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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. 

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