I John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
In prayer, albeit most sincere, our mind is finite, it is confined to what little we know of the past, present, and future. Furthermore, even our most earnest prayers rise from our own will and understanding. But, in contrast to our weaknesses and limitations, in prayer we are speaking to The God, Who is Sovereign in every respect, Who Created all things, and Who knows all things from the past and in the present and in the future and into Eternity. We cannot acquaint God with anything that He doesn’t already know. And, because He is flawless in His judgments, our desires are no match for “his will”. Thus, our Lord instructs us to, “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” (Luke 11:2); thus, in such prayer, we are humbly submitting ourselves to the “will” of God, even over our own will. Because we are so limited, compared to our God, there are times in which we simply do not know what to pray for, and our Lord Knows it and He helps us: “the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26)! So, in our prayers we worshipfully declare our God’s Glory and pour out our hearts to Him as we petition Him for the needs we perceive. But, we follow our Lord’s example, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42); thus, we conclude our prayers with, “we ask according to Thy will”! In Heaven, “the prayers of saints” are described as “golden vials full of odours” (Revelation 5:8) that are offered “upon the golden altar which” is “before the throne” (Revelation 8:3); “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” (Revelation 8:4). So, let us humbly and sincerely pray, trusting our God to understand our needs and provide what He sees that we need, according to His Sovereign Will.