God Hears Your Prayer
Passage to read: 1 John 05
And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence:
that if we ask God for anything
that agrees with what He wants, He hears us.
If we know He hears us every time we ask Him,
we know we have what we ask from Him.
( 1 John 5: 14, 15 - NCV)
Even after so many years of praying, this important question may be lingering somewhere in your mind. "Is God listening to my prayers?" Even though you have heard from many people the wonderful ways in which God answered their prayers, you are still having this important question because you still have not realised it personally in your life, and you want to see that happening. You want to feel the touch of the miraculous way in which God will answer your prayer, and you have been waiting for a while to share that feeling with others.
This long wait, without an answer from God, has now begun to push you further to the edge of searching the answer for this question. Sometimes you are losing the control. You finally end up asking the same question. "Why is my Lord not answering my prayer? Is my Lord listening to my prayers?" Let me turn your concentration to the verses from the Bible that we have chosen to meditate on. I found something new here, and let me share that with you.
As you pray and wait at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, you must be aware that our loving God, full of compassion, is indeed listening to each and every cry of your heart. He understands every single yearning that is deep down in your mind. He sees each tear that falls. And He hears every request that "agrees with what He wants" - He hears you when you ask anything according to His will (1 John 5: 14). Isn't that teaching us a wonderful secret? Yes. The secret behind an answered prayer is to first see that your request is something that agrees with what God wants in your life - it should be according to His will. And this assurance is a conditional one. It begins with a very powerful 'if.' "And 'if' we ask God anything with what He agrees, then He hears us." Anything that you ask Him according to His will in your life, God hears that prayer. And this synchronization of the two sides of this 'if' is the confidence - the boldness, we enjoy in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the assurance we have in His presence when we know His will in our life.
The assurance that what you ask the Lord is according to His will, gives you the confirmation that you already have received what you asked for. The following verse that we are focusing on today tells us "If we know He hears us every time we ask Him, we know we have what we ask from Him" (1 John 5: 15). If you are assured that God has listened to your prayer, then you can confirm within yourself in faith that God is granting what you asked for. So the message is very clear. Three steps.
Spend time with God in knowing what He wants you to do in your life for Him.
Ask anything that is according to His will in your life - anything that God agrees with, in His will.
Be assured He has listened to such a prayer and he hears your request.
Be confident that the Lord will grant your request because your prayer was according to His will and He heard you.
And that is the boldness, the confidence, we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that God will lead you into a time of reflection where you look back and see whether you are living this life, planned your itinerary and built up the yearnings in your heart according to His will. And when that is in synchronization with God's greater plan for you, then you know He hears you and you are assured that you will receive what you asked for.
May God bless you and grant the yearnings of your heart according to His will.
Yours in Christ,
"He Hears Your Heart"
