His Father's will but was still seeking God in case there was another way to bring our redemption. However, we must be thankful that our Lord submitted to His Father's will.

One thing that can comfort us from this is the fact that even when God has revealed His will to us, He is not angry with us seeking an alternative direction. However, if God has told us that His mind is made up, we must follow the Lord's example and submit completely to His will.

The last thing we can learn from this passage is that not once does Jesus teach us to doubt any clear promise from God. That is no where taught in the passages quoted above. The passage above nor the passage in Mark cannot be used to justify doubt and unbelief concerning any clear promise that God has made. Finis Dakes, the author of the popular Dakes Annotated Study Bible, shares his sentiments concerning this in the area of divine healing:

There can be no analogy between Christ's prayer, "If it be thy will" and the prayers of Christians concerning God's will to heal. Healing is always of God's and is always His will, and we do not have to ask Him if it is His will concerning anything that is definitely promised in Scripture.[4]

Other Prayers of Jesus Are Recorded In The Bible

Religion has taken ONE incident in the life of Jesus and has tried to make it the pattern for ALL prayer. People seem to think that this is the only time in the Bible that records Jesus' prayers. There is more than ONE incident recorded (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 9:29; 22:32-44; John 6:11; 11:41-44; 17:1-26).

Let us examine two other times that He prayed so that we can have a BALANCED prayer pattern from the life of Jesus:

"And Jesus took the loaves; and when HE HAD GIVEN THANKS, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would." (John 6:11)

This the famous incident where Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two SMALL fish. Notice that the only praying that Jesus did here was say "thanks."

Jesus did not pray "Father, if it be thy will, PLEASE feed these poor hungry people somehow with these five loaves and two teeny tiny fishes." No, He gave THANKS and then distributed them. Jesus obviously already knew that it was God's will to feed those people so acted in faith by giving thanks.

If you are not receiving answers to your prayers, it may not be that it is not God's will for you to have it. It may be that you are not acting in faith. Faith believes that it receives before it sees any physical proof (Mark 11:24; Heb. 11:1). Just as in the case of Jesus, if you believe that you receive than you will tell God "thanks" before you ever see it. This kind of confidence can only come from already knowing God's will on the subject (1 John 5:14-15; Rom. 10:17).

Another incident of Jesus praying occurred when His friend Lazarus died. Everyone was weeping and crying because they felt Jesus came too late to help Lazarus. After all, the man was dead and buried. Jesus intended to show them how much power that was in faith and prayer:

"... And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that thou hearest me always." (John 11:41b-42a)

Jesus told the Father "I know that thou hearest me ALWAYS." 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that the confidence that God hears us is when we pray according to His will. Obviously, Jesus always prayed according to the will of God because He had the confidence that God always heard Him.

The result of His prayer was Lazarus rising from the dead (John 11:43-44). You will always get results when you have confidence that your prayers are heard and answered.

When Jesus taught us to pray, He gave a pattern for prayer. This pattern teaches us to pray specifically and with confidence:

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen." (Matt. 6:9-12)

We are taught to pray for specific things here and not to continually question God's will concerning everything. We already know that it is God's will to supply our needs, forgive us, give us victory over temptation and deliverance from Satan's evil devices.

Jesus did not tell us to ask God if it was His will to do these things for us. He taught us to ask God for specific things with the confidence that we would receive them.

If people want to follow the example of Jesus then let us do all that He has shown and taught us to do. Let's learn to take Jesus at His Word.

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