Published 5/23/19
Read 1 John 5:14-15
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.
Reflect
• Do you pray for every need? (Why or why not?)
• What gives us confidence that our prayers are being heard and that they will be answered?
• What does it mean to ask "according to his will"?
Bringing our needs and petitions before the Lord is a very personal and intimate experience. These kinds of private conversations with our Creator reach to the inner most corners of our lives as we reveal our need for Him. Such moments of honesty and vulnerability build our faith as we trust that God will lead us through any challenge.
The word petition means to ask for something. When our prayers are in line with God's will, we can be confident that they will be answered. But this also requires that we trust in God's timing. (We must be prepared to wait.) As we read through the New Testament, it's interesting to note the many times that Jesus said, "According to your faith." The Lord could see into people's motives and intentions. He knew when they were truly seeking Him, or if they were seeking their own desires. For example, when Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth, the Scriptures say He "did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith" (Matthew 13:58).
Jesus desires for our hearts to be filled with a desire to know Him more, and He recognizes our trust as we wait. It is our faith that brings us in alignment with God's will, and if we lack faith, we can always ask for more.
Pray
Lord, Jesus, thank you for hearing my prayers. Thank you for caring about every need and every detail of my life. Amen.