Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

lineate how we can expect anyone to approach the future and make decisions
in a biblically responsible manner. All this is the subject matter of the next
Topical Focus.
Topical Focus # 16: Biblical Decision Making and the Will of God
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1. The Twofold Will of God
Scripture distinguishes (only!) two wills of God, the will of God’s control in terms of
both his decree (Eph. 1:11) and his providence (Rom. 1:10; 15:32), and the will of
God’s command in terms of his injunctions (John 4:34; Rom. 12:2) and prohibitions
(Deut. 5:6ff). Regrettably the distinction between God’s will of control and his will of
command is too often blurred. Care must be taken not to do this in the various contexts,
where the will of God is invoked.
The third petition of the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6:10) refers to God’s will of command,
rather than his will of control. When the Lord Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your
will be done,” he desires us to ask for obedience to the will of God’s command across
the length and breadth of our existence on earth, without exception or reservation. This
is also what he requests for himself, when in the garden of Gethsemane he makes that
very same petition (Mt. 26:42; Lk. 22:42). It is hardly surprising that heaven, with its
all-encompassing obedience by the angels, is set as the standard for the kind of holiness
of life indicated by it. Although, of course, heartfelt submission to the allcontrolling
plan of God is always mandatory, in the context of the third petition the
will of God’s decree does not enter into the picture.
Neither does it enter in the picture in 1 John 5:14. In this passage John refers also
to the will of God’s command. He informs us that when we ask anything, according to
the revealed will of God, he will hear us. In fact, we already will have received it.
Therefore, this implicitly urges us to be Word-centered (and holiness-centered!) in our
prayers. We must first determine what God conveys and requires in his Word. That,
then, ought to be the subject matter and content of our prayers. It stands to reason that
prayers, which reflect Scripture, will definitely be heard!
All this has at least three implications. Negatively, God’s people should not cripple
their prayers by adding “if it is your will.” They often add this to their prayers for
the recovery of the sick, as if either Matthew 6:10 or 1 John 5:14 would require this.
Neither verse, however, refers to God’s plan. Therefore, to quote them as if they do
confuses the two wills of God. No, since it is God’s revealed will that we pray for the
sick (Jam. 5:16), we should do so fervently, and ... expect an affirmative answer. (In
my comments on James 5:16 I also show that, since God does not promise healing in
every case of sickness, there will be times that we “gladly” have to take “no” for an
answer.) Positively, God’s people can escape this confusion by always basing their
prayers upon Scripture. It is no coincidence that also Jesus (John 15:7) and Paul (1
Tim. 4:4) tie Scripture and prayer indissolubly together. Both do so in the context of