The Only Request

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 
1 John 5:14–15 (ESV)

There are more than 64,000,000 Google results for the question, “What should I do?” Time magazine calls this “a new golden age of advice.”

But no one can guarantee the quality of advice you’ll get from any of those sources, because anyone can give bad advice and receive bad advice. There is only one place you ever really need to go to get not just good advice, but better advice, perfect advice. That place is prayer. When you pray to the God of the universe, He will always give you perfect advice.

The Apostle John writes five short chapters so you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have a relationship with God. In this verse, he gives you the best advice on how to pray: “...if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14, ESV). You are in the will of God when you pray for the will of God.

John knows how much this matters, because he was there. For three years the disciples hardly ever leave Jesus’ side. They hear all of His fantastic teaching and see all of His unbelievable miracles. Yet they never ask Him to teach them to preach. Not one time do they ask Him to teach them to work miracles. They don’t even ask, “How do You do that walking on water trick?” The disciples only make one request: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Every morning when you wake up, before you reach for your phone to search for an answer, reach for your Father first. Instead of going to artificial intelligence, you can pray to Actual Intelligence: Tell Him, “Lord, I don’t need more opinions. I need Your will. Show me what You want.” Then sit quietly for two minutes and listen.

Prayer: Father, I’ve spent too much time searching everywhere but You for answers. Teach me to pray the way Your disciples asked You to. Before I ask anyone else what I should do, let me ask You first. Give me a heart that wants Your will more than my own. In Jesus’ name, Amen.