Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, October 8th. As a believer in Jesus, do you struggle with how to pray effectively? Discover encouragement to deepen your commitment to prayer on today’s podcast.
SPEAKER 01 :
Prayer is the most precious, most powerful privilege the child of God has. And isn’t it interesting with that powerful privilege that so many of us come to the Lord Jesus Christ so seldom to make appetitions to Him. Probably one of the reasons for that is that we don’t really understand if we are asking the right thing. And so because we’re not sure what we’re asking for is the will of God, we sort of back off. So let me ask the question, can you really know that if you’re asking the right thing? And if so, how? And that’s what I want to talk about in this message today, and that is confidence in prayer. If you’ll turn to 1 John chapter 5, and let’s look at the 14th and 15th verses of that chapter, and let’s answer some questions about coming to the Lord with confidence and boldness in our praying. Chapter 5, verse 14 and 15, and he says… And this is the confidence, the boldness, the assurance 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 of Him. That is a simple promise that God has given to us concerning our prayer life, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us, and if we know that He hears us, and whatever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we desired of Him, or the request. But you say, well, now, I believe that, but the problem is, how do I know that I’m asking the right thing when I come to Him? Because so often, I’m not sure that I am asking the right thing as I bring my petition of my desires to God. I’m not going to say to you that every time you go before the Lord to pray, you’re going to always know the will of God. You’re going to always know what to ask for. I’m simply saying that He will show us His will, and ultimately, we will know the will of the Father. Now I want to say right up front here that that does not mean that you can live any old kind of way and just go to God and God’s always going to hear and answer your prayer. And very clearly He teaches us in the Scripture how you and I can come to Him with confidence. Now remember that through prayer you can touch anybody’s life anywhere in the world you choose if you’re willing to pray for them. It is the most powerful means of change God has given to mankind. But when you and I know the will of the Father, our prayer is a prayer of confidence. We’re stronger. That is, we have greater sense of anticipation and expectation. So I want to mention two things to you. The second part has three parts to it. And the first one is this. When we come to this whole matter of confidence in prayer, I want to say, first of all, that our confidence in prayer is rooted in our relationship to Jesus Christ. Our confidence in prayer is rooted in our relationship to Jesus Christ. Because prayer is the exclusive right of believers. Prayer is the exclusive right of believers with this exception. When a person cries out to God for the forgiveness of their sin, when a person is asking God to save them, to bring about the new birth in their life, that is the only exception. Otherwise, prayer, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praising and worshiping God is the exclusive right of the child of God. Now, here’s the reason. Because if you will recall in Matthew, and I’m going to give you lots of scriptures if you’ll follow along quickly now. If you recall in Matthew chapter 6 when Jesus is teaching us how to pray, this is the way he begins. He says, pray then in this way, our Father who art in heaven. How in the world can a person say our Father unless God the Father does become their Father? And yet the Bible says that in John chapter 14, Jesus put it this way. He says, No man comes to the Father but by me. It is absolutely impossible to detour around, to ignore the Lord Jesus Christ, live independently of Him, and then begin to pray and to pray our Father. No, that won’t work. Because all of those phrases are the phrases that belong exclusively to the children of God. Because you see, if you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the Bible says that God the Father is not your God. But Jesus makes it very clear in the 8th chapter of John who your Father is. Talking to the Pharisees on one occasion. He said to them, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and have come from God. For I have not even come on my own initiative, but he sent me. You do not understand what I am saying. It is because you do not hear my word. You are of your father, the devil. and you want to do the desires of your Father. Now let me just remind you that all of us have a Father. Either Jesus says the devil is your Father or Jehovah God is your Father and only those who know God the Father Jehovah in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who paid our sin debt at Calvary 2,000 years ago and His all-sufficient sacrificial atoning death, only those of us who received Him can say our Father. Only those who receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior can say, the Lord is my shepherd. And so in 1 John chapter 5, our text here, if you’ll go back a few verses in that chapter, listen to what he says in verse 10. The one who believes in the son of God has the witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the witness that God is born concerning his son. Now here’s what he’s saying. He says, if you don’t believe what God says about his son, Jesus Christ, that he’s the virgin born incarnate God, coming in the flesh to die for your sin and mine, and his death at Calvary paid your sin debt in full. He says, if you don’t believe that, you’re a liar. And the truth, the fact that you don’t believe it is evidenced by the fact that you have rejected Jesus Christ. Therefore, every person who’s rejected Jesus Christ as their personal savior has rejected the purpose for which God sent him and who is denying who he is. The Bible says every single one of them is a liar and And to think that a liar who’s rejected God the Father and rejected his son, Jesus Christ, can come to God the Father and say, our Father, the Lord is my shepherd, is totally unbiblical. The witness within ourselves is the witness of the Holy Spirit that you and I are the sons of God. Therefore, what makes it possible for us to come to God the Father in confidence in prayer is that our relationship to him is rooted and grounded in In the person of Jesus Christ and in that personal relationship, we have confidence to come to Him in prayer as the children of the living God, as a child comes to His Father who is loved unconditionally and who will grant to that child anything and everything that is good for that asking son or daughter. Now, what about the believer though? The Bible says that the believer also has a stipulation that you and I need to look at. If you will, in 1 John chapter 3, let’s look, if you will, in verse 21. Talking about believers now. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. That is, if our spirit, if the spirit of God has not convicted us, if our heart, as believers, is not under conviction, he says, we have confidence before God. And if you’ll think about… How powerful is the experience of prayer, and yet here’s what we do. For the sake of a little sin, for the sake of a little disobedience, as we put it that way, for the sake of a little independence over here, self-will, going to have my way, I am willing to give up. I am willing to surrender. I am willing to yield. I am willing to forsake. the awesome, powerful experience of coming before a holy, omnipotent God, making a request, and knowing that God is going to hear my prayer, I am willing to forsake the confidence to do that, the faith to do that, the assurance that God is going to hear me because I’m willing to hold on to something over here that is not good for me, God doesn’t want me to have, He knows it will destroy my life, I’m willing to hold on to that and to give up all of this, how I absolutely and totally foolish. But that is what we do. So I want to ask you a question. What are you holding on to in your life that is cheating you out of confidence and boldness and faith in coming to God the Father who has been willing to release His supernatural power in you and to open the gates of the riches and the wealth of heaven for you but you want to forsake all of that for sin in your life? Think! Just think. And you’ll dump that in a hurry because there’s no comparison. But here’s the warning. If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward him. We can come to him because we’re living in obedience to him. And so what we see in this first point is this, that our confidence in prayer is rooted in what? It is rooted in our relationship to Jesus Christ. But there’s a second thing I want you to notice here, and that’s this, that our confidence in prayer is directly related to our understanding of God’s will as it relates to what we’re asking for. That is, our confidence in prayer is directly related… to God’s will as it relates to that thing for which we are making a request, the thing that we desire. And so when he says, this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us and the thing that we’re asking, we know that we have the petition we desired of him. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to know one of these days, but he says, we know now. Present tense, we know that we have the petition that we desired of him. Now, You say, well, but isn’t the will of God something that’s sort of mysterious? And isn’t the will of God something that’s a little bit cloudy? And isn’t the will of God something that He reserves for a few? No. God wants you to know His will about every single matter you bring to Him. That is, every time you come to Him in prayer, God wants you to know His purpose and His plan or His will for your life. Go back, if you will, to Romans chapter 8. Notice what He says in this chapter. If you recall this wonderful promise, he says in verse 32, he who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? That is, God wants us to have what is good for us. God wants us to know his will. So when he says here in 1 John, this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, we know that we have the petition we desired of him. He wants us to know that what we’re asking is the right thing. Now, but there are times when you and I come and we’re not sure. We’re absolutely not sure. And we come to Him and we say, Lord, here’s what I’m asking, but I’m really not sure this is Your will. And so God understands that there will be many times when you and I make requests of needs that we believe that we have. And yet deep in our heart, we are not sure that this is the will of the Father. He understands that. So sometimes we’ll find out His will as we begin to pray. Sometimes we’ll find out quickly. Sometimes we won’t find out so quickly. But He says this is the confidence that we have in Him that when we come to Him, we ask according to His will, we know that we’re going to get what we ask that’s within His will. So the question is, how do I find the will of God for my life in these areas and how should I pray concerning that? There’s some things that you and I know without a doubt are the will of God. You don’t even have to ask, is it his will? For example, let’s say that you’re a parent and you’re praying for the salvation of your son or your daughter. You don’t have to pray this prayer, Lord, please save Jim if it’s thy will. You can forget that because he says, it’s not my will that any person should perish, but that all might come to eternal life. So therefore, you don’t have to tack on to the end of your prayer if it be thy will when you know it’s the will of God. No husband has to pray, Lord, I want to take care of my family in a good fashion if it’s your will. I can tell you right now it’s his will. He says, in fact, if you don’t take good care of your family, you’re worse than an infidel. So you and I could go through the Scriptures and over and over and over again, there’s some things that you and I know are the will of God. And so we don’t even have to ask, Lord, if it’s your will. We’ve learned there’s certain things that are the will of God. And then there are certain things that you and I know are not the will of God. Lord, shall I steal from my brother? You know, but there’s no point even praying that. Lord, if it’s your will, I’ll tell this lie, but if it’s not your will, I won’t. We don’t even have to pray about things like that. We know it’s not God’s will to lie, steal, cheat, commit murder, commit adultery. Get ourselves head over heels into debt. We know better than that. There’s some things we don’t have to pray. God, should I get myself in debt so badly that I can’t pay my bills? You don’t have to pray that prayer. There’s some things you know absolutely essential that you don’t even have to ask if it’s your will. So we come to many prayers intelligently, knowing that certain things are not the will of the Father and certain things are. But let me ask you this question. Is there any aspect of our life or are there things in our life for which God isn’t really all that concerned that we don’t need to ask him? Are there some things that you and I would come to this passage and we say, well, now, Lord, you said if we ask anything according to your will, but does that mean that every single thing in life we have to ask the will of God about? Are there some things that it doesn’t really make a lot of difference to God? For example, when you arose this morning and you went down to breakfast and you decided to eat cereal, did you stand in front of the cabinet and say, Lord, shall I eat raisin bran or corn flakes? No. Nor did you say, shall I put bananas on them or strawberries? You didn’t ask Him. You just got out what you wanted and did it. God isn’t interested in some things, many things. He leaves that to your choice. They’re insignificant things. Now, if you ask him, Lord, shall I eat four bowls of cereal or one? That’s a different question because the Bible is very clear about indulgence in any area. So there’s some things I don’t particularly think God really cares about. But what about that other vast realm out there? Lord, what about finishing high school? Shall I finish high school or shall I not? I believe God has a will in that because he says that you and I have to give our best, that he has gifted us, that he has a will for our life, a purpose for our life, and he wants us to be prepared to do whatever he wants us to do. So I believe God has a will for that. Well, can I not choose any place I want to go to college? Does God care about where I go to college or university? Yes, he does. Because if he has a will for your life, which he does, and he’s equipping you to fulfill his will, God knows there’s a better place, there’s the right place for you to be trained in order to accomplish what God wants you to accomplish. Well, what about marriage, God? I ought to be able to just pick my own. Most folks who never thought about praying for a marriage partner wish they had. My friend, I believe God certainly does indeed have a will. A young person says, well, why can’t I date who I please? What do you mean pray and ask God about a date? Because God knows the influence of your life, the influence of another person’s life. He also knows what their motives are, what your motive is, and God certainly has a will about the type of person that you would date as a young person or a single. Well, shall I buy this house or shall I not? I don’t think God cares whether I buy it. Yes, He does. Because God knows how much money it’s going to cost and He knows how long the mortgage is going to be and He knows where you are in your capacity and what He intends to do in your life. Somebody says, I’m looking for a job and… Shall I pray or shall I just take the first thing that comes my way? You better ask God to show you where and what you ought to be doing. Because you see, remember this, that you and I are the purchased possession of God. We live oftentimes and act like, now that I’m saved by the grace of God, I can just tap into God’s eternal resource and do my own thing. Oh, no. He says, you’re not your own. You’re the purchased possession of God. The Bible says that you and I have been sanctified, which means we’ve been set apart. Listen, every single one of us, not just the preachers. We’ve been set apart by God, for God, under the purpose of God. And that is true of every single believer. So it is your responsibility and mine to find out what God wants us to do and with whom he wants us to do it and how he wants us to do it. So that coming to him and asking in prayer and beseeching him and asking him, Lord, what would you have me to do, is indeed a vital part of walking in obedience to God and to refuse to do so is to live independently of him and get yourself in all kinds of trouble. People get in all kind of trouble. Why? They don’t think to ask God. They strike and then they ask. Oh, Lord, please help me. And how many times people come and say, well, here’s what’s happened in my life. I just need to pray for God to get me out of this. Well, did you ask God to get you into it? Oh, no. No, I got into it, but I want God to get me out of it. Listen, anything you get into and you want God to get you out of, you can just remember this. There’s some consequences in the getting out. That’s why we should be a people of prayer. That is, our life should be a continuous expression of praise and petition and intercession and thanksgiving and worship to God. Even in the midst of your vocation, whether you’re typing on a computer, whether you are driving a tractor trailer, it doesn’t make any difference what you’re doing. Our life should be a continuous expression of prayer and praise and petition and seeking and listening and asking God what He wants to do with our life. And people get themselves in all kinds of trouble simply because they don’t ask and they only come to ask and they want to pull some emergency cord when they get in trouble. God, you know what’s going on in my life. Please help me out. More than likely, you wouldn’t be in that position if you’d have asked God to begin with, Lord, shall I do this?
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to Confidence in Prayer. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
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