Focus: The Power of Your Will

Text: Jh.15:7.

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye WILL, and it shall be done unto you."

The soul of man or the human personality is capable of thinking, deciding and feeling - and that feeling or emotion is expressed in physical action.

Becoming a Christian does not take away from you the power of choice. You don't become a robot because you are now, by spiritual rebirth, a child of God. No! What happens is that the Christian by believing in Christ decides to make his will or power of choice subservient to the Lord Jesus Christ. But you still have a choice, and God honors it. As a matter of fact, worship is not worship if your WILL is not involved. God honors willing worship - unforced or noncoerced worship. Even Satan understands the role of the will in worship, for he says to the Lord Jesus, "If thou therefore WILT worship me, all shall be thine" - Lk.4:7. Worship must come from the will. There is more to worship than just feeling like it. Satan cannot force you to worship or do anything. You must decide it first. But know this also, that your choices have consequences.

Let us look at a few Scriptures about our WILL.

In John 5:6, Jesus says to a man, "WILT thou be made whole?" In other words, Do you want to get well? Jesus needed his consent to help him out of his lingering misery. Your will matters.

In Matthew 15:28, Jesus says to a woman of feisty faith, "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou WILT. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." That is like saying, 'Have it your way, or have it as you wanted it.' Ask, and keep asking until you have it. Your will matters.

In Matthew 18:41, Jesus says to a blind man, "What WILT thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight." And guess what, Jesus restored his sight just as he wanted!

Finally, in John 11:22, Martha says to the Lord Jesus, "But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou WILT ask of God, God will give it thee."

Notice that in all the instances cited miracle always resulted. Lazarus came back to life as Jesus prayed to His Father.

Back to our text: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye WILL, and it shall be done unto you."

As you remain in Christ and also let His words remain in you, God WILL do your WILL if or when you pray. Amen. Stop discounting or disregarding your will in dealing with God. Is it with your will that you do the will of God? You don't do the will of God under duress. You are free to exercise your will within the will of God. The Words of Christ are intended to inform, form and influence your thoughts, choices and actions. Your will is meant to align with God's via the Word. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter