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. (1 Jn 5:14-15)
Good morning church.
It’s wonderful to be together as the church of Christ to publicly worship our risen Saviour together. We do this because we have a real hope that has been held out to us in this world. Now we know that this hope hasn’t come from our own imaginations or even by our own discovery of things, but from something that has been revealed to us by someone, namely through the revelatory work of the Holy Spirit (Amos 4:13, 2 Cor 4:6, 1 Pet 2:9). Now, the wonderful thing about revelation is that by it’s very nature it is “an uncovering of something previously not known”. In other words revelation comes to us, not from us and it shows us something we didn’t know before. So when it comes to prayer, it is important to see what God has revealed about it so that we might pray in the way that is most pleasing to Him.
So in just this little text that John wrote (as seen above) we see that we can have confidence knowing that God hears us. That’s right, the Creator of all that there is, seen and unseen, discovered and undiscovered, He tells us that we (being God’s children) can be confident that when we approach Him He hears us. Now that is amazing news if you think about it, but notice what is attached to that assurance…’we are to ask in accordance with His will’…Now you might be wondering, why is asking in accordance with His will there? Well because God is just, good, holy and gracious, and quite simply we are not. So we are always in danger of coming to God and hi-jacking what prayer is meant to be about and treating Him like a cosmic genie, giving Him a list of things that we would like Him to do for us. But this is the amazing thing about revelation, God reveals His will to us so that when we mine the treasures of His Word we find awesome promises that are held out to us which we can pray in accordance with.
For example, did you know God desires for all His people to be saved? (2 Pet 3:9). This means that those you are praying for and sharing the gospel with, you can have confidence that you are not working alone. God is with you in the task and you can ask for His help. Did you know that God has set you free from addiction and given you His very Spirit to help in the battle? (Rom 5:5, 1 Cor 10:13). This means that those things that seem impossible to break doesn’t define you anymore, and though it can take time, your prayers are not hitting the ceiling dear one. No they are going to the very throne room of God and He is neither disgusted, against you or in anyway abandoned you on the battle field (Deut 31:8, Rom 8:31, Heb 4:14-16). Did you know you are loved beyond measure and that you are invited to cast ALL your anxieties on God? (Jn 3:16, 2 Pet 5:7). This means that you are never alone, never hopeless, never annoying when in that place of prayer.
The list goes on, so many amazing things that God has revealed to us in His Word so that when we go to that so called prayer closet we can pray in accordance with His will. And church might I invite you to come and do that with others. We have 2 weekly prayer meetings where as the children of God we come to God together and petition Him together.
- Prayer meetings on Tuesday mornings @ GCC (8:00 AM)
- Ladies Prayer Meeting on Friday mornings @ GCC (9:30 AM)