”And this the boldness is which we are having toward Him, that if anything we may be asking according to the desire of Him, He is hearing us.”
-Certainty breeds boldness. Confidence. It grows and flows from a heart which is fully assured before the Lord. When we know for sure that we are in the Son, that we are having trusted in Him and have entered into this eternal, ever-present relationship with Him, this inspires confidence. It is the house built not on shifting sand but on the Rock, and this idea has been recurring throughout this letter (cf 1John 2.28, 3.19, 3.21, 4.17). Confidence/boldness in judgment. Confidence in His presence. But the confidence John is thinking about here - while it is tied to assurance in our relationship with God - is not directly about being confident THAT we have a relationship with Him. Specifically, knowing that God loves us and accepts us totally and forever through Christ gives us confidence in our praying. The word John uses here in the Greek is “boldness”, and remember, boldness is for speaking. In this case, we are speaking to God. It is about our praying, asking of Him. What do you think bold prayers would look like?
-”IF” we ask, John says. If we ask. Surely it begins here. We do not have ‘cuz we do not ask, right (James 4.2)? Surely the Lord is saddened by the dearth of our praying, a little dab’ll do ya, so much meat left on the bone. We throw up a little dash of prayer for favor, praying not without ceasing but rather with much ceasing (1Thessalonians 5.17). Without a doubt our shortcomings in this matter are in part due to the fact that we LACK confidence. Surely the Lord is sitting there, our gracious generous heavenly Father, leaning forward in His chair, smiling and just waiting for us to come to Him with our request. Dad, please do this. Dad, You can do all things, nothing is too difficult for You - please do this. If only we would start asking, do more asking, surely we would see more answers. And answered prayer is contagious, isn’t it? That alone inspires confidence and emboldens us to keep at it!
-And yes, bold prayers use the imperative. Just like the prayers of God’s people in Scripture. Look back at those (Acts 4.29-30, Matthew 6.11, 1Kings 18.36-37), look at the language they use. They pray in the imperative. Pretty much always. Not, “Lord I just pray that You would do this.” Think about that - first of all, who ever talks like that to a real person? Who asks of anyone using words like that? But secondly, suppose we get rid of the jargon and focus on the could and the would. This is called the subjunctive mood, the mood of verbs expressing what is imagined or wished or hoped for. It is tantamount to saying, “Lord, I hope You will do this.” “Lord, I wish You would give us our daily bread.” Uh uh. That is not at all how Jesus taught us to pray, nor is it anything like how the early church prayed. That is not how they rolled. Lord, do this. Lord, take note of their threats and extend Your hand. Lord, give us our daily bread. Lord, today let it be known and answer me. They don’t even say please. Bold. They are asking, but it sounds more like telling. The imperative is like that. It is not forcing someone’s will - they can choose to say no. Rather it is confidently appealing to their will.
-Now the confidence here specifically stems from a guarantee that God. Hears. Us. He is hearing our prayers. Heard in heaven (2Chronicles 6.38-40). Have you ever prayed and felt like your prayer just bounced off the ceiling, that no one was listening? Isn’t much of our lack of effort in this area due to the fact that we can easily feel like no one hears us? That so many of our prayers go unanswered? Being heard in heaven - I mean, that’s what we want, right (cf Deuteronomy 33.7, Psalm 27.7, Daniel 9.19)? We want to make sure that our voice is heard on high by the Almighty (Isaiah 58.4). Or do we? ‘Cuz clearly this is no slam dunk (Isaiah 59.2). But let’s assume that most of us would love to know that our Dad has heard us, that He is listening, don’t we ? And Dad hearing us kind of implies a favorable response, right? So, turns out there is a massive ‘if’ clause attached to the confidence here...
-Asking according to His will. According to His desires, what He wants. John says, IF we ask anything according to what God wants. IF - we need to fulfill this condition, if we want to be sure that God hears us. Paul points us in the right direction, asking the Lord to FILL the Colossians with a knowledge of what He wants (Colossians 1.9). And of course, when you are filled with something, that thing controls you and changes your behavior. We can do this too, ask the Lord to fill us (and others) with a knowledge of what He wants. But this brings us to a place in our relationship with God where we not only know what He wants but we want what He wants. What He wants so consumes us that it controls us and changes our behavior. And what does God want, exactly? What does He desire? How about humble hearts (cf James 4.10) and seeking His face (Deuteronomy 4.29, Psalm 27.4) and turning from self (cf 2Chronicles 7.14)? How about seeking and wanting what He wants (Matthew 6.33, 7.7)? For starters. But so we’re not simply praying and asking for and expecting to get what we want. Things which we would spend on our selfish desires (James 4.3). We can do this, of course, ask for things we want. But let’s be perfectly clear that we’re not talking about some heavenly vending machine, where we just put in our quarter and push a button and out comes our snack. God is not this divine ATM Who exists just to dole out cash and blessings and whatever we want just to make us happy. To be sure, He IS doling out confidence, but in the end, it is and needs to be all about what He wants. Mark 14.36 is instructive - Jesus there uses the imperative in asking the Lord for something which He clearly wants (to not have to be crucified), but affirms in the end that He wants what His Father wants. More than anything. Brothers and sisters, by all means, let us pray, but let us begin here, with setting our desires on more fully on Him...
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