1 John 5:14-15: Confidence In Prayer

Hey everyone and welcome to another devotion! Thanks for joining us tonight, we are going to have a look at John 5:14-15 and the great Sanctus Real song ‘Pray’. The power of ‘prayer’ is so easily forgotten, but it is so powerful! We have the ability to talk with our God about anything at anytime. We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence because of Jesus, knowing that He hears our prayers. If you have been doubting whether God is hearing your prayers, we hope this message is encouraging for you.

Pray- Sanctus Real

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him.

It is a privilege to be able to come to God and ask him anything. He wants to know what is on our minds and hearts. Just like any other relationship, openness and communication is integral. When it comes to our relationship with God, it’s no different. Just like this verse says, when we come and ask anything according to God’s will, he will hear us. God will always hear and answer our prayers. God’s answer won’t alway be what we want.  Sometimes God may tell us no or wait. We might think we know what is best for us, but the truth is God knows even better! We must remind ourselves that God is in control of our lives.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails

I love how we can pray at any time. Each day I find myself talking to God at different points in the day. It might be before meals, at Uni, when I’m out with friends or at church. We don’t have to do anything special or be in a certain place, we can just pray wherever we are and we can talk to God just like we would talk to a friend. We don’t need to use big words. No matter how big or small our requests are, God wants to hear them and He wants us to give Him all that is on our heart because He loves and cares for us.

He knows what we are going to say before we say it, but that shouldn’t change the way we pray. We can pray about anything, anywhere to our God who is always waiting to listen.

Maybe you have been praying for a friend who has been sick for a long time. This is the case for a friend of mine at church who has been sick for a number of years now, with an undiagnosed illness. The whole church has been praying for him for a number of years and yet he remains sick. Does this mean God isn’t listening to our requests? No, of course not. God hears all our prayers and all we can do is to be obedient in prayer and trust God’s perfect will for His life. Just like I said before, God knows what is best for us. Of course God can heal Him, but there is a reason He hasn’t. We don’t know what that reason is, but He does and that is where trust is so important. We must trust God’s plans even if we don’t understand them.

It’s another reason why we can approach God in prayer with confidence. We might have our own plans and ideas, but we can lay them all at His feet and know that God will direct our lives in the best possible way, according to His perfect Will for us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight

I want to encourage you to be obedient in prayer. Remember we can approach God with confidence when we pray. We shouldn’t doubt whether He will hear us or not. He loves us and will always listen to our requests. God may not answer our prayers in the way we want, but He will answer them according to His will. God’s ways are good and perfect. We might think we know what is best for us, but our God knows best. May we trust Him when we pray, because He knows us even better than we know ourselves.

I thank you Lord for the gift of prayer. It is a privilege to be able to come to you with our requests, hopes and burdens and lay them down before you. Thank you that you hear our prayers and answer them according to your will and not our desires, because you know what is best for us and have the perfect plan for our lives. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

God Bless,

The Faith Filled Friends