Fellowship Comes With Benefits Series

Have you ever wondered if God hears you? Seriously, when something incredibly important is on the line, like the life of someone you love dearly, we always hope God hears our prayers and will answer them the way we want them answered. We hope God can hear our prayers for help with sins that we cannot seem to let go. We hope God hears our prayers for our families and the troubles we face or even when our income drops due to loss of a job of wages being cut. Don’t you just get tired of “hoping” God will hear you pray? Personally I am tired of “hoping” for this and “hoping” for that and hoping that God will listen to me for five minutes. If this is all God is made of then I do not need that. I can hope all on my own without God in the picture. Isn’t there any assurance that God actually hears us? Even better would be that we could be assured that we will get an answer.

Sometimes you may wonder like I have in the past if posture or the way you sit or act while praying makes a difference. Some men debated this very subject. “"The proper way for man to pray," said Deacon Lemuel Keyes; "The only proper attitude is down upon his knees." "Nay, I should say the way to pray," said Reverend Doctor Wise, "Is standing straight with outstretched arms with rapt and upturned eyes." "Oh, no, no, no," said Elder Snow, "such posture is too proud." A man should pray with eyes fast-closed and head contritely bowed." "It seems to me his hands should be austerely clasped in front. With both thumbs pointing to the ground," said Reverend Doctor Blunt."

"Last year I fell in Hodgkin’s well headfirst," said Cyril Brown. "With both my heels a-stickin’ up, my head a-pointing’ down; And I done prayed right then and there; best prayer I ever said, The prayin’est prayer I ever prayed, a-standin’ on my head."”

Posture has little effect on God hearing us. Even beyond posture, the scriptures do speak of an assurance we can have. We can know that our prayers have been heard in heaven and we can even be assured that God will answer. 1 John 5:14-17 covers one of the greatest benefits we can ever have from our relationship with Christ. Remember that this entire book is about having a relationship with Christ. This part in particular refers to our relationship with one specific benefit and the exact how in applying that benefit to our lives. John begins this piece of scripture in verse 14 with the words “This is the confidence which we have before Him…” John tells these Christians that they can and should have confidence in God. So much confidence that when we speak to God, we can know that he hears us. We can pray with confidence. Since we have a relationship with Christ, we can pray with confidence. Let’s analyze this text a bit and see exactly how we can have this confidence and what we should do with it.

If we ask, he hears. – V. 14

“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

This piece of the text refers to an absolute certainty about the outcome of a situation. Anyone who has a relationship with Christ has access to God. Anyone who has a relationship with Christ can speak to God in prayer and God will hear. This is an amazing promise; God hears his children pray. When someone accepts Christ as savior, they become co-heirs (brothers and sisters) to Christ and sons of God. 1 John 3:1 confirms this idea when it says, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called the children of God; and such we are.” If a child of God asks something of God, he or she can have absolute confidence that they will be heard. However, there is one catch. If they ask, it must be according to God’s will. How do we know God’s will? Romans 12:2 tells us that any person can prove God’s will by having a mind like His. The more a person becomes like Christ, the more they will understand God’s will. When you walk near God’s heart, you will know what he wants. If a Christian who walks with God prays according to God’s will, God will absolutely hear and answer them.

Tell me of one other place where you can have that kind of confidence? Even Fort Knox isn’t that secure. We find security in so many things such as money, relationships, and insurance. You know, so far as I can tell, car insurance has never replaced a life. House insurance has never replaced a life. Even life insurance has never replaced a life. Money cannot replace life either. Money disappears just as quickly as it appears. Relationships can fall apart if we rely too heavily upon them. Why? God has a place in life and each time we try to circumvent His way of doing things; those ways fail miserably. Only in God can we have confidence; especially absolute confidence.