Nothing is impossible with
God. When you open up the pages of the
Bible you see that God is spectacular in His theatre. God spoke the world into
being. He parted the Red Sea for Moses,
tumbled down the walls of Jericho for Joshua, and shut the mouths of lions for
Daniel. If you close your eyes and imagine, you will see that Scripture is
better than a movie! “Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the
earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing
is too difficult for You.” (Jeremiah
32:17)
Extend this same thought down
through the centuries to Jesus’ birth when the angel, Gabriel said to the
Virgin Mary, “For nothing will be
impossible with God.”(Luke 1:37) Jesus
was born, the Messiah, the Son of God, and He followed in His Father’s
footsteps, turning water into wine, feeding the 5,000, walking on water,
healing the blind, raising Lazarus from the dead.
All things are possible with God.
Possible is translated “dynatos”: Able,
mighty, powerful, strong. (G1415) Can you see the word dynamite in the original
Greek word? It is the same word used for the name of God in Mary’s prayer of
adoration: “For the Mighty One has
done great things for me; and holy is His name.” (Luke 1:49)
So if all things are possible
with God, why do we get so confused? Why
do we question when He does not do the impossible: right every wrong, cure
every illness, heal every relationship that has gone astray? Why does He simply
say no to some of our requests? It’s not
what He can do, but what He chooses to do that baffles us.
The will of the Father. Jesus
taught about this and then lived this principal out. In the early part of ministry, when He taught
His disciples to pray, this is how the Lord’s Prayer begins:
“Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be
Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your
will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:
9-10)
Notice that Jesus begins His
prayer looking to who His Father is: Holy.
Jesus then declares that there is
a heavenly kingdom in which God’s will is always done, and that will transcends
down to our lives on this earth. But
there is a clash: His wills versus our free wills. God is asking our wills to line up with His
perfect will in the midst of disobedience, lack of faith, sinfulness and
suffering.
Jesus continues this teaching and His example throughout His
ministry:
“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who
sent Me and to accomplish His work. His
daily nourishment was to do the will of the Father.” (John 4:34)
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but
the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38)
And then ultimately Jesus modeled in His own life doing the
will of the Father when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane:
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“And He was saying, ‘Abba!
Father! All things are possible for
You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark
14:36)
Three times He petitioned the
Lord with this request. It was hard
fought prayers. Words such as
“grieved”, “distressed”, and “troubled” are used. He asked others to pray with Him and to
keep watch, to be on the alert. When
his disciples did not, an angel came and ministered to Him. But, when He had finished
praying, His will was aligned with His Father’s will. He brought God the
greatest of all glory because Christ “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8) After praying, He said to His disciples
“Get up and let’s get going.” (Matthew 26:46) So be it. The time has come.
What if God had said yes to the
prayers of Jesus? If He had, you and I
would be lost in our sins, for it is only possible through the blood of the
Lamb, the perfect sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, that we are
reconciled to our Heavenly Father. “It is impossible for the blood of bulls
and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4).
“Then who can be saved? With
people this is impossible, but with
God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:26-27). God said no for the sake of others.
This points out that there are
reasons for a no answer, just as there are other reasons for a parent to say
no to a child. Sometimes in our
weakness God’s glory is better displayed.
Sometimes He says no so He can say yes to something better. Sometimes our requests would lead us into
temptation and to sin. Sometimes we
are not in right relationship with Him to even ask. Sometimes it is so we will grow and trust in
Him for fully. But ultimately, it is because He is eternal,
we are finite, He has a purpose and a plan, and we must trust Him by faith.
The best way to find out the
will of the Father is to bring it to Him in prayer. As you seek His will for
your life, not only will you get to know His will, you will get to know Him
better. “So then do not be foolish,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17)
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Dialog with Him. Bring your requests to Him and the peace that
passes all understanding
will invade your soul.
Bring your doubts, your fears, your praise and your petitions before
Him. Get to know Him better as you do. He is faithful, trustworthy, good, merciful,
just,
holy. God is love.
While praying remember to:
· Pray in faith: “And without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder
of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
· Pray for wisdom. “But if any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach,
and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
· Pray trusting Him: “for they cried out to God in battle, and He
answered their prayers because they trusted in Him.” (I Chronicles 5:20)
· Pray in the Spirit: “With all prayer and
petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the
alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18)
· Pray earnestly: “Epaphras, who is one of
your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always
laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully
assured in all the will of God.”
(Colossians 4:12)
· Pray for His name to be glorified: “To
this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of
your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with
power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in
Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2
Thessalonians 1:11)
· Pray knowing that He is able: “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of
your hand, O king. But even if He does
not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods
or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)
What about you? Do you trust the Lord? Do you spend time in prayer seeking not only
His hand and His provision, but also who He is?
Do you look through the lens of your circumstances to interpret who God
is, or do you look to God through His Word and in prayer to discover who He is?
If He asks you for sacrifice and obedience that does not align with your will,
do you say “Yes, Lord” and get up and go anyway? Do you know that He works all
things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His
purpose? Lean hard into Him and seek His
face; He will draw near to those who draw near to Him.
“I find the doing of the will of God leaves me no time for
disputing about His plans.”
—George MacDonald
