John 16.
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit and outlines the role of the Spirit in our lives. He is our counsellor and comforter, but he also has a role in reaching the people who need to know Jesus. The role of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world in regards to sin, righteousness and judgement. As we seek God, as we lift the name of Jesus high, then God is at work. He is in the business of saving people.
When we are praying for our unsaved friends, we can ask God to save them, and for the Holy Spirit to convict them. The salvation of people is of paramount importance to God. Lost people matter to God and they should matter to us.
We can ask God directly, in the name of Jesus. God knows us, that we are followers of Jesus, wanting to do his will. Jesus says we are known by the Father and therefore we can ask whatever we want, in Jesus name, and God will bring it about, and bless us abundantly.
Notice though that this requires us to be in a relationship with Jesus that is loving and obedient to the will of the Father. This is all in the context of relationship with God, who knows what is best. When Jesus is talking about praying here, he is talking about asking for Kingdom related matters, things that will expand and grow the kingdom, not just things that will make us happy.
When we align our desires with God's we will know that he will answer our prayers. When we think of delighting in the Lord and receiving the desires of our heart, ( Ps 37:4) it is related to kingdom, not selfish ambition or gain. God loves answering prayers that are related to expanding his kingdom and seeing "his kingdom come and his will be done on earth as in heaven".
I like to ask myself: What is the focus of my prayers? Is it personal comfort and success or expansion of the Kingdom?
This helps me to think more carefully about what I'm praying about and make changes where necessary to align my prayer life with the will of God.
