BOLDNESS IN PRAYER
1 John 5:14-15
INTRO: One of the areas where the Lord wants us to have boldness is in prayer. Notice that he mentions confidence, or boldness, along with the subject of prayer. Prayer and Bible study go together. When we read the Bible, God talks to us; when we pray, we talk to God. I am no authority in the matter of prayer. In fact I’m not sure there are any authorities when it comes to prayer. You have to learn how to pray and you have to study the Bible and find what God says in the Bible about the matter of prayer. God does things in answer to the prayers of His children.
I. THE DIRECTION OF PRAYER (v. 14).
Notice the preposition, “in.” You could translate that phrase before Him, or face to face with Him. It is talking about the direction of prayer. John is reminding us that prayer is intimacy with God. We address our prayers to the heavenly Father.
Access. — God makes it possible for us to have access to Him in prayer. That’s one of the most astounding concepts in all the world. To think that the God of this whole universe, has encouraged those of us who are creatures of dust to come into His presence in prayer.
Asking. — Notice that several times in these two verses he talks about prayer in the context of asking and receiving. That’s the simplest and probably the best definition of prayer. There are many ways that you can describe prayer and there are many facets of prayer. Sometimes prayer is praise, sometimes thanksgiving. But fundamentally prayer is asking God. You and I have the privilege of coming into the presence of God and asking anything we want to ask. In fact we don’t get a lot of things because we don’t ask God (see James 4:2).
II. THE CONDITION OF PRAYER (v. 14).
The Scripture has put a condition on prayer. The Scripture has said you must ask according to His will. That’s why we ought to study the Bible constantly on the subject of prayer. As we study the Scriptures we find that there are certain conditions which must be met in order to get our prayers answered.
Ask Believing (Matthew 21:22). — We must have trust in God, we must believe God if we expect our prayers to be answered.
Ask In Jesus’ Name (John 14:13-14). — That’s why when we pray we pray in Jesus’ name. To pray in Jesus’ name is more than just tacking that on at the end of your prayer. When you pray in Jesus’ name, what you’re saying is, I believe that what I’m praying for is something that would be consistent with the name of Jesus.
Abide in Jesus (John 15:7). — To abide in Jesus means to be in fellowship with Him. The point being that if we’re in fellowship with Him then we would not ask for anything that would be displeasing to the Lord Jesus or that would hinder our fellowship with Him.
According to His Will (1 John 5:14). — When we pray and say, “If it be thy will,” it is more than an empty, meaningless phrase. When we pray according to His will it means that we are understanding the condition of prayer. That prayer must always be according to the will of God.
1. Desire God’s Will. When you come to God in prayer, your first desire must be that the will of God be done in your life. Usually our tendency is to go into the presence of God and have it already worked out. But that’s not the way the verse says you’re supposed to pray.
Do you know why Jesus always got His prayers answered? Because He always desired the will of God. Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.” Prayer is not getting my will done in heaven, it’s getting God’s will done on earth.
2. Discern the Will of God. How do you discern the will of God? Colossians 1:9 says we can be filled with the knowledge of His will. You discern the will of God in the Scriptures. There are some things in the Bible you don’t have to ask if it’s the will of God.
3. Do the Will of God. Remember what Jesus told us to pray in the model prayer? Jesus said when we pray we’re to pray, “Thy will be done.” God wants you to do His will. I want to ask you a question: If God, right here in this service, should reveal His will for you, would you do it? A lot of Christians think the will of God is like a cafeteria line, where you pick and choose what you want. You can’t expect to get your prayers answered if you’re not willing to do the will of God whatever that will is. If God revealed His will to you would you do it immediately?
III. THE FRUITION OF PRAYER (v. 15).
Here is the assurance of the answer. We can know that God is going to answer our prayer.
ILLUS: I heard of a traveler going through China who visited a temple where the people were making paper mud balls, wadding them up, and throwing them at an idol they were worshiping. If the mud ball stuck to the idol it meant that the idol would answer their prayers. If the mud ball didn’t stick it meant that their prayers weren’t answered.
Aren’t you glad we have a God who says that we can know we have our petitions answered? God will answer your prayer. In fact God will answer every prayer you ask. There’s several answers that God will give to your prayers.
Direct. — You ask God for it and, boom, you get it right on the spot. That happened to Elijah. Elijah knew that the people of God needed revival and that they had an evil king and queen, Ahab and Jezebel, so Elijah said, “God, shut up the heavens so there will be no rain,” and God answered. It was direct.
Delayed. — Sometimes you pray and the answer doesn’t come right then, it is delayed. That happened in the life of Abraham when he prayed for a son. Sometimes God delays the answer to prayer because He knows we’re not ready for the answer.
Different. — You ask God for one thing and God gives you something else. It happened to Abraham. Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael may live before thee.” But it wasn’t God’s plan that the answer be in Ishmael, it was God’s plan that the answer be in Isaac. Sometimes God’s answer is different. Every time God gives you something different than what you have asked Him it will always be better.
Denial. — Sometimes you ask God for something and God’s answer is no. Paul asked three times to have his thorn in flesh removed. God’s answer to Paul was no. But do you know what God told Paul? He said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And do you know what Paul said? He said I found out God’s grace is better than the answer that I’d requested. So you see, sometimes the answer to prayer is direct. Sometimes the answer to prayer is delayed. Other times the answer is different. Sometimes the answer is denial. But when you pray you can know that you’ll get your prayers answered.
CONC: There was a man marooned on an island who was desperately looking for a boat to come by and rescue him. After many days praying and asking God to send a boat to rescue him, he sighted a boat and his hopes were lifted. He ran out on the beach took some shirts and waved them to get the attention of the boat. But they didn’t see his shirts signaling to them and went on by. He was so downhearted and so downcast he began to accuse God. “God, why didn’t you answer my prayer? God, why didn’t they see me?” As he walked back to the hut he had constructed, he saw that the hut had caught on fire and was going up in smoke. He said, “Now, God, what have you done? The boat passed by and missed me and the hut that I’m living in has burned down.” About that time he heard the boat coming back. When he was rescued he asked them, “Why did you come back? They said, Well, we got your signal.” He said, “No, you didn’t get my signal. I waved my shirts until I was exhausted, you didn’t get my signal.” They said, “We saw the fire you built to let us know that you were there.”
NOTE: This message is a revision of a sermon preached by my late father Ted Wood. It appears (though I can’t be certain) that he may have used Warren Wiersbe’s book "Be Real" for some of his inspiration.
