1 John 5:14-15 --- 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 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.
Today's journey with the God brought us to the subject of prayer. As a Christian we should know prayer is something we're commanded, shown examples of, and taught how to do in God's word. It is a vital and powerful part of our Christian walk and relationship with God. However, today's verses are on a deep promise with prayer that must be looked at carefully. As these verses can very easily be pulled out of context, selectively read over, or even twisted around.
It's easy to swoop past all 2517 words of the book of 1 John and take only these 36 words away: "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.".
Many grab this promise, pull it out of context, like overcoming the world back in 1 John 5:4, and hold it up high, hoping, wishing and believing for it to come true, never connecting the promise to a full, real relationship with God to bring power to it.
Many times, we can knowingly or unknowingly even, selectively edit these 36 words in our minds or possibly to fit our meme pics for facebook/instagram to say, "If we ask anything He hears us and whatever we ask we know we have the request!". I think it's safe to say anytime we start taking away or adding to God's word, something has gone haywire, but this beautiful promise keeps getting tripped up on that darn, "according to His will" part.
Lastly, and the most dangerous is when we work really hard to take these verses and twist them around. When we know we can't dodge the "according to His will" part and we realize we're not certain exactly what His will is, but we know we want something or need something, and who knows where it fits in His will, but I have to pray on it so what is one to do? For many, they choose to embark on an arduous quest of rationalizing or explaining why their want/need is the will of God. It can even involve diving into the Bible to selectively pull other verses out of context to support them. Finally building up enough duct taped together theology, they pray with all confidence in their handful of out of context verses. The problem is again, it's done apart from real relationship with Him, so it doesn't matter how many verses you stack up, how sound the thought process of it all is, there is no power in it.
Okay Phillip, that's a lot of words about the ways it doesn't work so what now?
Well, we've already touched on two parts that are vital to this promise, the According to His Will part and the having a real relationship with Him. There is also a third part as well and that is the context in which these verses sit within the book of 1 John.
So let's discuss "according to His will" and relationship. What is God's will? What is His will for you, for your family, for your brothers and sisters in Christ? Not only can you know God's will, you are directed to know it. Ephesians 5:17 says "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of Lord is." and Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
How do you do it? Through building a relationship with Him daily. Through prayer and reading His Word! Get into your Bible, seek Him in it, go after Him in a relationship where you get to know Him. Talk with Him, ask Him to speak to you in His word, to teach you, to show you who He is, what His will is. Get help from a brother or sister you know is in the Word and walking with Him. Because apart from abiding in Him and He abiding in you, anything, and everything you do will start with you, be through your strength, and will point back to you. Which if you could do it, you wouldn't be praying about most likely.
My wife and my children and my close brothers in Christ know me enough to tell you what my will is for my relationship with them. It is to love them, to encourage them, to support them, to be there for them, to protect them, and above all to share Jesus Christ and the Word of God with them on our journey together as family. These people know this because they know me, and they know me because they have spent time with me. They have listened to what I've said, they have watched my actions to see where they line up with my words. They have walked with me in life, so they may not know my exact thoughts, but they know my heart, they know my character. This should be your goal with God every day!
So final thing here is the context of why is John even mentioning this promise here, that anything we pray for in His will He hears and if He hears we have the request? Looking at the context of this entire letter coming before this big promise, there have been three huge points that have been hammered in:
1. KNOWING that you KNOW Jesus and your words professing it line up with your actions showing it.
2. LOVING your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you say you love God, show it by loving your brothers and sisters, which goes back to LOVING God and OBEYING His commandments.
3. JESUS is the foundation of EVERYTHING! Every bit of love, service or obedience grows from our belief that Jesus is the Son of God and what He has done for us. It's all about JESUS.
So that is the context before this promise, then we look at the verses directly after this and you should be forming a picture of what God's will is in this promise. Here is the very next verse:
1 John 5:16 --- If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.
Okay so we're not diving into this verse today, but we see the next bit of context right after this HUGE promise to give us everything we pray for (ACCORDING TO HIS WILL) is to pray for our brothers and sisters who are struggling.
I'll sum it all up. Apart from real relationship with God in prayer, reading His Word, obeying His commandments, and getting to know His word, His character, His heart, then it will be impossible to know His will. Without relationship and without knowing His will, this promise is powerless, but it doesn't have to be. You can choose to put in the effort, to make Him priority, to head out your front door and onto a new adventure and journey in your life with Him.
It's your choice. Choose wisely.
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