| God only answers prayer when it is in his will to grant those requests. Therefore we need to pray 'according to his will'. But how can we know what his will is? There are some things that are always in his will. If you are praying for the salvation of a loved one or friend, you will always be in his will, because God is not willing that anyone should be lost, but that EVERYONE should come to know Christ. What about other matters however? How can we know his will about them? By his Word, the Bible. God has revealed his will in the book he has given us. When anything is definitely promised in the Bible, we know it is God's will to give it to us. For example, he has said that if I need wisdom, I can ask for it and he will give it to me (James 1:5). We need to study his book therefore, if we are going to discover these promises for ourselves. By his Spirit. Many things we need to know about may not be covered by a promise from the Bible. Here we have the help of the Spirit of God. (See Romans 8:14, 26, 27.) As we pray, the Holy Spirit will lead us and pray with us and for us. By submission. If we do not know his will, then we need to add to our prayers the words our Saviour used in Gethsemane. 'Nevertheless not my will but yours be done.' That kind of prayer will always bring God's answers. Later in this series we will look at the answers God gives when we pray. But remember, God never fails to hear prayer when it is offered in the name of his Son and 'according to his will'. A VERSE FOR TODAY: I love the Lord because he hears my voice. Psalm 116:1 | 
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