The IF

 The IF.

 

From what I have observed there is a great lack of understanding or just plain misunderstanding of this simple 2 letter word, if, when it comes to God and His working in our lives. When it comes to if it is very much a powerful word that we must properly understand so that we can receive all that God has for us as His people.  

The first thing we must understand about if is that the if is never on God’s part.  He has already done His part. His will is clear and established and in Jesus it is finished.  The believer’s mindset and prayers should never be “if God…..” because there is no “if God”.  To pray “God if it is Your will” prayers is to declare ignorance of God’s Word or unbelief in what God’s Word says.  The good news is that we don’t have to stay in ignorance or unbelief.  We can dig into His Word and be changed. Before praying a what if prayer would it not be more effective to search God’s Word, find out what His will is on the matter and just come into alignment with it?  Look at 1 John 5:14-15 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”  Why on earth would we waste our time and breath praying anything that we didn’t know was His will when we have a guarantee of that anything we ask according to His will He will hear and we will have?

The other problem I have noticed is the lack of understanding that certain things of God are conditioned on the if of our action or response.  Some examples:

 

2 Chronicles 7:14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Matthew 18:19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 15:14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

 

As we see from these few examples the if it never if God will do something it is if we will do something.  God has done His part He is just waiting on if we simply believe Him and walk in it. 

How about we take the if He out and put in we do?  What would happen if we would be a people who does what His will instead of simply sitting around inactive wondering If God is when the truth is He is waiting on us to humble ourselves, pray, deny ourselves, have living growing faith, agreement, do what He commands, confess Jesus and enter by Him?