Effective Prayer - 1 John 5: 14-15

0:52Let me just read those words to you in verses 14 and 15. 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. John takes all of his thoughts regarding assurance, being in a right relationship with God. He brings these thoughts to a pinnacle. And it involves prayer, effective prayer. John wants his people to be effective prayers. In fact, I would say today one of the greatest needs of the church is effective prayer. Prayer that actually accomplishes something.

1:55I think we've all been in If you've been in the church long enough, you've probably seen some very atrocious things happen under the auspices of prayer, right? It can become a good medium for gossip. It can become a good medium for a lot of things other than effectual accomplishment. But we need to know how to effectively pray. In fact, God wants you to know how to effectively pray. See, we not only need to know how to effectively pray, then we need to do so. My prayer for this church is that we will become a church that knows how to effectively pray.

2:46In fact, our whole schedule, our whole routine that we've set up this summer is to promote effectual prayer. If you've been with us for any kind of time here at Emmanuel, you'll know through The years we have tried to create an environment where effectual prayer would happen. But a question: why is it difficult for us to pray regularly? Why is it difficult for us to pray systematically, whether that be in private or in corporate with our brothers and sisters? It's one thing that I think churches struggle with the most, and even privately, effectual prayer, consistent prayer. I mean, why is it difficult? I mean, think about it. We need prayers, right?

3:39We know that other people need our prayers. We also know that God wants us to pray. We also, just a casual reading of the Gospels shows us that Jesus prayed and he taught his disciples how to pray and he exhorted his disciples how to pray. So why is it so difficult for us to pray regularly, systematically, and effectively? Well, I believe many of us do not know really how to pray effectively. And it's clear from our text this morning that John prayed effectively. Let me read those words again. Listen to this. This is the confidence which we have before him.

4:30We 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. I don't know about you, but I would sure like for someone like that to be praying for me, right? And be praying for our church and be praying for our nation, right? But where does this confidence come from? Where does John's confidence come from? Well, very simple. From union with eternal life and from knowing that God hears us.

5:10From the assurance of eternal life, which comes from union with Him, and from knowing that God hears us. That's where John's confidence came from. And he shows us these two elements of effectual prayer so that you and I would pray more effectively. And so that's what we want to look at this morning: effective prayer. And two elements of this effective prayer. So just statements, statements of truth, just based upon these passages. Number one, effective prayer is consistent with the personality of eternal life.

5:49Effective prayer is consistent with the personality of eternal life. If you'll remember what we just read in verse 13, just looking at last time, these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. So, knowing that you have eternal life, knowing that you are in union with life itself, life is a person, right? Eternal life. We looked at that last time. Knowing that you are in union with eternal life is the basis of effectual prayer. Life isn't just about number of days, it is about a quality of life, the eternal kind of life.

6:35It's a person. Jesus said, I am the truth. I am the life. I am the way. I am the life. The truth, the life. He's a person. And the one who has received the Son of God, that is, the one who has received his name, Jesus, has received life. The one who has received the name of the Son of God has received life. He is the very life of God Himself. And the Son of God has all authority in heaven and on earth. And knowing that you are in union with Him does much for your prayers. Did for John.

7:27And as we looked at last time, you You know him. If you are in him, you know him. What does life do? Life gives, right? It's the very nature of life. Life gives, it builds up, it takes care of, it enhances, it beautifies. That's what life does. And those who are in union with him pray for things that build up, strengthen, edify, exalt the name of God. Life shows compassion, as we looked at last time. Life searches for, it finds, it teaches, it covers, it forgives, it protects, it solves problems. That's what life does. And it finds a way to take something that is not good and turn it into something very good. That's the personality of life. And when you're in union, when you are married to this life, that life shows up in your prayers. And you know him.

8:30Death does the very opposite, right? Death takes, it harms, it grabs. It's for self. It diminishes. It separates. It seeks to cut people off from God. It destroys good. And if you abide in spiritual death, you're always looking out for number one. You're separated from the personality of life, and your prayers will reflect. Such. Your prayers will reflect self-will rather than God's will. But calling upon the name of the Son connects us to eternal life. And if you've called upon his name, the name Jesus, the Son of God, you have received his name, and with his name, you receive the person whom that name resembles, who that name connects us to.

9:29You have life. In him is life. And the life is the very life of God himself. And so prayers, it's natural that prayer that comes out of such a relationship is going to build, enhance, strengthen. It's going to know what to pray for because it's consistent with the personality of life. Look back and notice John's confidence in verse 14. This is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. This is the confidence. This is our joyful certainty. This is our frankness. This is our boldness. These are all terms that this word could be translated, but it's this confidence. It's coming before the king, knowing that we have his favor. We are in union with him.

10:23We have confidence in whatever we ask. According to his will, he is hearing us. John's confident that God is hearing his people. His ear is intentive to them all the time. And it's the idea of hearing here is about the intention to grant. God is hearing the prayers of his people with the intention to grant the request. John uses this same word, hearing. You remember the blind man of John 9? Remember, Jesus heals this blind man, and then the Pharisees are taking the blind man to task, saying, Well, this guy is a sinner, right? We don't even know where this guy is from. And this blind man says this beginning in John 9:30. Well, here is an amazing thing: that you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he is hearing him. Same word. Since the beginning of time, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. So, what the blind man is saying to those religious leaders who are opposing Jesus, it's incredible that you don't know where. This guy is from. We know God does not hear anyone who is not right. We know this guy is from God. We know he has a special relationship with God because God is hearing his requests with the intention of granting them. And that's what John is saying here.

12:25He is hearing us. This is the confidence we have that he is hearing us, hearing us in a sense of being favorable to answer. But notice the realm of John's confidence. Look back carefully. This is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, according to his will, this is the confidence that whenever we, or John's confidence, is that whenever we pray according with God's will, that God hears us. So then the question becomes a little more specific. What does John mean by God's will?

13:10God's will. And there are three answers that I think mainline that we can kind of think about. The first deals with God's secret purpose. Oftentimes we understand the The will of God is God's secret purposes, right? Fixed purposes that God has not revealed, but that He is going to accomplish. And think about Deuteronomy 29, 29. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. But it should be very clear that John is not talking about praying for the things that have not been revealed, right?

14:06If God has not, if the secret things have not been revealed, he's not talking about us praying for the secret things, right? It should be very straightforward that in John, when we're talking about praying in accordance with God's will, that he's not talking about the secret things because we can't pray for that which we do not know. We may be able to defer, and we should defer and say, Your will be done. We can't see the whole scope of things, and we want your will to be done. That's why we defer all our prayers. Really, ultimately, God, your will be done. But we cannot pray for the secret will of God because we don't know it. And so that's not in John's mind.

14:49So praying according to his will is not praying according to his secret purposes. That should be pretty easy to see. But oftentimes, the A second idea for God's will is that unalterable decrees that God is, that John is saying, pray in accordance with those fixed realities that God has decreed. So, in this sense, we would understand the will of God to be those fixed and unalterable decrees. For example, you remember regarding Daniel 9:24, regarding the Jewish people and Jerusalem, 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city. So, God has decreed 70 weeks, right?

15:41Also, in Job 20, 27, Job is talking about what has been decreed for the wicked person. And this is what he says: the heavens will reveal his iniquity. Pay attention if you don't know Christ. The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him, the increase of his house will depart, his possessions will flow away in the day of God's anger. This is the wicked man's portion from God, even the heritage decreed to him by God.

16:22Decreed. Also, another decree, Psalm chapter 2. We read that God has decreed that his king is his son. Psalm 2.7, I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. These words for decrees here are the fixed realities that God has set that cannot ever be changed. But is that what John is thinking that we should pray in light of? Or that we should be praying for? Let me rephrase that. In other words, I doubt that this is what John has in mind.

17:12We can't pray, God. 70 weeks have been decreed. Can you make it 71? Or actually, let's just cut that off back to 69. Or let's just... No, those are decrees, right? God has revealed them. They're fixed. They're unalterable. It's like, okay, God, can we come up with another king? No, he has decreed who his king is. So these realities have been revealed to us so that we may pray in light of them. We're not to pray that God would change them, right? God, since such is the decree for the wicked, we pray that you would change hearts, draw people to yourselves, right? To yourself. God Since your king is king, and you have decreed that, let us live our lives in light of that reality.

18:12So, John is not talking about the unalterable decrees of God when he's saying, when he's talking about praying according to his will, he's not just saying, God, keep your fixed decrees. God, I pray that you will keep it 70 weeks. God, I pray that you will keep Jesus as your son. No, those are fixed. And those have been revealed to us that we may pray in light of these realities. So then there's a third option, which I believe is what John is talking about here. And that's God's revealed desire. When we're talking about God's will, we're talking about God's good pleasure, what pleases Him, what God desires. The word for will is translated as desire, oftentimes, or wish, good pleasure.

19:21It's that which God delights in. God, what John is saying is, pray for that which God delights in, and know. That he gives you what you request. That's why it's very important for us to learn how to pray effectively, right? To be able to pray in light of what God desires. You remember this word for will is used, you remember way back when Solomon desired to get some cedars from Lebanon, right? He wanted to get these cedars for the house, and so he, in 1 Kings 5, 8, so Hiram sent word to Solomon, I have heard the message which you have sent me, and I will do what you desire concerning the cedars. I will do what's in your heart, because I know giving you these trees will please you, and so I'm going to give you what pleases you. And then he says, Then you shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household. In other words, I will do what you desire if you will do what I desire. That's the arrangement about how cedar trees came into Jerusalem. Solomon wanted trees.

20:43Hiram wanted food on his table. There you go. Trade. But the point of it is, it's like desire, each was giving the desires of the heart. It's the same with Queen of Sheba when she came up in 2 Chronicles 9:12. King Solomon gave to the queen all Her desire, which she requested. And so it's in these contexts, and others like them, that the word for will is simply the wishes of the individual. And so, when you're thinking about praying according to God's will, you're talking about what are the wishes, what are the good desires of God?

21:27You know, the exhortation in the New Testament over and over is to learn what the will of God is. You remember Romans 12:2, Paul says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove. That is, that you may discover, that you may learn, that you may accept, that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect, that you may approve, that you may discover what the desires of God are.

22:01And you learn that by not conforming to the world. If you conform to the world, you never will understand the desires of God. But if you are transformed by the renewing of your mind, you will be able to discover what God's good pleasure is. It's good, acceptable, and perfect. You know, Ephesians 5:17. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Don't go around and waste your time. Understand what the will of God is. Understand what the desires of God, the desire of God is.

22:38And the New Testament gives us plenty of examples of what God's desires are. 1 Thessalonians 4, 3, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality. That is God's desire. So pray according to God's desire, and it will be given. It's that simple, right? 1 Thessalonians 5:18, in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. God, help me. Take time to be thankful. God wants you to be thankful.

23:22Right? This is the will of God. This is what pleases Him. 1 Peter 2:15, we could give more. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. So what he's talking about there is honorable conduct, even when you're being mistreated by hostile individuals or a hostile government or hostile whatever. God's will is for you to do what's right and silence such ignorance of those who oppose. God's world, God's kingdom in this world.

24:05Well, there's many more examples, but the New Testament is full that we are to be people who are seeking God's desires and praying for His desires. In fact, you remember if you just look back at John chapter 2, verse 17: the world is passing in the way and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. The one who is doing the desires of God lives forever. Because God lives forever. His desires, he's good, and he loves to see, he's excited to see his desires rolled out and welcomed on earth. And when we pray according to the will of God, this isn't a struggle. It's like, bring in. Yes, I was hoping you would ask for that. Yes!

25:13God loves to answer prayer, and that's why John has confidence. Life prays for life. When you're in union with God, when you're in union with Union with eternal life. You pray for life. You know how to pray to enhance, to build up, to strengthen, to confront in truth, to bring to God. It's not hard. God delights to answer those. The Spirit of life prays with compassion to bring about life, to strengthen life. To pray according to God's will is to pray in line with that which God has revealed about Himself.

26:08So praying according to His will is nothing short of a summons to know God. Pray as you go through life, look at your circumstances. Be praying. Be praying in God's will. God, what would please you the most in this circumstance? What would please you the most in this life? What would please you the most in my job, in my situation, in my relationship? What would please you the most? And know it's going to be granted. That's what John's saying. We have confidence. We know.

26:46We know that if he's hearing us, he's granting. I think back to Genesis chapter 2. Remember verses 16 and 17? From any of the trees you can eat, just don't eat from that one. You'll die. And you think about sometimes we get so wrapped around the axle on God's will that we can say, I wonder what God wants me to do this morning. I'll go eat from any of these trees. I mean, does he want me to go eat from that tree? Or, no, he just doesn't want you to eat from this tree. Just go eat whatever you want. And in the process, you can just imagine what paradise would have been like. Man discovering God's creation. Look at this banana-shaped fruit.

27:41Pretty cool. It's God's own wrapper. Oh, God's like, yeah, you found the banana tree, I see. Bring home a coconut. Look at this. You poke some holes in it. You drink it. God's like, yeah. See? I've been on with the coconut tree. Pretty cool, huh? Pomegranate, opening all these seeds. And it's like, yeah, pretty cool, huh? God wants us to discover. And it's not like, okay, am I supposed to eat at the pomegranate tree first? And sometimes we get wrapped. No, God's like, just go. Go. It's my desire that you eat from all of these.

28:23And I want to share the experience with you as you go. That's why I created you. I want to share all this with you. I want you to experience me. I want you to experience my goodness. I want you to know what I like. And I want you to pray it into your circumstances here and around you. Prayer is a summons to know the God who answers prayer. Discover Him. Discover Him. Know Him by experience. Look, there's only one way you can really know things by experience, right? Yo, yes. Yes, don't get me wrong. Truth is the final, God's revealed truth is the final authority, right?

29:09It says, go, right? But it's as we go that we start experiencing God in our lives, right? The guy who says, he who receives a wife receives a good thing. I know that on reality. I can see that in the text. I know that. It's true. Oh, and then I get married. And I have a good wife. Now I know the truth by experience. Right? And that's the way life is to be. We know things revealed and then we walk through and experience them.

29:54This is how we personally get to know God on a whole bunch. Different level. That's why it's very important that we learn to pray, that we effectively pray, routinely pray, systematically as individuals and corporately. That's why we put a prayer slot in our Lord's Day morning. I feel great having prayed with my brothers and sisters before we even gathered this morning. And I know not everybody can make it here, but I would encourage you to begin the Lord's Day in prayer with yourself individually, but then also corporately with a family, if it's too much hassle and hurry to get up here and stuff, sit down and have some time and come to the Lord's house having prayed for our time together.

30:48Well, first thing to realize about effective prayer is that it is consistent with the personality of eternal life. Second, effective prayer is confident that God wants to hear our requests. Look back at verse 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. Now look at John's logic here. He makes two statements. If statement one is true, then statement true is true. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, So, John has already written that you would know eternal life. And now, if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, in whatever we should be asking, if we know that he's hearing us, then statement number true is true. We know that we have the request which we have asked from him.

31:53We know. Think about it like this: when a Supreme Court decides to hear a case, they want to render a verdict, right? Just the very fact that the court will hear a case is evident of a desire to grant the request, right? Or that an important decision has to be made. Well, the same is true with God. Just the very fact that He wants to hear our request, He's going to grant an answer. Prayer will either change us or bring about what we pray about. But it always brings about a change.

32:38So be confident. God wants to give you a hearing. God wants to hear from us. A good king wants to hear from his subjects and grant what's good for them. A good father wants to hear from his children. A father wants to give his kids the desires of their heart. He just doesn't want them sinning, right? He doesn't want to give them anything that will harm them, right? And these truths are so emphasized by Jesus himself.

33:25Jesus wants his people to have confidence before the throne of God. Just let me read you a few excerpts from words that Jesus said, just from the Gospel of John alone. If I expanded it to the other Gospels, we'd be here a long time. But just listen to what some of the things Jesus said. John 14, 13, Whenever you ask in my name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

33:58Sounds like somebody wants us to pray. Sounds like someone who's anxious to grant the good things that we request, right? John 15, 7, if you abide in me and my words in you abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15, 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain. So that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Think about that. I chose you. I appointed you so that whatever you may ask, it may be granted. That's where Jesus is going with that. I chose you so that you would know what to pray for and that God would grant that and that fruit would remain.

35:00It's like the whole purpose of his choosing is that we would know what to pray for and how to pray. John 16, 23, in that day you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you have asked for nothing. In my name, ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be full. We know his name. John 16:26, in that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf, for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. Do you see throughout all this exhortation that Jesus is giving his disciples is pray, pray in my name, be in union with me, follow me, ask whatever your wish, and it will be granted.

35:57You can't walk this back. You can't walk this back. Walk this language back. You can't qualify it into meaninglessness. It's too overt, too expressive. Christ wants his people praying. And John got it. He gets the message. Jesus wants his people to have confidence before the throne of God. In fact, look back at 1 John 3, 21. Just look back and read these words. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.

36:46He's already said it once. He's saying it again here in our text this morning. I'll read our text again this morning, verse 14. 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 request which we have asked from him. So where does confidence in prayer come from? From union with life and from knowing that God hears us. That's what John's been saying.

37:21Confidence in prayer comes from knowing you have eternal life and from knowing that God hears us. Well, John showed us these two elements of effective prayer so that we would pray more effectively. Effective prayer is consistent with the personality of eternal life. Effective prayer is confident that God wants to hear our requests. As we keep reading, we're going to go to the book of Revelation next to finish out John's contribution to the New Testament. But John caught a vision of what prayer looks like in the presence of God. In Revelation 5:8, we read these words. When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. The golden bowls of incense, the prayers of the saints. In fact, you see this said again in Revelation 8, 3. Another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer, and much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of the saints on the golden altar, which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hands. So, like a fragrant incense, that are the prayers of God. God's people.

39:04You know, I love handbells. I love the chimes, and I'm excited that so many people came out to be part of that. I love bells. I always have. And if you've ever seen, it's beautiful to the sight, it's beautiful to the ear. You have people playing their distinct notes in unison and harmony with others. You have all these people looking at the master music writer's chords, and they're playing them. And in just a little time, I'm confident that Patricia is going to take some novices, and with a little time and a little practice, they will be in concert together, blending the unique sounds that they have been assigned to play.

40:02Beauty in their uniqueness, beauty in their harmony, in unison with one another, and upon the chords imagined by the music writer. I think that's a picture of prayer. All of us from our unique dispositions, unique circumstances, praying and lifting up things that are pleasing to God. In the world, I wish we studied and practiced prayer here like we do music. And I don't say that to shame. I am very excited about our music. I love the time, the effort, the energy. I mean, we have something with, if you hang around here very long, you realize we love music. We give a lot of attention to music. We give a lot of attention to the study of God's Word. We give a lot of attention to the proclamation and doing it well. I hope that we can, in our next phase of our existence and life together, the manual, is put in as much effort into prayer as we do some of these other things.

41:21And I say that with excitement because I believe God will show us. You know, as I study the New Testament, and especially the Gospels, I realize Jesus didn't give us an exhortation to sing. He only gives us really one example of Him even singing, and that was after they had just the night that He was betrayed, right after He had gone out. But if you look through the times that He has prayed and the exhortations to prayer and His examples to prayer, it's all over the place.

42:01I am thankful that this church loves to sing. And I hope that one day we will put as much effort into prayer, and I'm speaking to myself as we do some of these other Christian disciplines. I encourage you to join our prayer groups. I encourage you to pray in the mornings, pray, and be patient as we learn how to pray, okay? We're learning. I'm learning, right? But be part of that. One of the greatest needs we have today is to be first responders in prayer. I love our first responders, right? A good first responder is for the health and security of our land and our nation.

42:54You get a good first responder, peace, order, safety, health, return. You get a bad first responder, and it can make a bad situation worse, right? I'm talking whether we're talking police, fire, or ambulance, or whatever those first responders are. You get some poor first responders. It can make a bad situation worse. And I would hope that oftentimes I think we as a church or we as individuals, I know my Myself, individually, we can be too quick to be offended, too quick to fight. And I hope that our responses will be about prayer. Our first responses will be that of taking time for understanding, taking time to pray for God's wisdom, and to take time to pray for life to be infused into the situation, whatever it looks like.

43:56In fact, Colossians 1:9 says this, for this reason, since the day we learned of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every work and increasing in the knowledge of God. That if our first responses are understanding, wisdom, and prayer, prayer for life, I think we'd have a much more healthy families, much more healthy church, much more healthy nation.

44:41So, join me as I endeavor to learn to become a better prayer. I pray that you will too. That is the one thing we need most today is people who can effectually pray. Pray for themselves and their world around them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we recognize as John is bringing his letter to a close, he puts this emphasis on prayer as a high point, answered prayer, Father, as if everything that he has said to date is to lead us to the point of assurance of eternal life and then a freedom of asking and walking with you and experiencing answered prayer. And so, Father, we want to be a people who pray, and we are dependent upon you to teach us and to show us and to awaken in us the desire to see the importance. And all this, Father, we recognize what a glorious invitation to know you. You ask us to pray in your will. We cannot do so unless you reveal yourself to us. So reveal your desires, that which pleases you to us more and more. Father, we thank you for our assembly. We thank you for your goodness and faithfulness to this church. May you be exalted here. In Christ's name, amen.