With Confidence We Can Approach God!

1John 5: 13 – 15

This confidence that John speaks about is a direct result of our assurance … in other words

Our assurance can be seen in the confidence we

Express by approaching the Father

The Truth that God hears our prayers was stated in 1 John 3: 22 this verse in 1John 5: 13 - 15 is not clarifying that truth it is addressing the condition in which our prayers are heard. I will get into that a little more but first I would like to address a few miss conceptions people have regarding prayer.

1) Can we go directly to God?

Some religions would have you believe that you need to direct your prayers to a saint or the mother of our Savior and it is those folks who will deliver your message to God for you. In 1John 5: 14 John clearly says “this is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” as a child of God because of the work of Jesus we KNOW we have eternal life and this confidence is seen in the very act of approaching God. The veil is torn we do not need a messenger to deliver our requests to the father we can go to him directly because of the work of Jesus we have been adopted into the family and we can talk to daddy anytime ~ actually we are encouraged to talk to him ALL the time 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 – 18 says rejoice always, pray continually give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

2) I prayed, didn't get what I asked for so God didn't answer

This is a big one! If you have felt this way trust me you are not alone I would venture to say that this little twist on scripture in the hearts of humanity is one of Satan’s biggest tools in keeping us from seeking God in prayer.

Ill: I cant even begin to tell you how many times Matt and I have piled all the kids into our huge van, been out running errands and from the very back of the van comes the voice of our daughter … Daddy! Daddy! Did you see that pink car? I want a car like that! Can we get one please Daddy please! To which I am pleased to announce her daddy said NO! … it does not mean that her inquiry failed or landed on deaf ears it just means daddy said no

Prayer is an invitation for communication not an opportunity to command God. Don't loose sight of the true gift… it is not that we get stuff the true gift is actually being able to go to our father confessing our every need and knowing that he hears every word.

3) Other people seem to get what they ask for but I don’t think God is listening to me.

We have a tendency to view Christians on different levels. Possible examples would be: God hears the pastors prayers cuz he is closer to God than I am … or … Of course you have seen answered prayers you have been a Christian longer than me … God tells us in Galatians 3: 28 there is neither Jew, nor Gentile, neither slave nor free nor is their male or female for you are all one in Christ. We put this on ourselves God is not the one to make these separations when it comes to our prayer time with him. We are the ones that judge and categorize like this.

Ill: My year and a half son will come running from the other side of the room if he sees someone else sitting on my lap, he gets so upset not because he loves me so much he is worried they are hurting me but in his little mind he can not understand how I can love both him and them

I think we all have a tendency to do this exact thing ~ Oh God loves you more than me … Oh he listens to you but I don’t think he listens to me and ALL of this is a lie! God loves us equally and personally. He hears ME, He loves ME He knows the number of hairs on my head as compared to the number on YOURS meaning he has counted BOTH! Don’t ever allow the enemy to cause you to think that you hold any less value to God than any of his other kiddos he loves YOU, ME ALL of US deeply, passionately and eternally! To believe anything else is to believe a lie.

4) People tend to see God as the “Great Piñata” in the sky