Acts 4:24-31 “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, (25) who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? (26) The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.' (27) "For truly against Your Holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together (28) to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. (29) Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, (30) by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your Holy Servant Jesus." (31) And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
Throughout the book of Acts and the epistles you will not find one example of the church praying “Lord if it be Your will”, where the will of God had already been revealed through His word. To illustrate this point I have listed two examples of prayers offered to God by the church as recorded for us in scripture, one where the will of God was known and the other where the will of God was not known. The first prayer quoted above was where the will of God was known. The saints in Jerusalem prayed this prayer when the church had been threatened by the Jewish leaders to no longer preach in the name of Jesus. The church prayed by quoting to God what He had already said on the subject, and then they asked Him to perform His word by granting them boldness and power to proclaim the truth of the gospel. You will recall earlier that we quoted the scripture where God told Jeremiah that He watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). And so their prayer was completely in line with God’s word and no mention was made of “Lord, if it be Your will”. In other words there was no element of doubt in their prayer and as shown in the above passage God, who was watching over His word to perform it, answered their prayer in a mighty way.
Michael E.B. Maher
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