Daily Thoughts from 1 John: Answered Prayer (5:13-15)

Daily Thoughts from 1 John: Answered Prayer

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. 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.  (1 John 5:13-15 ESV)

All that John has been writing about the tests for true believers (how we respond to God’s light with confession, how we obey His commands, how we love one another and how we believe Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh) comes to culmination here.  By these tests we can know that we have eternal life.  There doesn’t have to be doubt about whether we have life or not.  And such a confidence of an eternal relationship with God also gives us confidence that our prayers can be answered.

If we ask something that is in agreement with God’s will He hears us, in the sense that He responds positively to such requests, and so we can know that we have what we requested.  For example, if we ask him to help us see the darkness in us and to cleanse us, He will, because this is according to his will.  If we ask Him to make us obedient and loving, this is what He wants to do and He will respond.

If we ask Him to do something outside His desired good, of course, He does not promise to answer that.  We’ll see an example of that in the next paragraph.

It is fascinating that John connects assurance of salvation with assurance of answered prayer.  Our salvation is not just to a right standing with God but to a relationship with Him.  Prayer is the substance of that relationship.  Just as having a loving father or mother means I can go to them and experience their love, even have them do things for me, so my relationship to God is enjoying His love and what He does for me.  Of course, I have things I do for Him out of love, as well.  That is what love is all about.