Confidence, Conformity, Certainty

Confidence, Conformity and Certainty!

1 John 5:14–15

One of the greatest privileges of the Christian life is the gift of prayer. We’re invited to bring our requests, our griefs and concerns, before the King of heaven and earth. We take such a casual approach to prayer (most of the time) that it seems to have lost some of it’s awesomeness... in the true sense of the word.

And maybe that’s why many of us struggle with prayer. We’ve become dull and numb to the awe (and humilty) that having an audience before the almighty, soverighn of creation should inspire!?

Of course, even when we’re faithful in prayer... there are times when it feels as though our words rise no higher than the ceiling. We wonder: Does God really hear me? Does He care? Does my prayer matter?

The apostle John closes his first letter with a word of assurance. He does not want believers to live in uncertainty, but in confidence.

Earlier in verse 13, John tells us: “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 now in verses 14–15 he extends that assurance into our prayer 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.”

John gives us three principles for a life of prayer: confidence, conformity, and certainty. Let us consider these together.

John begins: “And this is the confidence that we have toward him…”

The word confidence means boldness, freedom of speech, assurance. It is the same word used in Hebrews 4:16: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.”

This is remarkable. By nature, we are sinners. We should approach God fear and trembling... But because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, we can approach Him as children come to their Father.

Calvin comments: “The only persons who rightly and duly pray are those who are led by the Spirit of adoption. The wicked pray indeed, but they only howl before God.” (Institutes, III.20.16). But for the believer, prayer is not groaning in terror but speaking with a Father who loves us.

The confidence we’re called to (our confidence before the Lord) is not arrogance. It is not demanding to be heard by God like spoiled children pitching a fit to get their parent’s attention. Our confidence, is a humble boldness, rooted in Christ’s righteousness. R.C. Sproul once said: “The prayer of the righteous is powerful not because of the one who prays, but because of the One who hears.”

That realization should give us such peace, and hope. And it should fill our hearts and voices with prayer before our Sovereign God.

As God’s People, we’re not called to cower in prayer... we’re called to “come boldly!” Don’t shrink back. Whatever your weakness, whatever your sin, if you come in Christ’s name, you are heard.

Because, the fact is (as John tells us) - “if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

Of course, that’s a pretty major condition. True prayer is not an attempt to bend God’s will to ours, but to align our will with His.

Think of Christ in Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Even the sinless Son of God prayed in submission to His Father’s will.

The Westminster Confession reminds us: “Prayer… is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance” (WCF 21.3).

We sometimes hear it said: “Prayer changes things.” That is true, but more profoundly, prayer changes us. It bends our stubborn hearts to the will of our sovereign God.

Of course, I can certainly testify to the comfort I find in knowing that when I pray outside of God’s will, He may mercifully not give us what we ask. Augustine wisely said: “God does not always give what we want, but He always gives what we would want if we knew what He knows.”

So then, it would stand to reason, that our prayers should be saturated with Scripture. As we pray God’s promises, we can be confident that we’re praying according to His will.

John continues: “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.”

To be heard by God is already a blessing beyond measure. The Creator bends His ear to the cries of His children. But John assures us further—if He hears, He answers.

This does not mean immediate answers. Nor does it mean God will always answer as we expect. But it does mean that God always answers perfectly. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no, sometimes wait. But never is it ignored.

Spurgeon once said: “God will either give you what you ask, or something far better, though it may not be in the shape you expect.”

The certainty we have is not that God fulfills our every desire, but that He always fulfills His promises, and that He uses our prayers as instruments to accomplish His will.

Let me leave you with four practical applications:

Pray boldly – Do not doubt that God hears you for Christ’s sake. Come as a child to a Father.

Pray humbly – Always in submission to His will, not demanding but trusting.

Pray expectantly – Believe that God will answer in the way that glorifies Him and sanctifies you.

Pray persistently – Keep knocking, for your Father delights to give good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:7–11).

The apostle John does not want Christians living in uncertainty but in assurance—assurance of salvation, and assurance in prayer. Because Christ is our Mediator, we can pray with confidence. Because God is wise and sovereign, we pray according to His will. And because He is faithful, we pray with certainty that He hears and answers.

May we always be a praying people. And may we, with Habakkuk, declare: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17–18).

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

Amen.