“REAL CONFIDENCE BUILDERS” 1 John 5:14-15
FBCF – 8/23/23 REFRESH
Jon Daniels
INTRO – T’giving my favorite holiday.But should not reserve our expressions of thankfulness to just one day out of 365. Thankful that “Our God is an Awesome God!”
One of the greatest things we have to be thankful for as children of God is the truth that we belong to a Heavenly Father who desires to have an intimate, personal relationship w/ us. And in that relationship, He desires for us to come to Him in prayer. And He desires to answer our prayers & move on our behalf. We should be thankful of the great confidence we can possess in approaching God in prayer.
In most of our experiences in life, our confidence grows as we repeat certain activities – Learning to drive, shoot a gun, play a sport, play a musical instrument, cook.
- Snow skiing – Ski school. Then kept trying, learning, failing & falling. But not giving up until I got it & could enjoy it.
Same is true in prayer. “…certain requirements must…be met if the art of prayer is to be acquired. In the main, they are two: practice & perseverance. W/out practice no Christian will become a real man or woman of prayer. And practice cannot be attained w/out perseverance.” (O.Hallesby, Prayer, p. 42).
Let’s look at this Scripture passage & discover the confidence-builders that He gives to us in our prayer life.
CONFIDENCE-BUILDER #1: Our God is approachable – v. 14a
Ever known someone who seems unapproachable?
- Status & position seemed too high for you to reach
- Personality didn’t mesh w/ yours
- Made themselves scarce – did not provide opportunities for you to approach them
Our God is not like that! Scripture teaches us this great confidence-builder that He is approachable! He has made Himself approachable!
- Jesus’ death on cross opened the way for us to have access to God – Mark 15:37-38 – “W/ a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last. The curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
- A personal rel w/ Jesus gives us open access to God – Ephesians 3:12 – “In Him & through faith in Him, we may approach God w/ freedom & confidence.”
- The book of Hebrews teaches us about this great confidence-builder:
o Hebrews 4:14-16
o Hebrews 10:19-22
Our God is approachable! What a great confidence-builder in our faith in our lives!
- He’s not playing some game of spiritual “hide & seek” w/ us.
- “God is not a spiritual grocery boy who puts the blessings on the kitchen table but leaves our lives alone.” (Frank Pollard)
- No! He is approachable. He has made this possible for us b/c He so desires to be intimately & actively involved in every one of our lives.
Conditions for approaching God:
- Come in humility – 1 Peter 5:6 – “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
- Come in confession – Psalm 66:18 – “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
- Come in t’giving & praise – “Prayer has a gate. We can best prayer by means of the gate. That gate is t’giving. Prayer has a court, a porch. That porch is praise. We are to ‘enter His gates w/ t’giving & into His courts w/ praise.’ (Ps. 100:4).” (Jack Taylor, Prayer: Life’s Limitless Reach, p. 125).
CONFIDENCE-BUILDER #2 – We can ask Him for anything – v. 14b
What? You serious? Ask Him for anything? Sure you can, as long as you meet one requirement that He places on your request: that you ask “according to His will.”
- Knew there was a catch – Too good to be true.
Not a catch – Not too good to be true. But is the key to our prayer life, & to our ENTIRE life – knowing God’s will.
All sorts of ideas about God’s will.
- It is lost. We must search for it. He’s like a divine Easter bunny & has hidden His will like Easter eggs. Have to run through life looking for it – “You’re getting warmer!”
- We find God’s will by chance. Running down street, slip on banana peel, land on a map of Africa – “Thank you, Lord, for that clear leading! I’ll go to Africa!”
- Some afraid of God’s will – Read story of athlete not wanting to commit life to Christ b/c he was afraid of what God would make him do – play the flute or be a ballerina for the rest of his life.
- Brass ring mentality – It’s nice to get the prize. But if not, just settle for an iron one or a plastic one. I.e., don’t really run to win. Just settle for whatever happens.
3 aspects of God’s will:
- God’s Sovereign Will
o Perfect will & plan
o Jesus’ death
o His allowing Satan to have control of world system
o Sometimes hard to understand, but, ultimately, will not be defeated.
- God’s Stated Will
o Found in Word of God
o Can be defeated by our free will & our ability to choose whether or not we will follow His will as found in Bible
o 2 Peter 3:9 tells us it’s not God’s will that any should perish & that His will is that everyone come to repentance – But every single day people die w/out Christ.
o We know that, according to God’s Word, we are called to be His witnesses – but day after day we keep our mouths closed.
- God’s Specific Will
o Very personal
o Not outside His stated will & will never lead us to do something that is contrary to His Word.
How to know God’s specific will for your life – Colossians 1:9 – “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.”
- Salvation – “It is God’s will that men be saved. If you are stumbling around in life & tossing up some periodic prayers to God but have never come on your knees to the foot of the cross & met Jesus Christ, then you are not even in the beginning of God’s will.” (John MacArthur, Found: God’s Will, p. 11)
o He leads His own – “…He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice..”
- Spirit-filled – Holy Spirit came into our lives the moment we accepted Christ. Now we have everything we need to live the Christian life – power, love, grace, strength, guidance, etc. Now we are to live each day yielded to His Spirit.
o Glove illus – “Glove, go play piano.” Put hand in glove & go do it. The glove does not ask the hand to lead it. Spirit-filled people don’t stumble around trying to find out what God wants. They just do it.
- Sanctified & Submissive – Must live a life of purity & holiness.
o Robert Murray McCheyne at ordination of Dan Edwards – “Mr. Edwards…do not forget that inner man, the heart. The cavalry officer knows that his life depends on his saber, so he keeps it clean. Every stain he wipes off w/ the greatest care. Mr. Edwards, you are God’s chosen instrument. According to your purity, so shall be your success. It is not great talent; it is not great ideas that God uses; it is great likeness to Jesus Christ. Mr. Edwards, a holy man is an awesome instrument in the hand of God.”
- When these 3 things are in place in your life, then do whatever you want to do.
- If you’re saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified & submissive, who is running your life & your desires? God is!
- Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the Lord & He will give you the desires of your heart.”
- No need to stop everything & try to figure out what God’s will is. If you are meeting these conditions, then keep moving, trusting Him to keep His promises to you.
CONFIDENCE-BUILDER #3: Our God will give us what we ask for – v. 15
Our responsibility is to get ourselves in position to ask the right things. In response to that, God’s promise is to answer our requests & give us what we have asked for. Why? B/c it will be what He desires anyhow!
- “God desires to give us direction in our prayers. He has promised in His Word to do so. Our responsibility is to seek His direction through Scripture. Once we have found His promise to us, we must dig in & wait while thanking Him for what is already ours. For ‘if God be for us’ in our prayers, who or what can stand against us?” (Charles Stanley, Handle with Prayer, p. 80).
