Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
—1 John 5:14–15
This is a powerful promise! However, many Christians don’t have this confidence in God. The reason they don’t ask God for help is because they aren’t confident that they will receive what they have asked of Him.
This promise in 1 John 5:14–15 makes it clear that we must ask for God’s help according to His will. How do we know what God’s will is? God’s Word is His will. If we know what the Word says about what we are praying for, we don’t have to add “if it is your will” to the prayer and wonder if it is going to happen. When we know God's will and are praying in agreement with His Word, we can be confident that God has heard us and that we shall receive what His Word promises.
These verses in 1 John 5:14–15 indicate God hears us when we pray according to His will. This certainly doesn’t mean that the Lord doesn’t know what we pray or only hears certain prayers we pray. He hears every word that every person speaks (Matthew 12:36). But these verses in 1 John 5 are speaking of God hearing us and granting our requests. The Lord never answers prayers that do not line up with His will.
In the New Testament, God has already provided everything we could ever need through the atonement of His Beloved Son, Jesus. The prayer of faith is our positive response to what Jesus has accomplished through His finished work. The prayer of faith only appropriates what the precious blood of Jesus has given us through grace.
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24).
The word “therefore” in Mark 11:24 indicates the message that follows is important. Jesus says that for us to have what we ask for in prayer, we have to believe we receive it.
When you know what you request in prayer agrees with the Word, you can believe your answer has been provided by God. You believe that it will come to pass. This answer could be in an instant, but the word “will” in this verse signifies future tense.
The Lord answers our prayers that meet the prerequisites of His Word, but He moves in the spiritual realm. His actions are not always immediately evident to our physical eyes. We have to believe by faith that He is answering our prayers before we see any physical proof. If we cannot believe until we physically see something, then we have doubt. Doubt prevents us from receiving what we have requested in line with God’s will (James 1:5–7). But when what we ask of the Lord agrees with His Word, all the proof we need is our faith. It is the evidence of what we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1).
“Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away’” (Mark 11:20).
Just as the fig tree remained the same after Jesus cursed it (Mark 11:12–14), we often see ourselves or our situations remaining the same. The unseen roots of the fig tree dried up the moment Jesus spoke, but the evidence only appeared later. What we ask God for in prayer can take time. By placing our faith in the Word and the absolute truths the priceless blood of Jesus purchased for us, we can believe that when we ask according to God’s will, we know He hears us and that we have the petitions we have asked of Him.
Is this the confidence I have in Him?
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