If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

⁵ Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? ⁶ This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹ If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. ¹⁰ The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. ¹¹ And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother or sister committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that. ¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

¹⁸ We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. ¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

²¹ Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

In John 14:13-14 Jesus says: “Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” There is power and authority in the name of Jesus. Philippians 2:10-11 says: At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Still, the power and the authority in Jesus name is not something we should presume on. Consider the account of Acts 19:11-16: God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” Now there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this. But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  It requires more than just naming the name of Jesus. In today’s text it says:  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.  In addition to the authority of Jesus name, we need to pray according to His will.

If we pray God’s word, we know that we pray according to what He said. That does not always mean though that it is His will for the time. Jesus taught us to pray saying: Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  If we truly want to see the realities of heaven manifested on earth, we need to see from heavens perspective. The vision of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-3 gives us insight into what we will see if we see from heavens view.  In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory.”  When we look from heaven’s view, through the lens of the glory of God we see His glory on earth. In John 19:30, when Jesus was on the cross, the final words He cried out were: “It is finished!” Jesus fully accomplished everything we could need or want at that moment. It is finished in heaven. What we want then, is to see and experience earth from heaven’s perspective.

We need to understand that God is not subject to or limited by finite time as we are. He knows the beginning and the end. In Revelation 1:8 He says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Jesus himself speaks of the importance of knowing both the will and the timing of the Father. In John 5:19-20 Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.”   We need to see what the father is doing and here what He is saying in this time, in His time. Knowing whatever we need is already finished in eternity, we need to know God’s will for the present. Hebrews 4:14-16 says: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.  Let us have confidence knowing that all that we need is already finished in the cross. Let us walk in God’s grace until we see the finished work of the cross manifested in the circumstances and situations on earth.

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.