Introduction

1 John 5:14-15: "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to
His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we have asked of Him."
Today we are examining a single verse from 1 John, chapter 5, that is loaded with meaning and calls
for action on the part of God's people involving prayer. Remember that 1 John was written by the
Apostle John, who was very familiar with prayer from two perspectives.
First, he was very acquainted with the prayer life of Jesus.
John was one of the three disciples in the inner circle of Christ and thus he saw Jesus as He prayed in
private and in public. When we look at Christ in great detail, we see that His life was a life of prayer.
John observed that firsthand as a disciple of our Lord. Jesus chose twelve disciples, but read the story
more closely and you will see that He had spent all night in prayer before He chose them. In other
words, what Jesus taught us about prayer, He practiced - John saw Jesus praying, heard Jesus praying,
and was taught by Jesus to pray.
John, along with Peter and James, was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was
transfigured in glorious light. The Bible says Christ rose before the light of day, while the disciples
were sleeping, and went to pray as was his custom. That means that it was a way of life for Jesus to
skip sleep in order to pray more fervently and frequently. Even when Jesus was on the cross, He was
praying. So, when John speaks on this subject, he knows what he is talking about.
You and I can never be what the Lord desires us to be unless we are people of prayer. That brings me
to the second aspect of John’s prayer life.
John had a personal, powerful life of prayer.
John knew that prayer was vital for the Christian to overcome the world, to live in assurance, and for
the believer to fulfill the purposes of God in this life. I have little doubt that the greatest need of the
modern Christian is the faithful practice of prayer. I did not say that the modern believer needs to know
more about prayer. The disciples did not say to Christ, “Teach us ABOUT prayer,” rather they said,
“Teach us TO PRAY.” We don’t need to know more about prayer, we simply need to pray.
In the ligth of the days in which we are living - with the Covid still ravaging the lives of so many
famillies - our nation so divided – the recent encounter of the New People Army and the Philippine
army , we need to pray. With the gospel and the Bible under attack, we need to pray. With so many
people in need of power to find purpose, to overcome struggles, to save marriages, and to find peace,
we simply must PRAY. With churches in decline and less people by percentage denying faith in God,
we need prayer.
So I want to bring a message today that I trust will prompt us to pray. John addresses the subject of our
confidence in prayer.
OUR CONFIDENCE IN APPROPRIATING FROM GOD IN PRAYER
John tells us that we can have confidence so that we will have what we ask for. Here are three great truths for us.

A. A Promise is Presented
God gives us this promise - He will hear us and He will answer us. Now, isn't that wonderful? He will do all He promised
to do in His Word and He promised to hear and answer those who pray. This is not wishing or guessing, this is God’s
promise. Why do we not pray more frequently and more powerfully? Is it because we do not have confidence in God and
in His gift of prayer to us? I suspect that it is this lack of faith and confidence that keeps the average Christian from
spending time in prayer.
A promise is presented to those who pray, but also note ...

B. A Presence is Perceived
John says that God hears us when we pray. Think of how close you have to be to hear someone talking. Think of how
much closer you have to be to hear someone whispering. But think of how close you would have to be to hear someone
thinking! The Bible tells us that Hannah prayed without making any sound and God heard her and answered her (1
Samuel 1:13 "Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought
she was drunk.") Wow! God even hears private, silent prayers. That is how close God is to those who call upon Him.
Paul spoke of this in Philippians 4:4-13. He said that the God of peace is with us when we pray and when we trust Him in
prayer. Don't you want to get close enough to God to get down to the business of praying? If only we all knew how
faithful God is to answer prayer, we would pray more frequently and fervently.
Note also, that ...

C. A Peace is Produced
Yes, there is a great peace that comes when you have confidence in God through prayer. That is why Paul also says that
the peace of God is with those who pray with faith and faithfulness (Philippians 4:4-6). God wants us to have the peace
that comes from knowing that He hears us and will answer us when we call upon Him.

Conclusion
Prayer is the most powerful force in the world. The church has the power to change the course of history through prayer.
At the end of the Korean War in the 1950s, a number of Korean Christians built bleachers facing the 38th Parallel, the
dividing line between the Communist North Korea and free South Korea. Daily they sat in those bleachers and prayed for
God to protect them. As a result, millions of Koreans have become Christians. The largest local church in the world exists
in Seoul, South Korea. North Korea has never been successfully able to attack South Korea again, though they have
sought to draw up plans for an attack again and again. Even today, North Koreans are literally starving to death, while
South Korea enjoys great financial wealth. South Korea has even sent missionaries to America to witness to us in our own
country. Prayer can change the course of history. America and our churches need the prayers of godly Christians right
now - now, as much as ever before!
Our families need prayer. Our teens need prayer. Our churches need pray.
Our preachers need prayer. Our leaders need prayer. Our schools need prayer.
Dear people of God, we all need to pray sincerely and faithfully.

Prayer was offered by the people prayed in Egypt, God heard their cries and delivered them - Exodus 2:23.
Prayer was offered at the Red Sea and a passage was opened - Exodus 14:10-15.
Prayer brought victory over Amalek in the wilderness - Exodus 17:11.
Prayer caused the sun to stand still for Joshua - Joshua 10:12-15.
Prayer gave Samson back his strength to defeat the Philistines - Judges 16:28.
Prayer gave a son to Hannah named Samuel and changed a nation - 1 Samuel 1:11, 20.
Prayer brought wisdom to Solomon - 1 Kings 3:5-14.
Prayer plugged up the sky so it did not rain for 3 ½ years - James 5:17.
Prayer brought down fire on Mt. Carmel - 1 Kings 18:36.
Prayer added 15 years to Hezekiah’s life - 2 Kings 6:17.
Prayer delivered Jonah from the Great Fish - Jonah 2:1, 10.
Prayer saved Peter from sinking in the Sea of Galilee - Matthew 14:35
Prayer brought an earthquake to Philippi and saved Paul and Silas - Acts 16:26
Tennyson said it well, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
Someone said, “The promise of the fruit of heaven will drop down in our laps when we shake the tree of promise with the
hand of prayer.”
To become great in prayer, we must simply pray greatly. We must pray and not give up. We must pray and inspect our
lives to see that we are not creating obstructions to answered prayer.
The first and most important prayer a person can pray is, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” If you do not know Him as
your Lord and Savior, turn from your own way, your sin, and trust Jesus who died for your redemption and rose for your
justification. Also, many here today have loved ones who need the Lord. Would you pray for them? Surely you have done
so. But, would you pray for them in this very service. Perhaps today is the day of answered prayer for a loved one to be
saved, for a job for the unemployed, for a healing of the body, for guidance in an important choice, and for God’s work to
explode and expand across our nation.
LET US PRAY!

“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.” (1 John
5:14-15)
Praying for things that are in agreement with God’s will is the essence of praying in Jesus’ name; and it is important that
we pray with words that accurately express the words that the Holy Spirit inspires us to say.
Some believers think any request that concludes with the words “in Jesus name,” will automatically be fulfilled, but
praying in Jesus’ name is not a guarantee for our wishes to be granted. It is true that Jesus promised to do whatever we
ask in His name (John 14:14); however, we cannot base our concept of prayer on this one verse without considering the
context and other teachings on the subject throughout Scripture. If we do this it leads to confusion and disappointment
when God doesn’t answer our prayers as we expect.
Praying in Jesus’ name means asking according to His will so the Father will be glorified in the Son as stated in John
14:13.
Oftentimes, unanswered prayer is not about God’s unwillingness to respond but has to do with requests made with
wrong motives or limited perspective. We should keep three things in mind:
 First, we must make wise requests. When we ask according to God’s will, we have confidence that He’ll
answer our requests (1 John 5:14-15). The purpose of prayer is not to pressure God to do what we want,
but to submit to His desires because He knows what is best for us.
  Second, our prayers should be according to correct motives, because selfish motives will not be blessed
by God. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend
what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
 Third, we are to trust God’s perspective. As we submit to His will and pray according to His word, we
need to be patient knowing that the Father knows the time and place for everything. And as we
continue praying, we start thanking Him and waiting for the answer with faith, because the Lord knows
what we need and what is best for us.
Never give up on prayer, and as you present your requests, ask the Lord to reveal if you’re hindering His answer in some
way because “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). Remember, prayer is about His will,
not ours