Bible League: Living His Word This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.— 1 John 5:14 NIV Do you have confidence when you pray? Or, do you lack confidence? Our verse for today says that you can have confidence when you approach God in prayer. You can have confidence if you meet a certain condition. What is the condition? The condition is that you must ask in accordance with God's will. You must ask for things that God wants you to have, not for things that He doesn't want you to have. No doubt, God could give you whatever you asked for if He chose to do so. However, He is your heavenly Father. As such, He has no interest in giving you things that will not be helpful for your development as a Christian. Indeed, He has no interest in giving you things that would harm you or harm those around you. What things are in accordance with God's will? There are many. James 1:5, for example, says "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, "It is God's will that you should be sanctified..." Many more examples could be given, but in short, anything sanctioned by the Bible is in accordance with God's will. Things forbidden in scripture are clearly not in God's will for you. There are things about which the Bible is silent. If some cases are a bit murky, then it is certainly God's will to ask for guidance. After all, God Himself says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you" (Psalm 32:8). God can clear things up by giving you guidance about what you should or shouldn't pray for. If you meet the condition, our verse says that God will hear you. And, as the next verse in Chapter 5 says, "... if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:15). Clearly, then, you can approach God with all the confidence in the world that He will give you what you ask for—when you meet the condition, when you ask for things that are in accordance with His will. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 88, 89 Psalm 88 -- O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 89 -- I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Romans 10 Romans 10 -- Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.Insight Jesus did not work independently of God the Father, but in union with him. This should give us even more assurance of being welcomed into God's presence and being protected by him. Jesus' purpose was to do the will of God, not to satisfy Jesus' human desires. Challenge When we follow Jesus, we should have the same purpose. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Colossians 3:4 Christ, who is our life.Paul's marvellously rich expression indicates, that Christ is the source of our life. "You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." That same voice which brought Lazarus out of the tomb raised us to newness of life. He is now the substance of our spiritual life. It is by his life that we live; he is in us, the hope of glory, the spring of our actions, the central thought which moves every other thought. Christ is the sustenance of our life. What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus' flesh and blood? "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die." O wayworn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin, you never get a morsel to satisfy the hunger of your spirits, except ye find it in him! Christ is the solace of our life. All our true joys come from him; and in times of trouble, his presence is our consolation. There is nothing worth living for but him; and his lovingkindness is better than life! Christ is the object of our life. As speeds the ship towards the port, so hastes the believer towards the haven of his Saviour's bosom. As flies the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian towards the perfecting of his fellowship with Christ Jesus. As the soldier fights for his captain, and is crowned in his captain's victory, so the believer contends for Christ, and gets his triumph out of the triumphs of his Master. "For him to live is Christ." Christ is the exemplar of our life. Where there is the same life within, there will, there must be, to a great extent, the same developments without; and if we live in near fellowship with the Lord Jesus we shall grow like him. We shall set him before us as our Divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in his footsteps, until he shall become the crown of our life in glory. Oh! how safe, how honored, how happy is the Christian, since Christ is our life! Daily Light on the Daily Path John 17:15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.Philippians 2:15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, Matthew 5:13,14 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. • "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Genesis 20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. Nehemiah 5:15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God. Galatians 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Jude 1:24,25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, • to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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