Lesson Three: The Dimensions to Follow - Dimension No. 2, Praying According to God’s Will

There are two categories of God’s will: 

1. God’s will as explicitly revealed in Scripture, and 
2. God’s will as discerned through divine guidance because it is not clearly revealed in the Word of God. 

Since most Christians find it hard to discern God’s will through divine guidance, the following steps are suggested:

Seven Steps to Seeking Divine Guidance

(adopted from Change the World School of Prayer Manual by Rev. Dick Eastman)

1. Pray - Spend a season in prayer daily concerning the matter.
2. Listen - During prayer, spend time actually listening for an inner voice or impression from God concerning the matter.
3. Study - Study God’s Word in reference to the situation.
4. Counsel - Seek wise counsel whenever possible from at least three respected Christians whose lives indicate that they have learned to listen to God.
5. Evaluate - Evaluate all that has come to you through circumstances, God’s Word, or an inner voice, and the wise counsel from others, before you draw a prayerful conclusion.
6. Action - To the best of your ability, start to carry out the action necessary to fulfill God’s will.
7. Persist - Don’t look back after you have started even if you find yourself in adverse circumstances. Persist in faith.

Which of the following prayer concerns are explicitly revealed as God’s will in the Bible and which ones require the process of seeking divine guidance?

• That people in my city will turn from sin and surrender their lives to Jesus Christ.
• That I will buy a new car.
• That my friend will be healed from physical sickness.
• That I will get married or have a child within the year.
• That graft and corruption will be removed from our government.
• That I will be an overseas missionary.
• That I will be able to provide for my family’s needs.
• That I could work abroad.
•  That my broken relationships with my family members will be restored.
• That I will get accepted in my job application.

Praying With the Scripture

Using Scripture in our prayers is the best guide to praying according to God’s will. We can do it in two ways: praying with Scripture and praying through Scripture.

In the book of Acts 4, they prayed that affirmed God's character and expressed God's will for their particular concern.

Praying Through the Scripture

For example, you can use Philippians 2:1-4 to pray through for a specific person or group, that they may "have the same love, being in full accord and of one mind."

Exercise 1: As you pray of concerns today, apply praying with the Scripture and praying through the Scripture.