Today, we come to 1 John 5:14-17 which reads, "14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him.16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death."
Someone once said, "prayer is rebellion against the status quo." It is fitting that John closes this epistle with the subject of prayer. Prayer is a simple activity. I am reminded of my prayer life every time one of my three sons contacts me and asks for something. There are times when I hear Fathers complain about their kids calling them and asking for things; things like money, perspective, wisdom. I so enjoy it when any of my sons asks me for whatever. When they do, if I am in the position to help, I gladly do it. As I Father, I also understand that there are times when "no" is a loving response to the request of my son. God is no different. He is known to say, "yes", "no", and "maybe". We must be careful to trust His loving, wise heart to know what is best for us.
Understanding the nature of prayer is greatly important before we pray. In
this closing section of this letter, the Apostle John gives us instruction about prayer, then he follows this instruction with a specific
illustration. In v.14-15 we the instruction and will consider it today. Tomorrow, we will consider the illustration provided in v.16-17.
Prayer is a venture, a conversation. Prayer is evidence that we are in a relationship with God. When we often pray, we do not know what to say to God. John writes in v.14, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God." Then John writes, "that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." Prayer is not
an experiment, prayer is a certainty with John, a sure thing. He knows
it works, and he knows how it works. Note the choice of word, "confidence."
This kind of certainty arises from the knowledge of two fundamental
principles of prayer, which John gives us here: the certainty of
hearing, and the certainty of having. Notice these. "If we ask anything
according to his will, we know that he hears us." Perhaps the major
reason for most of the unanswered prayers of the world is they are not
according to God's will, and therefore they are not heard. John makes it
explicitly clear that a prayer that is according to God's will is
always heard. Thus, at one stroke he demolishes all those concepts of
prayer which imply that prayer is a means of getting God to do our will.
Prayer is never that.
Many regard prayer as a mysterious activity by which we get God to do what we want him to do. But prayer is a means of obtaining the will of God. If we pray outside His purpose there is no assurance that our prayers will be granted. Sometimes our prayers are
not according to the will of God, sometimes they are. We only know that they are or aren't when He answers. God always hears every prayer that is voiced within the
boundaries of his will. This is the first certainty that forms the basis
of prayer -- we know we are heard.
