Today, we will consider what the Apostle John writes in v.22, "and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him."
When we are not defined by a condemning heart, we are not motivated by self. We are motivated by the heart of God, who is gives to us His heart. The Believer does not find his confidence in his flesh (his desires which are not influenced by the wisdom of God). As a result of actually seeing God working in his life, the Believer actually discovers the heart of God and is defined by it. Herein we discover a picture of the normal life of a Christian. It is centered in prayer, because prayer is the most characteristic and the most fundamental relationship that a Christian can experience.
Now, note the words: "receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him." Notice that there is a condition to the prayer. When we are walking in the Spirit, in a personal relationship with God, He tells us to ask whatever and He will deliver. God has not promised to give us everything that we ask for...He has promised to give us that which is in step with His will for our lives. Praying ultimately for His will in our lives is the goal. There have been many times that I have asked God for certain things and He has not delivered like I thought He should. But, since when has it been about MY will.
Finally, Debbie and I have seen God do some amazing things down through the years. I shall never forget that faithful day that we found ourselves in debt to the tune of ten thousand dollars. I remember that daily the Lord brought a man's name to my mind. I didn't want to call this man, because I didn't want him to know the financial status that I was in. To make a long story short, I called him one Thursday night. He told me that God had given him a sizable amount of money that he didn't expect, and that when God had done this several times before, he knew that God had someone in mind. That Friday, that man, wrote me a twelve thousand dollar check. I later asked him why twelve thousand instead of the ten thousand that I was asking for. He said, "the amount that the Lord had given me, the previous Monday, was twelve thousand dollars". And, after hanging the phone up with me, he asked the Lord "if he should give to me all of it". Of course, the Lord said "yes". But, the interesting twist to this story is this: my bills totaled up to four hundred dollars short of twelve thousand instead of ten thousand.
God doesn't always give us what we ask for. The most important thing that He does give us is this:
a personal relationship with Him. And this personal relationship includes story like this. Stories like this go a long way in helping us to tell others about our Father who is in Heaven.
