Skip to main content

Confidence

             This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (I John 5:14-15 NIV)

 

In the past, I’ve addressed passages like this on in terms of the “name it and claim it” sorts. Let’s get that out of the way as a prelude. The passage includes the phrase according to His will. We dare not assume that because it is our will, it is His. This isn’t a passage to quote to force God to give us everything we want.

Unless, of course, what we want is His will. Quite often, we don’t know His will about some specific thing. I have friends who are facing horrible physical challenges. Shall I pray for their healing, their endurance, or God’s mercy? Or, do I take the escape of claiming that any answer that is given is somehow a “healing”? I think it’d be closer to the mark to say that no matter what answer, it’s God’s mercy. This is part of the reason I’m so reluctant to pray for specifics.

But that doesn’t lead to confidence. That leads to manipulation and word games. How can I phrase my requests so that I won’t be disappointed once again, or embarrassed once again when what I’ve asked of Him is not granted?

This isn’t to say that I haven’t been greatly blessed and guided. My story is filled with God’s guiding me in one direction or another, and the past three years have been particularly filled with blessing and the meeting of my needs. But as I ponder over this passage, I find myself frustrated with my lack of confidence as I take things before God. So how does a person build confidence? By trying and learning what works and what doesn’t. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more