1 John 3:21-24 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
1 John 5:15-16 And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
When does God answer our prayers? And when do we receive what we ask of Him? And when are we confident He has heard our requests? Many of us wonder why our prayers seem to go unanswered. Here are some insights:
"If our hearts do not condemn us.." Simply, it's almost impossible to ask for anything in faith if your conscience is defiled. Yeshua (Jesus) said, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive;" [Mt. 21:22] If your heart is condemning you, thank God you have a conscience, and then clear it by confessing your sin and receiving forgiveness through his blood. Your capacity for faith will be restored and your prayers won't be hindered by a troubled heart.
"Keep His commandments..." John distills this advice with two simple injunctions; "Believe in the name of the Son of God", and "Love one another"... Apostle Paul beautifully re-echoes these with his word in Galatians, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love; [Gal. 5:6]. Faith is a steadfast reliance on the nature and character of Yeshua, and love is the outflow of abiding in Him. Prayers which emerge from this disposition are answered. Faith in Yeshua, and love for others form a sure foundation for answered prayers. Yeshua taught us to pray, "Thy will be done." John simply affirms that our confidence of being heard derives from asking for anything that God wants. Some people teach that God will give us anything that we want, because He loves us and has paid for all of it. But that's not what the scripture teaches. John says that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us, and if we know that He hears us, then we know we're getting what we asked for...this could be the most important element in our prayer life.
Why do I say that? Because John's implication is that we should always pray "in the Spirit"; that if we really want to pray confidently, we should listen first; we should make sure we're abiding in Him, and are in communion with his Spirit. Praying from the place of communion will issue prayers that are inspired by the Lord himself, and are sure to be answered.
"Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in him." Any hope of effectual prayer in which we can have confidence for answers depends absolutely upon this one amazing reality. God with us: "Immanuel"... The great challenge and opportunity of the life of faith is maintaining this abiding reality. Don't waste the opportunity.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Our life, the life of faith, is pervaded by paradox. Life faces us with apparently irreconcilable conditions and realities that we struggle to understand and integrate, sometimes throughout an entire lifetime. The Lord himself exemplifies this reality in his dual identity as the expressed image of God and a fully human male who suffered the worst consequences of sin...without deserving them. We live daily within the paradox of God's perfect holiness and our fundamental human imperfection, constantly needing to accept His grace as we strive toward His perfection.
Throughout the history of the modern state of Israel, there have been accounts of angelic interventions protecting Israeli soldiers in the midst of intense warfare. One instance recounted by an Israeli military historian after the 1973 Yom Kippur war, describes an Israeli soldier in the Sinai taking captive an entire Egyptian column and leading them to where the Israeli troops were. The Egyptian commander was asked why he and his men gave themselves up to the lone Israeli soldier. He responded with surprise, ”One soldier? There were thousands of them.”
During 1941 the United States and Japan were in negotiations to resolve their difference as the rest of the world was at war. The special delegation of Japanese ambassadors, ostensibly sent on this “peace” mission, arrived shortly before the massive surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in which 2,403 Americans were killed, 1143 were wounded, eighteen ships were sunk or grounded, and 300 planes destroyed or damaged. President Franklin Roosevelt called it a “date which will live in infamy.”
The world these days is full of bad news, with tensions growing in the Middle East, economies on the brink of collapse, and nature constantly adding to the chaos with one disaster after another. It's a time of trouble all right, and for us believers it may sometimes be hard to believe – but it never is as bad as it seems. Let me illustrate with a joke I like to share with my messages.
When I’m dealing with what is beyond a normal, average trial, I need to muster a more militant attitude, and I remind myself of this promise; the Lord has given me authority to TREAD upon the enemy … to walk in His victory over every trial and tribulation that life brings.
An artist went searching the streets of New York City for a model to pose for a portrait he wanted to call -- 'The Prodigal'. One day was passing Central Park and saw an impoverished beggar lying on a bench and thought: 'He's perfect! That man would represent the prodigal son beautifully in my painting.' He asked the beggar if he would be willing to sit for his painting and he would gladly pay him for his time. Naturally, the beggar agreed.
Moses was used mightily by the Lord, yet we all know he had his inadequacies and limitations too. Still he was the vessel through which God chose to work through as He carried out the plagues over Egypt, divided the Red Sea and miraculously led and fed the children of Israel for forty years. That's pretty big stuff. Can you imagine having to be Moses' successor after all that? That's exactly what Joshua had to do. I can't even begin to imagine what Joshua was thinking at the time -- How can I possibly live up to Moses? But the Lord comforts and reassures Joshua and says, "as I was with Moses, so I will be with you!"