Our text for this morning is 1 John 5:14-17. Next week we will have our last message from 1 John. If you’ve been with us, you would know that John is quite concerned with helping his readers know how to tell apart those who belong to God and those who don’t belong to God.
This morning, John wants to remind us that if we belong to God, we can have confidence in making requests of God. We call this prayer.
Jay Kesler, in his book, Raising Responsible Kids, records one of his prayer experiences. He writes, "Shortly after I got my driver’s license I was driving too close to the middle of a narrow road and I sideswiped another car. The crash tore the front fender, two doors, and the rear fender from my dad’s car. After I found out everyone was okay, I stood in the ditch and prayed, ’Dear God, I pray this didn’t happen.’
He continues, "I opened my eyes and saw that the car was still wrecked, so I closed my eyes, squinted real hard, and prayed again, ’Dear God, it didn’t happen.’ Then I opened my eyes, but it happened anyway."
This kind of prayer experience can lead one to think, "Why even pray?" Does prayer really work? Why do some prayers seem to get answered and others do not? John has some answers for us in this morning’s text.
Let me read 1 John 5:14-17.
Steve Brown is fond of saying, "Non-Christians don’t pray, because they’re afraid God is there. Christians don’t pray because they’re afraid God is not there, and they don’t want to lose their faith." John encourages us to pray and to approach God confidently, because God is there.
But John does more than tell us to pray. He tells us what to pray for and what not to pray for. These are what I call the two keys to effective prayer. Let’s look together.
The first key to effective prayer is to ask according to God’s will. We see this in verses 14-15.
Many people have a great deal of misconceptions about prayer. God is not a celestial vending machine that gives what we ask, when we put money in the offering box. God is not a heavenly genie who grants us three wishes when we rub Him in the right direction. If we belong to God, we are His children, and He, our Heavenly Father.
And a good Father does not give everything the child asks for. A Danish proverb notes, "Give to a pig when it grunts and a child when he cries, and you will have a fine pig and a bad child." God is raising children, not pigs.
John says that our confidence in approaching God comes from knowing that God only gives us what is in His will. When we don’t know God’s will, prayer becomes a time of learning God’s will.
E. Stanley Jones illustrated this point when he said, "If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God. "
Now we can learn about God’s will in prayer, but we can only pray effectively when we ask according to God’s will. Let me say that again, "We can learn about God’s will in prayer, but we can only pray effectively when we ask according to God’s will.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 6:9-10, "Pray like this: `Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. May your kingdom come soon. May your Will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven (NLT)."
In Matthew 26:42 Jesus himself prayed as he faced his pending crucifixion, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup [of suffering] to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done (NIV)."
For us to pray effectively, we must pray according to God’s will. And God has made His will known to us through His Word, the Bible.
So, for us to pray effectively, we must know what God says in the Bible. There is no shortcut. Wisdom and maturity comes with investing time in knowing the person and will of God. The sooner you settle this fact for yourself, the sooner you can take the Bible seriously.
Bill Hybels, in his book, Too Busy Not to Pray, wrote, "If the request is wrong, God says, ’No.’ If the timing is wrong, God says, ’Slow ’[slow down]. If you are wrong, God says, ’Grow’ [grow in right character and attitude]. But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, ’Go!’ [He grants the request]"
The first key to effective prayer is to ask according to God’s will. The second key to effective prayer is to agree with God’s judgment. We see this in verses 16-17.
John is saying we ought to spend our time praying for those whose sin does not lead to death. Pray that they will confess their sins to God and ask for forgiveness.
John has told us what to pray for in verses 14 and 15. Pray for God’s will to be done. In verses 16 and 17, John is telling us what not to pray for. Don’t pray for a believer whose sin leads to death.
John is talking about a believer, when he says, "If anyone sees his brother...." So a certain kind of sin in the life of a believer leads to death.
But we need to understand that this death John talks about is physical death, which ends our earthly life. John is not talking about the second death, which occurs in hell.
Revelation 20:14-15 tell us, "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
Anyway, John basically says that effective prayer doesn’t waste time with those whom God has judged to die physically for their sins. We see two examples in the New Testament of God’s judgment of sin leading to death.
Acts 5:1-10 records the story of Ananias and Sapphira, "Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, [also] sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"
"Yes," she said, "that is the price."
Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband."
John would say, "Don’t pray for Ananias and Sapphira." Their sin led to death.
In 1 Corinthians 11:27-32, Paul warns against taking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep [died]. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world."
The Bible records certain sins result in physical death as a judgment of God. For this kind of sin, John says we should not pray. We have many brothers and sisters for whom we can and should pray. Effective prayer doesn’t waste time or energy disagreeing with God’s judgment.
But we can pray for those who are selfish to be more generous, those who are bitter to have gratitude and forgiveness, and those who are gossiping to have self-controlled. We are responsible to pray for our brothers and sisters so they can experience the abundant life God wants to give them.
Christianity Today quoted from C.S. Lewis in The World’s Last Night, "Some things are proved by the unbroken uniformity of our experiences. The law of gravitation is established by the fact that, in our experience, all bodies without exception obey it. Now even if all the things that people prayed for happened, which they do not, this would not prove what Christians mean by the efficacy of prayer. For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted.
Effective prayer is not getting what you ask for every time. The morning, John tells us that effective prayer involves asking according to God’s will, and agreeing with God’s judgment.
