God's Will versus Free Will

16 September

	A dear friend asked a question that has been asked by
many different people in many different ways: "I was
reading in 1 John 5:14-15. Now, it is God's will that
all men be saved, correct? So, therefore, God would
hear and answer that prayer according to 1John.
However, we know that man has free will that God will
not override and we know because of this free will
that not all men will be saved. So, what am I missing
in the verses in 1 John?" 
	The passage reads: "And this is the confidence that
we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to
His will, he heareth us: And if we know that He hear
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of Him." This is a promise
that has confused many when they did not see a prayer
answered right away or in the way that they expected.
Let us take a few minutes and think about the matter
together.
	The questioner was quite right in saying that it is
God's will that all men should be saved and come to
the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:4) But if that
part of God's will were not conditioned by some other
facet or law of His will, then all men would be saved
quite apart from them having any choice in the matter.
Over and over in Scripture, salvation is conditioned
by words and phrase as "whosoever will" and "freely."
Clearly the higher facet of the will of God is that
men come to saving faith because they choose to.
Since it is not only the choosing of God but also the
choice of a man that is part of the divine plan, we
find that we can actually be praying outside of His
perfect will. Is this a sinful act on our part? Not at
all, it is just such infirmities that the Spirit of
God helps when we pray, putting things into their
proper perspective. But we need to have understanding
that what we are really asking for is that God's
Spirit continue to strive with the loved one we desire
to see saved until they come to the knowledge of the
truth.
When we see what we should be asking and that the
Spirit of God is reinterpreting our prayer for us, we
can also see the promise being kept as God continues
to work with and deal with the person you have been
praying for. He is always faithful.