Latest / Reformed Thinking / He Hears Us: Assurance-Shaped Prayer (1 John 5:14–15)

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He Hears Us: Assurance-Shaped Prayer (1 John 5:14–15) · Reformed Thinking

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Reformed thinking. Welcome to the deep dive.
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We are jumping into a core question that I think really
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shapes a Christian life. How can we as believers stand
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before God Almighty and pray with the genuine resilient
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confidence? It's attention every one of us
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feels, I'm sure. On the one hand, we're told to
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ask anything, but on the other, we know that God is sovereign,
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that he acts according to his own perfect plan, right?
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So how do you hold those two things together?
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How do you avoid falling into, say, demanding arrogance on one
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side, or just a quiet, hopeless resignation on the other?
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And that is the mission for this deep dive.
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Our sources are all centered on a passage first John 5 verses 14
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and 15. It's short, but it's like this
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powerful logical argument. A syllogism?
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Almost, yeah. Exactly shows us that our
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certainty, our knowledge of eternal life, leads directly to
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our access to God. So we're going to trace that
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chain of reasoning John lays out for us from the confidence we
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get in Christ to the condition that shapes our asking that
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phrase according to his will. Which is the tricky part.
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It is. And then finally, to the
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security of the answer, we really need to get clear on what
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it means to ask within God's will so that prayer can become
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what it's meant to be, a joyful conversation and not, you know,
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a source of spiritual anxiety. So let's start by just setting
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the scene for you. Why is it that so many people
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who believe in a personal, living God find prayer so
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difficult? It's meant to be communion, but
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a lot of times it feels more like an audition.
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Or a game. Or a game.
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Yeah, or even just a monologue into the void.
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I think the struggle really starts when we substitute some
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kind of technique for a real relationship.
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When we lose sight of God's actual nature, His goodness, his
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wisdom, his sovereignty, our idea of what prayer is gets
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well, it gets distorted. We're seeing this crisis in
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confidence because so many people are trying to pray
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outside of the context of assurance.
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Prayer confidence isn't about how much grit you can muster up
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inside yourself, It's about how securely you stand in Christ.
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OK, so let's talk about those distortions we've kind of
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isolated, 3 big ones that you see plaguing the modern church,
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stealing that security you're talking about.
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And the 1st and maybe the one you see advertised the most is
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what we're calling blank Check spirituality.
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This one is just devastating. It's this belief that prayer is
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basically a spiritual purchase order that divine resources are
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just waiting to be unlocked by how hence you are.
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So if you believe hard enough. Believe hard enough, speak
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boldly enough, use the right power phrase from Scripture.
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Then God has to comply. It takes that expansive idea of
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ask anything and just twists it into a kind of limitless human
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power. It turns faith into a mechanism
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you operate rather than trust in a person.
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So in that view, the power isn't really in God's character, it's
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in my ability to activate his power.
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Like I have the right PN for a divine ATM.
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That's a great way to put it. And it puts the entire burden of
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success on the person praying. And the result of that is
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immediate. And it's heartbreaking.
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How so? Well, when the thing you want,
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the healing, the money, the specific guidance, when it
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doesn't happen, you're left in the spiritual trap.
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You're forced to conclude either your faith was too weak or
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worse, that God somehow failed you, that maybe he was even
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cruel. This whole way of thinking
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forces you to measure God's faithfulness by immediate,
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tangible earthly results. And that is a fragile and just
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deeply unbiblical foundation for trust.
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It shifts the whole conversation from submission to leverage.
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Exactly. And the opposite error is just
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as damaging, even though it can look a lot more pious.
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And that's cold fatalism. It sounds like it respects God's
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sovereignty, but it just leads to this quiet giving up.
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It sounds humble, but it's really a form of denial.
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Fatalism says, well, God's going to do what he's going to do no
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matter what I ask. His will is already set, so my
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asking doesn't really affect the outcome.
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It's practical atheism. It is.
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It's practical atheism dressed up in the language of high
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theology. This view denies the very nature
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of the God of the Bible who actually interacts with his
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people, a God who sets up prayer as a real means to get his
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ordained ends accomplished. That's the critical part, isn't
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it? If prayer is only for me, if
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it's just therapeutic talk to help me process my feelings but
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doesn't actually touch the throne, then the ACT itself is
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in the end kind of pointless in the world.
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Precisely. Fatalism takes the doctrine of
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God's sovereignty and turns it into an excuse for spiritual
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laziness, for passivity. It denies us the privilege and
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the responsibility of being involved in the world under
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God's rule. It just leaves the soul silent
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before the Father, reasoning that since the plan is already
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drawn up, no petitions are needed.
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But Scripture over and over again teaches us to ask even for
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things God has already promised. And John's teaching here is
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aimed right at this quiet stopping of communion.
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And the third distortion, it's not about power or sovereignty.
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It's more about method. We're calling it modern
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mysticism is chase for secret information, for subjective
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feelings. Right.
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This is the tendency to treat prayer as a way to get personal
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guidance or chase after these internal signs.
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You see people who become paralyzed, they can't make a
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decision unless they feel the strong sense of peace or they
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get some inner impression. Even if the decision is totally
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fine biblically. Totally fine, morally neutral,
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and biblically sound, but they're looking for secret
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messages instead of relying on the clear, revealed truth of
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Scripture. So they're using their internal
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feelings to green light or red light decisions instead of just
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aligning their lives and their requests with what God has
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already said He desires. That's it.
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This error puts the objective, stable standard of God's Word
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underneath the shaky, ambiguous world of human feelings.
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If they don't feel peace about a job change that opens up
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ministry, they'll assume it's against God's will.
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They're prioritizing A subjective feeling over
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objective reality. And John deals with all three of
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these errors by giving us the stable objective foundation in
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1st 5, verses 14 and 15, and comes right after his big
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declaration in verse 13. Let's bring that in.
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Verse 13 is like the headline for this whole section.
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He says these things I have written to you who believe in
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the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have
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eternal life. So why is certainty knowing that
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you have eternal life? Why is that the only logical
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place to start a discussion about prayer confidence?
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Because that assurance defines our standing.
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If we are certain we have eternal life through the Son, we
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stop being intruders trying to persuade a reluctant king.
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We become adopted children approaching a loving, accessible
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Father. John's teaching a better
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confidence, one that is bold because of what Christ did.
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That's regulated by the Father's will, and it's anchored in the
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guarantee that will be received. Assurance doesn't lead to
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passivity. It leads straight into
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communion. So the structure here is really
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intentional. Oh absolutely.
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The whole closing part of first John from verse 13 to 17.
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It's one cohesive unit. He's not just throwing in a
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random thought about prayer at the end of the letter, he's
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showing the necessary fruit of the assurance he spent the whole
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letter building up. So verse 13, knowing you have
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eternal life, oh, that's the prerequisite for the confidence
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in verse 14. It's the essential precondition,
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yes. OK, let's unpack that flow a
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bit. If you, the reader, have just
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been told you can be certain that you're in Christ, how does
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that knowledge immediately give you a new posture before God
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that you didn't have before? It changes your status from,
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say, a defendant in a courtroom to a member of the family.
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When you know you have eternal life, you realize you're no
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longer defined by your failures. You're defined by Christ's
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perfection. This certainty gives you bold
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access to the Father because the relationship itself is secure.
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Think of it like a key. Eternal life is the key that
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opens the door. The confidence is the act of
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walking through it and sitting down at the Father's table.
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John is crystal clear. Because you have the Son, you
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have life. And because you have life, you
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have a specific welcome standing before the true God.
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And that posture, it dictates the entire tone of our praying.
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That explains why he's so focused on the language of
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knowing in this section that you may know.
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Wow. We know that he hears us.
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We know that we have the requests.
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It's so repetitive, almost insistent.
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John is a pastor. He knows how fragile we are.
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He's training Christians to live by stable external promises, the
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testimony of God about his Son, which he just detailed right
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before this, rather than relying on the instability of our
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feelings or the chaos of our circumstances.
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If our prayer confidence depended on how assured we felt
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at any given moment, we'd never pray.
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Instead, John anchors it in God's objective testimony about
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the Son. The divine witness is the basis
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for assurance, and confident prayer is just the natural
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response to that stable witness. And let's look at the direction
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of that confidence, confidence we have toward him.
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It's pointed toward a specific person, which makes the whole
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thing relational. If it was just confidence in a
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general principle of prayer, that condition, according to his
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will, would feel really restrictive.
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That relational focus changes absolutely everything.
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Eternal life isn't primarily defined by how long it lasts,
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but by its quality fellowship with true God through the sun.
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So when John says confidence is toward him, he's talking about a
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family relationship. It's the difference between a
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citizen submitting a formal request to the government versus
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a beloved child asking their parent for something.
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The family bond guarantees reception.
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It dictates the nature of the answer.
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It means we expect kindness and wisdom and love in the response,
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no matter what the surface outcome is.
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But John also doesn't let us treat prayer as some detached
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spiritual technique. We have to remember the moral
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feel of the whole letter. He connected answered prayer to
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a life that pleases God back in chapter 3.
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Doesn't that risk turning confidence back into a matter of
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our performance? That's a vital tension we have
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to hold. John is describing A consistent
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pattern. Those who truly have life in
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Christ, whose lives are marked by faith in the Son and love for
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one another, they will have the confidence of a clear conscience
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and access to the Father. He's showing the internal
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consistency of the Christian life.
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So it's not that God only hears perfect prayers from perfect
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people. No, it's that a person whose
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life is generally aligned with God's revealed will, holiness,
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love, protecting the church, will naturally submit their
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requests to that same will. John wants us to use prayer not
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to expand our own self will, but to get strength for holiness and
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love. So the life of obedience and the
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life of prayer, they feed each other.
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It's not like obedience is a merit badge you need before God
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will listen. Exactly right.
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When we line up our requests with God's stated desires, like
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praying for the purity of the church or for strength against
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temptation, we are already praying according to His will.
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And that alignment builds confidence because we know we're
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asking for the very things that please the Father.
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If our lives were characterized by ignoring God's commands, our
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conscience would accuse us, and that essential relational
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confidence would be damaged. John is making sure confident
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prayer stays tethered to ethical reality.
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OK, now for the heart of it. We're diving into verses 14 and
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15 themselves. You said it's built like a
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chain, each link depending on the last.
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Let's start with the first link, the access we have.
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Right. Link one.
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This sets the whole tone. This is the confidence we have
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toward him. The Greek word John uses here is
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parhesia. It's often translated as
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boldness or frankness. OK, in the ancient world it was
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the civic right of a citizen to speak openly without fear before
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the ruler or the assembly. That really helps define what
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kind of confidence it isn't. It's not that sort of chest
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thumping competence of the flesh where I approach God based on
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how good I feel about myself today.
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No, it's the freedom that comes with a relationship.
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So where does that freedom come from specifically?
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The source is entirely outside of the believer.
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It's gospel derived. Our boldness isn't earned by our
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moral achievements or a checklist of good deeds.
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If it were, our confidence would spike and crash every single
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hour. The confidence comes from the
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believer standing, which is in the sun.
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We come to God because we are reconciled through Christ's
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perfect work. When we sin, we don't hide, we
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confess, rely on the fact that Christ is our advocate, as John
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says in chapter 2. He is the basis for our
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boldness. He is if we try to ground our
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prohesia and our own feeling of righteousness.
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We've just replaced the gospel with performance.
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I think a lot of people feel like their confidence is tied to
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their last 24 hours. You know, if they had a good day
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with Bible reading and being kind, they feel bold.
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If they failed right before praying, they feel like they
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should hide. And that's the exact performance
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mentality John is trying to fight against.
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Our approach isn't conditional on our recent success.
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It's conditional on Christ's permanent finished success.
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Confidence is just the exercise of the access that Christ bought
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for us. It's like we've been given a
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permanent security pass by the CEO son.
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We don't have to worry about whether the guards will let us
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in. The past guarantees entry.
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The only requirement is that we actually use the pass.
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OK, that brings us to the second link.
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The moment we claim that confidence, John immediately
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puts a governor on it. He says that if we ask anything
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according to his will, the word anything is huge.
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It invites us to be specific and earnest.
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But that condition sets the boundary.
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This is the vital filter. If this condition wasn't there,
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John would just be endorsing that blank check spirituality we
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talked about earlier. John takes our very human desire
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to ask for specific, real things, and he insists that this
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asking has to be shaped by divine submission.
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The Greek word canna means conformity or alignment.
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Our requests have to be disciplined, brought into line
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with God's desires, His revealed desires.
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But this is where the anxiety kicks in for a lot of people.
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What is God's will? They start to worry.
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They need, I don't know, a secret phone call from heaven to
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know if they should pray for a new job or for their kid to pass
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a test. That's the crucial practical
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hurdle. And we have to remember God's
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will is not primarily hidden in some private impression.
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It's overwhelmingly revealed in Scripture.
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John himself summarizes God's revealed will in this letter as
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faith in the Son and love for the brethren.
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So when we pray according to His will, we are prioritizing
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requests that align with God's public, stated plan.
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That we be holy, that we have wisdom, That we find endurance,
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That the gospel advances, That the Church is strengthened.
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So that helps with the Gray areas like praying for a career
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change or a safe flight. If the Bible doesn't spell out
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the outcome we pray for, the big picture will to win out.
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Absolutely, for those specific non moral requests.
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We pray boldly for what we'd prefer, but always with a spirit
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of deference. Lord, grant this desire if it
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conforms to your greater purposes, for my sanctification,
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for your glory, for your Kingdom.
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Prayer becomes one of God's chief means of refining and
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bending our stubborn wills to His.
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The condition isn't a restriction meant to frustrate
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us. It's a guardrail.
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It's designed to protect us from asking for things that would
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actually harm us or dishonor God.
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So prayer isn't trying to get God to change his mind.
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It's an opportunity to harmonize our desires with His even before
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we know the answer. Precisely, We ask specifically
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heal my mother, but we do it knowing that the underlying
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guaranteed will of God is always wise and loving.
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This takes away the anxiety. We can ask fiercely for relief,
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but we simultaneously trust the Father to govern the details.
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OK, so if the condition is the filter, the third link is the
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promise that gives us this incredible comfort.
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He hears us. What does hearing really mean in
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this context, especially since God is already all knowing?
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It means so much more than just cognitive awareness.
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When the Bible says God hears the prayers of the righteous, it
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means he receives them with favor.
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It means God leans in. He attends to the request with
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covenant live, and he takes it up actively as a caring father
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who is ready to act. If God just acknowledged our
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prayer, we'd still be left wondering if he cared.
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John gets rid of that doubt. This guards against that
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performance anxiety. We were talking about the
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quality of my praying, my eloquence, my energy level, my
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focus. It's all secondary to the fact
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that I'm in Christ and asking for something God desires.
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Yes, John's confidence is pointed not toward the quality
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of the person praying, but to the certainty of the judges
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favorable reception, provided the request lens up with his
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will. The weakest, most halting prayer
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offered by an assured believer according to God's will is
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received with more favor than the most eloquent prayer offered
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outside of that will. God isn't manipulated by volume
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or spiritual intensity or fancy speech.
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He's moved by the fact that the prayer is aligned with his own
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wise purposes and that it's offered through his Son.
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This link is the direct refutation of that cold
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fatalism, isn't it? Because it's saying God doesn't
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just know our needs, he actively receives and engages with our
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petitions. It is the absolute antidote to
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fatalism. If God truly hears, then prayer
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is not just venting, it's an active contribution to the way
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God governs the world. When we pray according to His
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will, we're placing our requests into the hands of the One who
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rules all things and whose commitment to respond to His
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children is perfect. The reception is guaranteed for
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the will shaped petition. Which brings us to link for the
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conclusion. John just stacked certainty on
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and if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that
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we have the requests that we have asked of him.
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So if hearing is reception, then having the request is the
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certainty of the answer. This is the most crucial link,
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and honestly the one that's most often misinterpreted.
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The careless reader jumps here and claims John is guaranteeing
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immediate literal delivery of the exact thing they asked for,
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but that interpretation makes the entire structure he just
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built collapse. If the condition according to
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his will is necessary, then the literal fulfillment of my
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preference can't be the guaranteed result.
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OK. So if I ask for a specific
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outcome, let's say financial relief, and I pray it according
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to God's will as it's revealed in Scripture, but I don't get
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that specific outcome, What did John guarantee me?
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John guarantees the security of the granting because the prayer
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was received with favor. He hears us and aligned with His
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will. The answer is secured.
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It will be delivered in God's time and in God's manner, which
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is always wise and fatherly. John is teaching us to trust not
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just the word yes, but the faithfulness of the Father.
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The guaranteed answer is a response that perfectly serves
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God's will for that situation. Let's try to use a real world
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example to make this clear. If a believer prays for relief
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from suffering, which is certainly aligned with God's
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will in a general sense, and yet the suffering continues, how
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does John's conclusion still hold up?
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The surface request was for relief or escape.
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The Father in His wisdom denies the escape to grant a deeper,
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more necessary request. Endurance, spiritual formation,
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Christ like maturity or humility?
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So when the suffering continues. And the suffering continues, the
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believer can trust that God heard the prayer and the answer
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is being actively administered through the provision of
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perseverance and sanctification. The outcome might be the
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opposite of the surface request, but the result, what the Father
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intended for our good and His glory is secured.
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John teaches us that we have the answer, even if the answer is My
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grace is sufficient for you instead of I will remove the
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thorn that security promotes A settled assurance, not a nervous
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speculation. OK.
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And then from this very personal assurance, John immediately
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moves to something communal intercession.
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The move from personal assurance to active intercession in verses
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16 and 17 is immediate, and it's profound.
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This confirms that John's teaching is never meant to
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produce some individualistic spiritual complacency.
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Assurance is given so that we can be useful to the body of
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Christ. The command is very clear, If
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anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to
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death, he shall ask and God will give him life.
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Confidence leads directly to the discipline of love, which is
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intercession. John just assumes believers will
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be attentive to the moral state of their community when they see
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a brother or sister entangled and serious sin.
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Not minor irritations, but real failings that threaten their
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relationship with Christ. The instruction is pastoral and
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direct. Don't gossip, don't withdraw.
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Pray. This act of intercession
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confirms the efficacy of world shaped prayer and the result is
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a divine gift mediated through that prayer.
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God will give him life. It confirms that God uses the
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prayers of his people as a real means of spiritual preservation
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and restoration within the family of faith.
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Love for John is an active petition for the spiritual
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safety of others. This all sounds pretty
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straightforward until John introduces that really
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difficult, sobering boundary. Right in the next phrase, there
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is sin leading to death. I do not say that one should
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pray for that. And he clarifies, all wrongdoing
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is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
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This distinction, it often creates anxiety and tender
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consciences. It makes people worry about
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having to classify every sin they see.
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And that anxiety is precisely what we have to address and
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avoid. John is not setting up some
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system of religious detective work where the average believer
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has to diagnose the eternal status of every person who
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stumbles. The context of First John is
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crucial here. John is dealing specifically
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with these secessionists, false teachers who had broken
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fellowship, who'd hardened themselves in a willful, settled
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rejection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
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So the sin leading to death is understood in this context not
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as a moral failure by a genuine believer who repents, but his
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final Christ rejecting apostasy that settled denial of the Son.
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That is the most faithful contextual interpretation.
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It aligns with the Antichrist spirit John addresses.
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He is just maintaining theological sobriety about the
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deadly seriousness of apostasy and sovereign judgement.
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John is simply refusing to make a promise of restoration where
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God hasn't made one for the genuine believer.
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Even when they fall into serious sin, the sin not leading to
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death, there is always hope and always a call to intercede.
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The boundary is there to maintain the reality that
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prayer, even confident prayer, submits to God's moral reality
22:05
and His ultimate sovereign judgment on those who willfully
22:08
and finally reject the truth of the Son.
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So if a listener is struggling with this, trying to categorize
22:13
someone else's failures, what's the pastoral take away from this
22:16
boundary? The take away is simple if
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someone professes faith and stumbles, we must pray with
22:20
absolute confidence because John promises that God gives life
22:24
through that intercession. If someone clearly and finally
22:27
rejects Christ and the poor gospel truth, Jet offers no
22:31
guarantee for the efficacy of prayer for their return.
22:34
But he doesn't forbid it either. He just removes the promise.
22:38
John's main goal here is to spur us toward active love for those
22:41
inside the community who are struggling, confirming that
22:44
confidence is given to help others.
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John's confidence is clearly so robust, but it all rests on a
22:50
framework that's sturdier than just a believer's feelings.
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Yeah, if we just isolate these two verses as a spiritual
22:56
technique, we miss the whole gospel foundation.
22:59
We need to look at the theological bedrock that makes
23:01
this confident access even possible.
23:03
Right. John's framework is descriptive.
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It describes the reality of the access granted in Christ.
23:09
It's not a prescriptive ritual. This confidence exists because
23:12
of, I'd say, three major theological realities that
23:15
support our whole approach to God.
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OK, let's start with the first one.
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Sun Com. Our initial confidence is
23:21
directed toward Him, the Father, but our access is always through
23:24
the Son. So our confidence is really sun
23:26
confidence. How does Christ mediation
23:29
guarantee that our will shave prayers are heard?
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We have to understand that we don't approach God as intruders
23:35
or as individuals who are relying on our own merits.
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We approach through the new and living way which was opened by
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Christ's crucifixion and guaranteed by his resurrection.
23:45
Right from Hebrews. Yes, the confidence John
23:48
describes is the liberty that comes from knowing that Christ
23:51
has already satisfied the demands of God's holiness on our
23:54
behalf. And John himself gives us the
23:56
ultimate comfort on this point earlier in the letter when he
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identifies Christ as our advocate.
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That connection is essential. First, John 2.1 says that if
24:03
anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
24:07
the righteous. This is the engine that's
24:08
powering chapter 5, verses 14 and 15.
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God hears our will shaped prayers because he he hears us
24:15
in His Son. Christ constantly lives to make
24:18
intercession for us, offering a flawless, perfect advocacy.
24:22
So when we pray according to God's will, we're basically
24:25
aligning our desires with the things Christ himself is praying
24:27
for. And the Father never refuses the
24:30
Son's pleading, which gives us absolute assurance that are
24:32
aligned requests are received. Our confidence isn't in our
24:35
perfection, it's in Christ's flawless mediation.
24:39
So that means even on my worst day, when I feel the least
24:41
deserving, my confidence stays untouched because it's Christ's
24:45
worthiness that's on the line, not mine.
24:47
That is the key insight. If our confidence were tied to
24:50
our merit, it would constantly fail.
24:52
Because it's tied to Christ's finished work, it remains
24:54
stable. This means the very act of
24:56
praying confidently is an expression of reliance on the
24:59
gospel. It shifts us away from self
25:01
scrutiny and toward Christ. And that moves us right into the
25:04
second underpinning, which is adoption.
25:06
The hymn we have confidence toward is first and foremost our
25:09
Father. John says that in Chapter 3 and
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that family relationship defines the whole expectation of the
25:15
answer. Adoption changes our entire
25:17
spiritual approach. It's no longer a servant who's
25:20
fearful of the master, it's a child who is secure in the
25:23
parents love. To be heard in prayer is not
25:25
some elite privilege reserved for spiritual superstars.
25:28
It's the covenant right of every single person who belongs to
25:31
God's household. We've received the spirit of
25:34
adoption by whom we cry ABBA Father.
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So how does that fatherly accent change the way we interpret A
25:41
denial or a delay in prayer? It changes the basic expectation
25:45
of the answer. If you approach God as a judge,
25:48
you expect justice or maybe mercy.
25:50
If you approach Him as a father, you expect love, wisdom, and
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provision that is tailored to your genuine, long term
25:56
well-being. Right.
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Even when God disciplines or denies a request, that denial is
26:01
fatherly. It's motivated by love, not a
26:03
courtroom sentence motivated by cold indifference or punishment.
26:07
The adoption relationship allows us to interpret difficult
26:09
providences as wise answers, not simply failures of prayer.
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OK, this is a critical one for many of us who come from a
26:15
Reformed tradition. If God has decreed everything,
26:19
if his will is fixed, why bother asking?
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How do we reconcile God's comprehensive sovereignty with
26:25
the necessity of confident prayer?
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This is the great Reformed paradox.
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God's sovereignty and prayer are not rivals.
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They are perfectly synthesized. God's eternal decree doesn't
26:37
make prayer unnecessary. It makes prayer meaningful
26:40
because the God who ordains the end, the blessing, the
26:43
provision, the spiritual growth, also ordains the means by which
26:47
that end is realized. And prayer is one of those chief
26:49
means. So we pray, not because God is
26:52
waiting for us to tell Him what to do, but because He has chosen
26:55
to accomplish His decree purposes through our asking.
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Exactly. We see this juxtaposition over
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and over in Scripture. The classic example is in
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Ezekiel 36. God promises absolutely and
27:06
unconditionally that He will restore Israel and bless them
27:09
with a new heart, yet right after this divine promise, He
27:12
says, I will yet for this be inquired of by the House of
27:15
Israel to do it for them. The promise doesn't cancel the
27:17
petition, it authorizes it. If we don't get this
27:20
relationship right, we fall into two traps.
27:23
The 1st is that fatalism which turns sovereignty into silence.
27:27
Right fatalism is a misapplication of sovereignty
27:30
that concludes, well, since God's in charge, I can be
27:33
passive. It fails to see that God
27:35
commands us to pray because he intends to use that prayer.
27:39
It turns the stability of God's decree into an excuse for
27:42
spiritual laziness. And the second trap is
27:45
manipulation, turning prayer into leverage, trying to force
27:49
God's hand despite his decree. Manipulation assumes that God's
27:52
decree is fluid and can be changed by human effort or
27:55
spiritual pressure. John protects us from both.
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We pray with confidence because God is sovereign and His will is
28:01
perfect. We pray with expectation because
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God chooses to listen and act through our petitions.
28:07
What is asked according to His will is therefore as secured as
28:10
God's own faithfulness. Prayer is the humble appointed
28:13
path to receive promised mercies.
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Given how robust and clear John's teaching is, we can now
28:18
see how this short statement is a precise antidote to those 4
28:21
errors we started with. Yes, exactly.
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Let's start with the first one, prosperity gospel entitlement.
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The core lie here is that faith is a tool or a lever to force
28:30
God's hand to deliver specific, immediate and often
28:34
materialistic desires. John's response is immediate.
28:38
He measures prayer not by the quantity of confidence or the
28:41
speed of the outcome, but by its alignment with God's holy
28:44
pleasure. That condition according to his
28:47
will. That whole mindset tries to
28:49
isolate the word anything from the holy governor.
28:52
John rescues believers from two big psychological burdens. 1st
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the spiritual paranoia of accusing God of being unfaithful
29:00
when the which isn't granted, and 2nd the self tyranny of
29:03
accusing themselves of having inadequate belief.
29:06
John redirects the scrutiny away from the intensity of the asking
29:09
and firmly on to the alignment of the request itself.
29:12
True confidence is measured by submission, not by demand.
29:15
So it sounds like entitlement assumes God's will should be a
29:18
mirror that just reflects back the desires of the believer.
29:20
Yeah, it's a perfect summary. And John says God's will is a
29:23
standard that shapes the desires of the believer.
29:25
Entitlement turns God into a servant.
29:28
John insists we approach the Father.
29:30
Then there's the second error, mysticism and subjectivism.
29:34
This one treats prayer like a pipeline for private, hidden
29:37
revelation, relying on sensations, feelings, or that
29:41
ambiguous inner peace as the primary way to figure out God's
29:45
will. John anchors confidence in an
29:47
objective, public, and stable standard according to his will,
29:51
which is revealed in the Scripture.
29:53
This corrects the error that God's will is found in some fog
29:56
of personal intuition. If you only look for God's will
30:00
in your internal feelings, you're seeking a truth that's
30:02
untested and uncorrectable. John urges us to bring our
30:06
requests into conformity with what God has explicitly stated.
30:09
Love, holiness, truth, perseverance.
30:13
Prayer doesn't create truth, it submits to the truth that Christ
30:16
has revealed. The question is not how did I
30:18
feel about it, but what has God said about this type of request?
30:21
And this prevents us from using a lack of peace to excuse
30:24
ourselves from difficult but necessary actions.
30:26
It absolutely does. John demands.
30:28
We use our minds and the objective word to guide our
30:30
prayers, ensuring that even our most personal petitions are
30:33
grounded in external divine reality.
30:36
OK, error #3 pragmatism and performance anxiety.
30:40
This view reduces prayer to a measurable technique.
30:43
It's only useful if it produces visible, immediate results,
30:46
which leads to questions like Was my heart pure enough that I
30:49
spend enough time? John's third link, He hears us,
30:52
just demolishes the superstition of formulas and performance
30:55
anxiety. God isn't manipulated by our
30:58
eloquence or purchased by our self-imposed suffering.
31:01
He is a Father who hears will shaped petitions offered through
31:04
Christ. The pragmatist assumes that if
31:07
the answer is delayed, the prayer failed.
31:10
John teaches that hearing is the core reality, and hearing is
31:13
God's action guaranteed by his faithfulness, not a trophy of
31:17
our intensity. Confidence rests on God's
31:20
promise of reception, even when the timeline of Providence seems
31:23
slow or frustrating. Prayer is an act of humble,
31:26
continuous dependence on the living God.
31:28
And finally, that subtle and pervasive error, fatalistic
31:31
withdrawal. If God knows and rules
31:33
everything, asking is pointless. This hollowing out of communion
31:37
often wears a mask of reverence for God's sovereignty.
31:39
John's entire chain of reasoning we know, we know is aimed at
31:44
generating active, settled assurance.
31:47
Fatalism tries to turn the condition according to his will
31:50
into an excuse for passivity. John turns it into fuel for
31:54
petition. If God's will is perfect, wise,
31:57
and good, then praying in alignment with it is the highest
32:00
use of our access. True confidence is not
32:03
swaggering entitlement, nor is it silent withdrawal.
32:06
It is humble boldness, asking real, specific things, guided by
32:10
what we know of God's desires, and trusting that the Father's
32:12
ear is truly open. We ask because God has commanded
32:15
it and because He's promised. Answer those who ask His
32:18
children. OK, we've established the
32:19
theological foundation. Now, how do we translate John's
32:23
confidence, this blend of boldness and submission, into
32:26
the challenging day-to-day reality of our personal prayer
32:28
lives? We have to start where John
32:30
starts and where the Gospel dictates.
32:32
We start with Christ's worthiness, not our own.
32:34
Let's elaborate on that first practical step.
32:36
How does someone practically shift away from measuring their
32:39
own self worthiness? Well, when you begin your time
32:41
of prayer, start by confessing Christ's perfection and relying
32:45
solely on gospel access. Intentionally state Father, I
32:50
approach you not because my heart is pure right now or
32:52
because my prayer is eloquent, but because Jesus Christ is my
32:55
advocate and has perfectly opened this way for me.
32:58
This shifts the focus immediately from a sales pitch
33:01
where you're trying to persuade God based on your merit to
33:04
communion, where you're speaking honestly to the Father based on
33:07
Christ's perfection. It just removes the pressure of
33:10
performance. The second practical
33:12
implication, and maybe the most critical one, addresses link to
33:16
the condition. How do we ensure we're actually
33:19
letting Scripture set the agenda and training our desires by
33:22
God's will? The most direct path is to
33:25
intentionally align your prayer life with the priorities you
33:28
find in the Bible. If you only pray your
33:30
circumstances, you'll pray anxiously because circumstances
33:33
are always changing. If you pray God's Word, you will
33:35
pray steadily. Can you give us some examples of
33:38
how to turn those biblical priorities into petitions?
33:40
Stop asking exclusively for comfort and start asking for
33:44
conformity. Ask for holiness, for wisdom
33:48
when making decisions. Pray for endurance under trial,
33:51
not just escape. Pray specifically for the
33:54
advancement of the gospel and for the spiritual unity and
33:56
purity of the church. And when you're facing a
33:59
request, the Bible is silent on a new house, a job interview,
34:02
Ask Lord if this serves your revealed will to make me holy
34:07
and useful to your Kingdom, grant it.
34:09
If not, protect me from it. That is actively training your
34:12
desires. That leads directly to the
34:15
practice of submission. When we pray for something
34:17
concrete, we have to maintain expectant submission.
34:20
Precisely. We are expectant because the
34:22
Father really hears and really answers.
34:24
We are submissive because he answers as a father, not as a
34:27
vending machine. When you're asking for a
34:29
specific, heartfelt outcome, you should intentionally add that
34:32
prayerful writer. Granted, if it aligns with your
34:35
perfect will. And if not, Father, give me what
34:37
your will intends through the situation.
34:39
Whatever is best for me. That simple phrase repents of
34:42
entitlement and embraces fatherly wisdom.
34:44
It allows you to release the anxiety of control.
34:47
This reframes the whole problem of unanswered prayer.
34:50
Instead of concluding God didn't hear, we have to learn to
34:53
reinterpret the outcome. When the outcome is
34:55
significantly different from what you wanted, the illness
34:58
remains, the job is lost, the door closes.
35:01
Do not conclude God didn't hear. Instead you ask how is the
35:06
Father answering this will shaped request according to
35:08
superior wisdom? He may deny the surface request
35:12
for comfort to grant a deeper request like humility or
35:15
perseverance or a greater reliance on the gospel.
35:19
The answer is secured the moment the will aligned prayer is
35:22
received. The form of the answer might be
35:24
different from our expectation, but it is always the wisest
35:27
response. And finally, John immediately
35:29
moved from personal confidence to intercession for the
35:32
community. We have to pray outward.
35:34
Confidence is a communal gift. It's given so we can actively
35:37
love others, not just feel secure ourselves.
35:40
The practical discipline is to consistently pray for the body
35:43
of Christ, for purity, repentance, unity, restoration
35:46
of those who stumble, and deliverance from the evil. 1 If
35:49
you're ever struggling to find things to pray according to His
35:53
will for yourself, turn your focus outward.
35:56
You can always be confident, asking God to fulfill His
35:58
purposes and His people. That discipline of love confirms
36:02
your assurance and fuels your utility in the body.
36:05
All of this. It requires consistency.
36:08
It's a discipline, not a spontaneous emotion.
36:10
So how do we maintain patterns when we feel distracted or, you
36:13
know, just dull? Consistency is paramount.
36:16
Don't wait to feel spiritual. Establish a pattern.
36:20
Begin with adoration, remembering who you are
36:22
approaching. Confess known sins so your
36:25
confidence is genuine and not hypocritical.
36:27
Ask in concrete ways, aligning with God's revealed desires, and
36:32
close with Thanksgiving, which is an act of declaration of
36:34
trust in God's character regardless of the current
36:36
circumstances. If you feel dull, come anyway.
36:39
You come because Christ has opened the way, not because your
36:41
feelings are cooperating. Those who know they have eternal
36:44
life have been granted the right to approach and the promise of
36:46
reception. We started this with the crisis
36:48
of confidence, but John provides us with a chain that is
36:51
unshakeable because it's built on the person of Christ.
36:54
Let's just quickly recap the links we've covered.
36:56
Assurance about eternal life leads to boldness.
36:59
This boldness is governed by the revealed will of God because we
37:03
are asking according to His will.
37:05
God truly hears our petition with favor.
37:08
Therefore, the answer which is always wise and fatherly, is
37:12
secured in His manner and His timing.
37:15
Prayer, then, is not a mechanism for control.
37:18
It's communion with a Father whose will is perfectly good and
37:21
whose answers are perfectly faithful.
37:23
This is the refuge of the Saints.
37:25
John teaches us that prayer is the established family language
37:28
of those who have life in the sun.
37:30
If Jan states that the clearest mark of assurance is that it
37:33
prompts us to pray, then take a moment to consider this.
37:36
How often does your actual practice of prayer reflect the
37:38
secure standing of an adopted child who is confident in
37:41
reception rather than the anxiety of an intrusive stranger
37:44
who fears rejection? The true goal isn't impressive
37:47
praying, it's faithful submission shaped Christ
37:51
centered praying. This is the liberty of those who
37:53
know they have life in the sun. Thank you for joining us for
37:56
this deep dive into First John 5.1415.
37:59
We will catch you next time.