"14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him."
It's easy for us to skim through verse 14 and jump to the promise of verse 15 - he hears us and we have what we asked of him, but not so fast. If you're anything like me, that's not always a reality. I don't get everything I pray for, do you? So, let's dig a little deeper into this passage.First of all, I love the fact that we can have confidence in approaching God. That could not be possible if He had not loved us enough to send Jesus to bear our sins on the cross in order to open the door for a right relationship with Himself. (Thank you, God!) So, confidently I go into prayer, confident that he hears my prayers - that they do not bounce off the ceiling or fall on deaf ears, but are carefully monitored by him. I am praying heart-to-heart.
The hard part of verse 14 is praying according to his will, for we don't know how to pray as we ought (Romans 8:26). Fortunately, God has given us His Spirit, who helps us to pray and intercedes for us as we pray. It is the Holy Spirit who knows God's will - knows God's thoughts (1 Corinthians 2:10-16). As we pray, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us pray according to God's will and He will do so.
Still, we are human and our own desires creep into our prayers, so in the end, after we have prayed and shared our cares and requests with God, we need to acquiesce to His will in the matter, just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-42) when He closed His own prayer to be released from the cross with, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." (Luke 22:42) In doing this, we recognize and submit ourselves to the sovereignty of God.
So, pray with confidence, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6), then end your prayer by submitting to God's will over your own, because His will is perfect (Romans 12:2). After that, you can relax and let Him handle the situation. Receive His promise to fill you with His peace, which transcends all understanding and will guard your heart and mind (Philippians 4:7). I am assuming that means guarding your heart and mind against worry and anxiety, as mentioned in Philippians 4:6.
You prayed.
You put it in God's hands.
God's got it.
He will do what is best.
Rest in Him.
...and that's how you pray with CONFIDENCE!
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