1 John 5:14-15 (English Standard Version)

 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

We have to know His will in order to pray His will.

Since His will is absolute and does not change, praying does not change what God has already done.

Seeing God’s will done because we prayed to see it confirms that we heard God correctly when He revealed His will to us in time. 

Remember that Jesus prayed “If it be thy will, remove this cup from me.”

God did not. That should be a sober reminder about praying for our self-interests.

Colossians 2:13-14 English Standard Version

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

This is a concept which some reject. “I am not a sinner. I owe no one anything.”

That argument holds no water in the court of heaven. Our record is littered with selfish acts.

Galatians 3:24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Justification is a bookkeeping term which shows our debts are paid, taking us out of the red and into the back. The ledger does not care who pays the debt, God the Father does.

1 Peter 1:18-21 English Standard Version

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.