1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us:… Faith towards God in Jesus Christ is the essential activity of the Christian religion. Salvation begins where faith begins. When man opens his hand to receive, God opens His to give. Again, prayer is the essential function of faith — its natural activity. Prayer comes from faith, from the confidence we have in Him. Let us see, then, what is the confidence on which prayer is founded. I. That if we ask anything, HE HEARETH US — that it is possible to make known our thoughts, feelings, and desires to God. I cannot believe that He who built the cells of hearing is Himself deaf; nor that amid the myriad eyes His hands fashioned, and in the blaze of all the suns kindled by His power, God alone is blind! No, it is infinitely more consonant to right reason to believe with John that He heareth us. II. Yes, no doubt He can; but WILL He? Will He pay any attention to the woes and the wants of so insignificant a creature as man is? Well, shifting the emphasis one word on, I say, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, that He heareth us — men and women with nothing special about them except their mere humanity. God Himself, by His love, has proved the greatness and value of man. III. That if we ask ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." I said that without faith in God's being and intellect prayer would be impossible; and now I say that without this saving clause — without the confidence that God only grants petitions which accord with His own will — prayer would be dangerous. What could be more fatal than for the power of God to be at the disposal of human caprice? But, thank God, He will not yield. God is inexorable. Love always is inexorable. The doctor's child wishes to have the run of the surgery, that he may play with the keen blades and taste of every coloured powder and potion; and the servant may yield to his importunities, simply because her love is weak; but the father is inexorable, deaf, unyielding. Why? Because he loves his child intensely. I can venture to draw near to God; it is safe, because I have this confidence in God that He will not yield to me against His own wisdom and will. He is inexorable for my highest good. But God's refusal of one thing always means a grant of something better. "According to His will." Why so? Because nothing that is not on a level with that will is good enough for thee. (J. M. Gibbon.) Parallel Verses KJV: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: |
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