1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:04,120 Our speaker is Brother George Dialecticus. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,920 Did I say that correctly? George comes to us from the 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:19,120 Connecticut Valley Adventist Church, and I remember he was a 4 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:24,960 regular speaker here many years ago when Pastor John Cameron was 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,960 our pastor. And then for some reason or one 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:30,920 another, we haven't seen him since. 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:32,759 I think that must have been 30 years ago. 8 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:39,560 So we welcome Brother George to our pulpit and his message to us 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,680 today. Brother George. 10 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,960 Thank you, Church, for giving me the opportunity to meet with you 11 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,720 and speak with you today. Let me just kind of move a 12 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:58,280 couple of things around here and get situated. 13 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:05,560 It's been, it's been indeed a long time since since I've been 14 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:11,360 here. It was in the, it was in the 15 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,600 early 90s. I think that they used to come 16 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:18,760 more like regularly here and, and share a message from the 17 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,840 word of God with you. But it's good to be here again 18 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:29,120 today. This this message today that I 19 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,200 was going to share was when Fred and I would talked about a month 20 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,040 or two, a couple of months ago, I think we came up with this 21 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,480 date. I was just thinking the last, 22 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,320 you know, the last couple of weeks, you know what to preach 23 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:47,000 about. And I looked in one of my my 24 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:53,880 notes and I picked this topic. Take it out of first John 5, 13 25 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:55,880 and 14. This is a this is a topic. 26 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,960 This topic is I think I've contemplated in the past. 27 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,840 We pray often to God to ask for answers, but sometimes we don't 28 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,199 get the answers, or at least the way we understand. 29 00:02:16,410 --> 00:02:23,290 So, and coincidentally just happened to be what I was 30 00:02:23,290 --> 00:02:28,520 preparing for this one. Maybe I need to focus on just 31 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,040 reading it while I was preparing for this one. 32 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,600 This isn't the heaven in our church, which basically has got 33 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:43,040 everyone in a really hard, a really hard position. 34 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,920 And so I thought, you know, this sermon was perfect for me. 35 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,440 So, so I would like to share with you this message today and 36 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,880 I hope you can receive all of us can receive a blessing. 37 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,240 I tried to look through this. John gives us a very good 38 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,920 perspective here about understanding ask when we ask 39 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:10,360 for God, God is always willing to give us an to give us an 40 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,760 answer and give the direction into our lives. 41 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,240 But John gives us some parameters within which you can 42 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,440 understand that and be able to live with. 43 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:25,440 And I think it's important for us to to grasp that message 44 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:28,640 because then it will help us better understand God. 45 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:35,040 So for my opening comments, I want to share with you a short 46 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:40,280 story from that Jay Kessler tells us in his book Raising 47 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,600 Responsible Kids. He writes and says, shortly 48 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:49,000 after I got my driver's license, I was driving too close to the 49 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:55,400 middle of a narrow road and I side swept another car, the 50 00:03:55,400 --> 00:04:00,440 crash toward the front Fender, 2 doors and the back Fender of my 51 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,920 car. And that was my dad's car, he 52 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,920 says. And after I found that everybody 53 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:10,400 was OK and everything was OK, I stood there by the ditch and I 54 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,800 prayed and I said, dear God, I pray this did not happen. 55 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:23,000 I opened my eyes, but the wreck was still there. 56 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,080 And so I decided to pray more earnestly. 57 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:32,600 And he goes back there in the ditch, and he closes his eyes. 58 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:35,400 He squinted his eyes really hard. 59 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,760 And he prays again and says, dear God, I pray that this 60 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,120 didn't happen. And I opened my eyes, he says to 61 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,720 us. And to my surprise, the accident 62 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:53,320 really did happen. Well, if God answered prayers 63 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:58,840 like that, I would say the auto body shops would be out of 64 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:02,880 Business Today. We all know this feeling. 65 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:09,480 We've done and said things we wish we could undo or unsay. 66 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,960 And I wish we could go back. I think all of us have felt this 67 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,160 way. We wish we could go back and 68 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,400 change that. Haven't you felt that I wish I 69 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,960 hadn't done this, I hadn't wish I hadn't said this thing. 70 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,600 And actually, Hollywood just plays with our emotions on this 71 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,080 one. If you've seen the stories, the 72 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,120 movies, The Twilight Zone and Back to the Future, they just 73 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,480 kind of play with those with those in that area. 74 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:40,160 But as I read the Bible, I do not see any promise that it is 75 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:45,280 God will to change our past. Instead, the Bible teaches us 76 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:51,280 something better. First, God assures us that our 77 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:56,560 past mistakes can be forgiven and covered by the blood of 78 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:02,640 Jesus as we confess them to Him. And the second thing, that when 79 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:07,600 we surrender our will to Him, when we ask that His will be 80 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:13,760 done in our lives, we can have the assurance that God will lead 81 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:19,880 us into a better future so that when we look back, we don't need 82 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,000 to live in regret. And that's the thesis, the 83 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:29,560 thesis of my message today. The apostle John says, says in 84 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:34,640 this way in verse 14 for first, John 514, the gentleman just 85 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,920 read it to us. And I'm going to, if you don't 86 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,240 mind me, I'll read this again and I'll put it up on the screen 87 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,000 here for those of you who would like to follow. 88 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,080 And it says, and this is the confidence that we have in him, 89 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,200 that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears 90 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:53,720 us. And if we know that he hears us, 91 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,440 then whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that 92 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,680 we desire of him. John simply tells us here that 93 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,480 we can have the confidence that Jesus will answer our petition 94 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,720 when those petitions are aligned with what? 95 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:15,000 With God's will. So of course this leads us into 96 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:21,120 two basic two major questions. How can I be confident that God 97 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,840 hears my prayers when I cannot see or hear him? 98 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,960 And second question I would suggest here is how can I know 99 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:31,960 that my request and of course your will. 100 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,920 Does the apostle John give us any help clarifying this? 101 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:44,280 Indeed he does. God's. 102 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:59,530 God's Word gives us more than enough evidence that we can 103 00:07:59,530 --> 00:08:03,890 trust his words, that we can trust His promises, and we can 104 00:08:03,890 --> 00:08:08,450 count on his love and care. To see the basis of this 105 00:08:08,450 --> 00:08:13,240 confidence, we must look at verses 13 and 14 together 106 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,520 because when you look verse 14, it starts with a conjunction end 107 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,000 and says end this confidence. So that means that something 108 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:25,160 precedes that, that we need to understand that first before we 109 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,720 can understand verse 14 where we'd all we tend to gravitate 110 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,280 to. So let's read 1st 13 first and 111 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,480 then we can go from there and understand this. 112 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:39,120 I would like to explain that first says these things I have 113 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,600 written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that 114 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:49,080 he may know that he have eternal life and that he may believe in 115 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,160 the name of the Son of God. So in verse 13, John, the 116 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,520 Apostle John explains to us, explains to his audience the 117 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:00,840 purpose for which he writes his letter. 118 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,000 And his purpose was to strengthen them in their faith, 119 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,360 to establish in their minds that salvation is through Jesus 120 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:12,280 Christ and that Jesus indeed is the Son of God. 121 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:18,280 And thirdly, to assure us that because of Christ and through 122 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,080 Christ we can have this confidence of eternal life. 123 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:26,320 If you look at the 2 words that are used there is to know and to 124 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,040 believe. In what tense are they 125 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,680 presented? It's in the present tense 126 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,720 describing A continuous action, a continuous believing, a 127 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,480 continual knowledge, a continual belief in Jesus Christ. 128 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:44,120 So our confidence in the eternal life is not a vague memory from 129 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:49,120 some years ago that I met Christ or I believed in Christ, but 130 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:53,640 it's a living, personal trust, daily trust in Jesus Christ. 131 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:59,440 Fred's no matter what you may be going through in life, no matter 132 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:04,960 the challenges you may be facing, when we fellowship with 133 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:10,280 God and with one another, we can enjoy the spiritual blessings. 134 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,640 There is that constant connection with heaven that can 135 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:19,240 fill our hearts to its fullness to give us joy and peace. 136 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,880 That's the connection that can give us meaning into our life 137 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,360 and provide a purpose for our life. 138 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:34,200 So I would like to read verse 14 now and then John apostle John 139 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,400 continues to say, and this is the confidence that we have in 140 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:42,480 him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears 141 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:43,560 us. And that's where I would like to 142 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:49,160 dive in a little bit and analyze its segment of that verse for us 143 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,280 to be able to understand. So basically, John is tells us 144 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,800 here that now that we've established beyond any shot of 145 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:03,120 doubt that we have eternal life, now we can go confidently before 146 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,240 the throne of God and approach him through prayer and knowing 147 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,920 that anything we may ask, as long as it is according to God's 148 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,640 will, he will grant it to us and we can have that confidence. 149 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:20,880 Isn't that good news? Isn't this something that can 150 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:26,920 give us peace is to know that God not only hears our prayers, 151 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:33,920 but He also answers them. God hears our praises, prayers 152 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:38,000 when we seek Him in truth and He has the power. 153 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:43,800 He's the Almighty God to fill our hearts with Lovejoy, peace 154 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,560 and holiness. I would like to read you a quote 155 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:50,000 from the Spirit of Prophecy Testimonies for the Church 156 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,200 volume on page 21. This is a vision the idyllic 157 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,720 White had years back, and here's what God showed her in the 158 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:04,200 vision, she says. I saw that every prayer that is 159 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:10,760 sent up from within faith, from the honest heart, will be heard 160 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,720 of God and be answered. How many prayers will be 161 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,560 answered? Is it some 50%? 162 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:25,280 It's every prayer, and the one that sent up the petitions will 163 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,680 have the blessing when he needs it most. 164 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:36,400 That's fairly assured, isn't it? And it will be often exceed his 165 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:38,240 expectation. That's even better. 166 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:46,880 It's there's not a prayer of a true saying that is lost if sent 167 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,200 up in faith from an honest heart. 168 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:55,280 So here is to me, this is a very powerful statement knowing that 169 00:12:55,280 --> 00:13:01,000 God is going to hear our praise, all our prayers is going to 170 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:05,320 answer them. And if we come in to him and 171 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,960 faithfully and we will receive the answer at the time that we 172 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,440 need it most. You know, one may say, well this 173 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,520 is good news, but how can I experience this confidence in my 174 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,560 own life? Well, two things. 175 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,760 First, you must realize that our confidence is never in ourselves 176 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,320 but is in Christ. And secondly, our assurance 177 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:34,520 grows as our lives become more and more aligned with God's will 178 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,080 and more like becoming more like his Son. 179 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,800 Remember the desire is that of John that expresses in his 180 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,520 gospels is to become more like Jesus. 181 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:50,200 That's the ultimate goal that we need to be is something holding 182 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:55,880 you back today. Just cry out to God and for more 183 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,880 of his presence in his in your life. 184 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:04,240 Rome Paul in Romans 829 says that God has predestined us to 185 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:06,400 be conformed to the image of his son. 186 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:11,280 This has nothing to do with predestination doctor today, but 187 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,560 it was in other words, what he's trying to say is that it was 188 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:17,840 always been in God's plan that our characters should align with 189 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,960 the character of Christ and the apostle Paul reminds us in 190 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:26,640 Hebrews 4/16 and I'm going to start reading from verse 14. 191 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:33,680 Just looking at the context and he says now that we have, and 192 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,760 I'm going to read this from the message, which is a little more 193 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:40,080 simplified now that we know that we have Jesus, this great high 194 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:45,360 priest with ready access to God, Let us not let it slip through 195 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,200 our fingers. We don't have a priest who is 196 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,840 out of touch with reality, but he's been through weaknesses and 197 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:57,320 testing and he has experienced it all, all but sin. 198 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:03,920 So let us walk right up to him and get what is already for him 199 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,480 to give us. Take the mercy, accept his help. 200 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,840 King James Version renders it by using the word come boldly to 201 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,240 the throne of grace, which many of us are more familiar with in 202 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,680 the English standard version uses the word come with 203 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,360 confidence to the throne of grace. 204 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:26,560 So Jesus is our high priest and he is looking after you and I 205 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:31,920 and our confidence is in him and in his blood through which he 206 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,880 gives us in order to be able to come to the throne of grace. 207 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:47,080 So the question I'm going to ask right now is how can we be 208 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,240 confident to come to the throne of grace? 209 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,680 I'm going to give you 3 reasons. I'll support those reasons that 210 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:58,800 I'm going to give you. First reason is because we abide 211 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:00,200 in Christ. And I'm going to elaborate a 212 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:01,720 little bit more on this later on. 213 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:06,400 In first John 228, there's a verse that supports this and it 214 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:12,040 says and now little children abide in Him, abide in Jesus 215 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:17,240 that when he appears, he may have you may have confidence and 216 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,440 not be ashamed before him that his coming. 217 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,640 So when we abide in Jesus Christ, we can be confident that 218 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,160 you can come to the throne of grace. 219 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:33,240 And I give you a second reason. I have it here because we keep 220 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:38,200 God's commandments. And if you look, John chapter 3, 221 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,160 verses 21 and 22 supports this idea. 222 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:47,840 And it says, Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we 223 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,960 have confidence to our God. And whatever we ask, we receive 224 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,280 from Him because what? What is the reason? 225 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,640 What is the basis? Because we keep His commandments 226 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:01,880 and do these things that are pleasing in His sight. 227 00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:09,240 I'll give you a third reason that would enable us to come 228 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,440 boldly to the throne of grace is because of the blood of Christ. 229 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:18,560 In Hebrews 10/19 it says, Therefore, brothers, since we 230 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:24,440 have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of 231 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,200 Jesus, we're not going on our own merits, on our own goodness, 232 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,560 or on good behavior, but it's by the blood of Jesus. 233 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:36,000 Let us draw now near with the true heart in full assurance of 234 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:41,680 faith. Brothers and sisters, if for any 235 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,880 reason you're tempted to run away from Christ, perhaps maybe 236 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,280 you experience disappointment in your life, divorce or loss. 237 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:55,160 Perhaps you may have been ridiculed by your friends or Co 238 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:57,560 workers or maybe for family members. 239 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,560 Maybe you have walked away from God in your own life for some 240 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:06,280 period of time and say that now whispers in your head saying 241 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:13,240 well it's too late for you. No hope if for any reason you 242 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,360 are tempted to run away from God, clinging to this promise 243 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:22,040 that I have on the screen taken from Hebrews, Hebrews 10/23. 244 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:28,480 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm 245 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:34,400 for God can be trusted to keep his promise is another assuring 246 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,560 for us. And so now that we have 247 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,480 established that we can confidently approach Jesus. 248 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,840 We talked about that we have the assurance of our salvation. 249 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,480 We talked about that. Now we can approach the throne 250 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,760 of grace confidently. The apostle Paul the apostle 251 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,680 John proceeds in verse 14 to say something more. 252 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,640 Now he comes to the point to talking about asking God for 253 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:05,680 something, for anything here, says if we ask anything to His 254 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:10,440 will, he hears us. So notice how he establishes 255 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,720 first of all, understanding that we have eternal life. 256 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,600 It's understanding that you are connected with Christ, 257 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,120 understanding our salvation. Now we can go back with our own 258 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:23,400 requests. Now you will say to me, well, 259 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,080 you say to ask God anything, but isn't God a munition? 260 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,040 Doesn't he know what I'm going through? 261 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,800 Well, indeed He does. But the statement that we have 262 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,600 is that although God knows everything, He knows our needs, 263 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:49,400 He knows our pains, He knows our wishes, our desires. 264 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:54,720 He wants his children to make those requests known to him in 265 00:19:54,720 --> 00:20:00,640 their own simple language. You see prayer as oftentimes I'm 266 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,040 guilty too. We often tend to make it a list 267 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,080 of I want to. You know, and long I want to 268 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,800 list, I want this, I want the others or sometimes we prepare, 269 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:15,120 we repeat the raw formula, but prayer is really coming before 270 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:18,880 the living God, humbling ourselves and his presence. 271 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:24,120 Listen the way in the book Steps to Christ. 272 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,080 The author puts it there and that's one of my favorite 273 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,080 sections there. It says prayer is the opening of 274 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:35,920 the heart to God as a friend, you know, so it's like talking 275 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,520 to your spouse, talking to a friend of you, and you just 276 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,280 share, share something. What's going on there. 277 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:44,480 It does have to be a lock when words. 278 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,480 A lot of times we are impressed and we're intimidated and we 279 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,360 cannot pray in public because we hear the pastor, an elder or 280 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:56,920 somebody using all this very fancy vocabulary in present. 281 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:01,680 But God thought what he wants is just simple sincere words and, 282 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:06,640 and let me continue reading from the same book there just a 283 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,000 little bit just to give us a side. 284 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,760 It says, of course we do not need to tell God about ourselves 285 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:17,240 for he already knows everything, but we pray to help us know him 286 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:22,600 and be able to receive him. Prayer does not bring God down 287 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:27,000 to us by what it does, it brings us up to Him. 288 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,880 See, our minds may be drawn towards Him who may think of His 289 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:38,560 works, His mercies, His blessings, but this is not 290 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,880 notice. This is not the fullness sense 291 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,400 sharing our thoughts and feelings with Him. 292 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,960 We must have something to say about our joys, about our souls, 293 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:57,640 about our daily life. Our Heavenly Father waits to 294 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:03,240 give us His full blessing, and in prayer we can feel His 295 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:09,560 boundless love. What a wonder is it that we pray 296 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,680 so little three times. We are so busy, isn't it? 297 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,360 And we pray so little. God is ready, but not only ready 298 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:23,520 but willing to hear the sincere prayer of even the most humble 299 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,560 child. And here is a sad statement that 300 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:31,520 she's making. But still, we seem almost afraid 301 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,920 to tell Him what we need. In other words, God is anxious 302 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:42,680 to hear and talk with us, but the sad reality is that 303 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:47,400 sometimes we are almost afraid to tell Him what the needs are. 304 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:54,000 Oftentimes our prayers fail because we did not really ask 305 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,200 for anything. We repeat cliches. 306 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,120 We forget that God is a generous giver. 307 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:07,000 You remember the story that I remember what Jesus told his 308 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,120 disciples in the upper room right before he was crucified. 309 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,640 It's found is recorded. John recorded it for us in 310 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,960 chapter 14 and chapter 14, verses 13 and 14. 311 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:23,840 Eight says whatever you ask in my name that I will do that the 312 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:28,160 Father may be glorified in the Son. 313 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,760 So if you ask anything in my name, I'm going to do it. 314 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:33,800 But I want us to be careful here. 315 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,000 We read this statement. They say, OK, well, all right, 316 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,040 let's go to God and ask and ask for everything. 317 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,280 Asking God, asking something, God in God's name. 318 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:50,360 It's not a magic phrase. We tend to repeat that, but if 319 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:53,640 there's no magic it, we ask something in the basis of 320 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:59,040 Jesus's merit. We ask something that will honor 321 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,520 his name and will, something that will glorify Jesus. 322 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,240 So you see, so far the apostle John has given us two points. 323 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,680 We can come to Jesus with confidence. 324 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:15,760 And second, we're invited to ask Jesus for anything there. 325 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,320 So I'm going to look two more points that he's identifying in 326 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,040 this, in this verse here. And I would like us to point 327 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,560 this out to you. If you come to Jesus with 328 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,040 confidence point #1 and we're invited to ask Jesus for 329 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,520 anything. In verse 14, if we continue 330 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,200 reading verse 14, it says if we ask anything now He comes with a 331 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:40,160 condition there that is in accordance to His will. 332 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:46,840 That mean what does that mean? That means to seek to know if I 333 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,600 request harmonizes with God's purposes. 334 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,240 In other words, when I ask Jesus for something to do for us, we 335 00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:00,000 should validate with Him whether whatever asking is in line with 336 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,120 His will. I'll give you an example. 337 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:11,840 You want to buy a house and you pray about it, isn't it? 338 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,080 A wise prayer might be. Lord, I am excited about this 339 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:19,200 property. I want your will to understand 340 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,320 whether you want me to buy it. If it is from you, please open 341 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,000 the way. But if it's not, help me accept 342 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,560 your guidance. And I think the first part is 343 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,680 easy for us to say. All of us say the first part, 344 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,320 but the last part to help me accept your guidance. 345 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:38,880 If that's not your will, if your will is not in line with my 346 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,480 will, I think this is the hardest part of all of us have 347 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,720 our omniscient, benevolent Lord knows exactly what's good for 348 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,760 us, His grace and power, for the promotion of our happiness, of 349 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,160 our salvation. That's his utmost goal. 350 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,000 So it is worth reading what the Apostle James and I believe 351 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:03,200 Fred, you mentioned this morning. 352 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:09,640 He pointed out he says you do not have because you do not ask. 353 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,200 And then he asks in verse 3. You ask and you don't need to 354 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:15,000 receive. Why? 355 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,280 Because you asked for the wrong with the wrong motives so that 356 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,160 you may spend it in your own pleasures. 357 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:27,640 It is not only to ask. We have to ask first, but also 358 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,400 we need to ask for the right motives. 359 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,480 Are we asking for the motives that's something that will 360 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,080 glorify God or it's for our own pleasures? 361 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,480 I remember somebody the same to me years ago. 362 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,840 I'm praying to the Lord that I win the lottery. 363 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:49,000 So when I give them money to there is this one to Russia and 364 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:54,360 they can build churches. Good motive to build the 365 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:57,600 churches. But is this something according 366 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,240 to God's will? You see, true prayer is not 367 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:07,120 telling God what to do. It is asking Him to do His will 368 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,960 into our lives. It's about God's will be done on 369 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,000 earth and not our will be done in heaven. 370 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:16,920 Church, are you with me on this one? 371 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:22,240 I think oftentimes we want our will here to be done in heaven. 372 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:27,000 That's how we approach things. God wants to see and discern His 373 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:32,480 will through His Word and to pray that His will into action. 374 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:41,440 So Jesus modeled this for us when he said in John records in 375 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:47,120 chapter 4, he says my food is to do the will of him who sent me. 376 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,560 So the principle that Christ is giving is a principle of 377 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,960 service, service for others. He wasn't getting this blessings 378 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:59,040 and this power from God the Father to to for his own comfort 379 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,560 and and good life, but it's to share it with other people. 380 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,880 So his prayer to his father right before his arrest, he 381 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:13,480 said, and I pray for their sakes, I sanctify myself that 382 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:17,600 they also may be sanctified by the truth and that word, your 383 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,160 word says it's truth. And in the book Christ objects 384 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,880 lessons, I would like to read a portion for that. 385 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,640 I would like I like what the author states there. 386 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:33,040 She says the same devotion, the same self sacrifice, the same 387 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,080 subjection to the claims of the word of God that were manifest 388 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:41,920 in Christ must be seen in whom and you and I. 389 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,480 Our mission to the world is not to serve or please ourselves, 390 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,240 the society that we live. That's what gravitates us to. 391 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:57,800 We are to glorify God by cooperating with him to save 392 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,760 sinners. We are to ask blessings from God 393 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,160 that you may communicate to others. 394 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:10,560 The capacity for receiving is preserved only by imparting. 395 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:16,200 We cannot continue to receive heavenly treasure without 396 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,920 communicating to those around us. 397 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,240 We ask for the Holy Spirit. I remember, I know it's been 398 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,400 every year we pray in the beginning of the year for the 399 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,280 output of the Holy Spirit. Well, it's great to have the 400 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:31,400 output of the Holy Spirit of our hearts, but what are you going 401 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,000 to do is question. I'm going to ask everybody, each 402 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,360 one of us to think about, OK, you ask for the Holy Spirit, 403 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:37,360 What are you going to do with that? 404 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,720 God gives to you. Is it for your own glory, for 405 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,720 your own purpose, or is it God is going to give us the measure 406 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:49,240 of the Holy Spirit that we need to glorify Him and use this for 407 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:53,960 the service of others. Remember the story, Just going 408 00:29:53,960 --> 00:30:01,040 to mention this, Remember the story of the two fishes, the 409 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:06,360 five loaves and that basically 5000 people and at the end they 410 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,200 collected 12 baskets and the Spirit of prophecy. 411 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,240 Give us a little bit elaborates a little bit more to give us 412 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,880 more insight. They were asked to take those 413 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,320 pieces with them and share them in the back when they returned 414 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,240 to their homes. So the blessing that they 415 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,880 received, it wasn't just for them, wasn't just to feed them 416 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,960 there and have a have a good meal, but it was also to share 417 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,560 that and everybody else learn about Christ. 418 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,280 The same thing is for us today, applies for us today. 419 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:38,000 Now I want to stress one thing, and I'm just going to do a 420 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,880 parenthesis here. There's an important thing that 421 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:42,640 we need to understand, an important principle. 422 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,480 Whenever we ask something about our own salvation, not about 423 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:52,280 material things, but something about our personal salvation, 424 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:57,000 the Savior will be more than ready to hear and answer those 425 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,120 requests. Let me state this one in a 426 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:03,200 little bit different way. You if we offer any prayer 427 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:08,480 related to our own salvation, not about health or about 428 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,920 possessions or about friends or anything, but something about 429 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:18,480 our own salvation, God is more than ready and willing to hear 430 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,960 and fulfill that request. And I wrote it here just as a 431 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:28,040 statement for us to remember. God desire our salvation even 432 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:33,880 more than we desired. He died for us so that you and I 433 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:39,400 have eternal life. Galatians 1/4 He gave himself 434 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,880 for our sins, that He might deliver us from the presence of 435 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,520 the of the evil age in this evil age. 436 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:51,520 Ephesians 1/5 He predestined us to adaption as sons by Jesus 437 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:56,680 Christ to Himself. See in the book Desire of Ages, 438 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:02,640 page 266, this, the Spirit of Prophecy emphasizes this point 439 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,120 in this way. And I'm going to read that quote 440 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,960 if you don't mind me. It says when we pray for earnest 441 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:15,200 earthly blessings, the answer to our prayer may be delayed or God 442 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:20,560 may give us something other than we ask, but not so when we ask 443 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:24,120 for deliverance from sin. You know, I think all of us have 444 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,920 prayed. Lord, I'm looking to get married 445 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,920 strong me a wife. For me it took 20 years to get 446 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,400 that answer. For Alice it may take two years. 447 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:39,400 But when we pray something for salvation, God gives us the 448 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,560 answer right away. It is His will to cleanse us 449 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:48,520 from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to 450 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:53,000 live a holy life. Christ gave Himself for our sins 451 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,560 that He might deliver us from this present evil world 452 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,880 according to the will of God and our Father. 453 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,160 And so if we confess our sin, what is the promise? 454 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,680 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse 455 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:16,840 us from all our righteousness. So therefore, what we can glean 456 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:22,720 from this statement is that we may be sure that when we offer a 457 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,400 sincere prayer related to our salvation, God is going to 458 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:31,600 answer that ASAP. Well, someone will say, well, 459 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:37,720 this is nice and good, but how do I know if my request is in 460 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:43,120 line with God's will? Well, I think you've probably 461 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:48,400 heard a few sermons on this one and everybody and everybody will 462 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,160 say, well, you can do ask yourself some questions. 463 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:56,040 This passes the litmus test. For example, does my request 464 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,840 contradict with the Word of God? That's a very simple, basic 465 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,000 question to ask. Does He contradict with His 466 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,280 commandments? Think about it for a minute. 467 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:10,760 If God has spoken in His Word, and what you're asking is 468 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,639 contrary to what He says, why do you keep praying about that? 469 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,920 You expect God to rewrite the Bible for you. 470 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,000 Remember the story of Balaam? He wanted God to say something 471 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,320 different than what He said the first time around. 472 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:31,360 But today I want to share with you another way for 473 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:37,480 understanding this question, that we can have confidence that 474 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:44,639 what we ask in harmony with God's will will happen when we 475 00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:49,679 abide in Christ. It's a statement found in John 476 00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:54,600 15-7. And Jesus said there to his 477 00:34:54,600 --> 00:35:00,280 disciples and to us extensively here, if you abide in me, and my 478 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,960 words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be 479 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:11,560 given to you. So as we abide in Christ, Christ 480 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:17,000 dwells in US, and then we become partakers of this divine nature. 481 00:35:17,720 --> 00:35:22,840 Second, Peter 214, our thoughts become identified with the 482 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:28,560 divine will, and then we offer to God, request only this 483 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,000 request that would be in harmony with His will. 484 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,320 In other words, our character, our thought, our mindset, our 485 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,560 process gets aligned with God's will, with God's thought 486 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:43,400 process, and then what we're going to offer, what we're going 487 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:48,040 to pronounce, it's going to be nothing but something that will 488 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:53,040 be in accordance to the will of God, abiding in Christ and 489 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:57,080 living in known sin. They don't go together. 490 00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:01,080 You cannot believe in the sin that you realize that is a sin. 491 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:03,880 And you can say that I abide in Christ. 492 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:12,400 Notice the two parts in the statement of Jesus and He is 493 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,720 using the conjunction and to connect these two because they 494 00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:20,560 are both equally important. 1st we need to abide in Christ, but 495 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:24,320 secondly His word to be abide in US. 496 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:29,600 See the call to abide in Christ is followed by this conjunction. 497 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:32,720 So we receive Christ by receiving His word. 498 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:37,400 Abiding in Christ is not to be called Christian just by name. 499 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,520 It's not to be saying that I get saved just to be named, but 500 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:46,040 living a life that is not in accordance to the will, to 501 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:49,680 accordance to the word of God, but it's a continual 502 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:54,840 relationship with Christ, Paul said, I daily surrender myself 503 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,120 to Christ. I daily follow his leading 504 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:00,120 guidance. The indwelling Christ is not a 505 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,680 mystical or inexplicable experience. 506 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,600 So the important thing for us to grasp here is that we abide in 507 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:13,560 Christ by receiving his Word. We abide in Christ by studying 508 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:17,480 His Word. We abide in Christ by meditating 509 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:23,200 on His Word, by leaving His Word and by sharing it with others. 510 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:30,120 And as we feed on the Word of God daily, our minds will get 511 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:35,000 enlightened. It's like a aha moment as we 512 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:38,120 choose to fall and obey Him through heavens enabled power in 513 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,560 Christ. In you, the hoping of glory that 514 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,160 what is becoming is formed within us. 515 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:50,280 And this is the safe and solid spiritual experience we all 516 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,240 need. Abiding Christ in his words, 517 00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:59,800 abiding in US, and then we can be certain that we exist and 518 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:04,280 move and our whole being is within the realm of God's will. 519 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,680 There's one of my most favorite passages in the Spirit of 520 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,920 Prophecy page 668. I would like to share with you 521 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:20,560 because to me it makes things you know more more crystal and 522 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,120 more understandable. Here is here's what the author 523 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:28,520 says. All true obedience comes from 524 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:33,280 the heart. It was hard work with Christ and 525 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:39,680 if we consent, he will so identify himself with our 526 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:43,440 thoughts and aims. So blend our hearts and minds 527 00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:50,000 into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall 528 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,040 be but carrying out our own impulses. 529 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:56,960 Think about it. Stop for a minute and let's try 530 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:01,520 to digest this. First of all, it has to be a 531 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,880 choice. It is not forced upon us. 532 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:09,240 It says if we consent, it's you and I have to make the choice 533 00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:11,920 whether we want Jesus to allow Jesus. 534 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:17,200 If we do, we want to allow Jesus to identify himself with our 535 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:21,800 thoughts and aims. If we do allow him, he will do 536 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:25,960 that and he will blend our hearts and minds in conformity 537 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,400 with what? With whose will, with his will. 538 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,480 And so when we get to that state, that's the abiding 539 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,920 Christ. Then when we obey him, we shall 540 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,880 be by carrying out our own impulses. 541 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:44,280 In other words, we have reached a level of spiritual maturity 542 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:49,200 where God is working in us in our lives that our thoughts, our 543 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:54,920 decisions, our actions, our words are nothing but what could 544 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,840 have said, God would have said, Jesus would have said through 545 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,920 us. This is very powerful. 546 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:11,920 Finally, the apostle John proceeds in giving us the last 547 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:18,960 point in chapter in verse 14, and he says, and this is the 548 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,000 confidence. Let me bring this up here. 549 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:26,360 And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask 550 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:30,400 anything, we addressed that already according to His will. 551 00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:34,080 That was a second condition. Then you have the assurance. 552 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:39,880 What's the assurance that he hears us and but he doesn't stop 553 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:42,880 there. In verse 14, he continues with 554 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:50,920 verse 15 to reassure us that we that we have that confidence and 555 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:53,600 the answer to our press. He says, and if we know that he 556 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:57,880 hears us, obviously we've asked something that's according to 557 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,520 your will. Whatever we ask, we know that we 558 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,760 have the petitions that we desire of him. 559 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,240 So this is a reassurance that John gives us through 560 00:41:09,240 --> 00:41:14,640 inspiration here from from God to tell us about this God of 561 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:20,920 love, the God who cares for each one of us to meet our needs. 562 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:25,280 In simple words, the Apostle John assured us that every 563 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:31,520 sincere prayer is heard in heaven and when our requests are 564 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:36,000 in accordance with God's will, then it will be answered in the 565 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:44,400 way that is truly best for us. I want to summarize the four 566 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:49,640 points that we saw today. The Apostle John here highlights 567 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:55,480 in these 3 verses. We can confidently approach the 568 00:41:55,480 --> 00:42:00,320 throne of grace #1 we are free to ask Jesus for anything. 569 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:05,360 Number two. Number three, our request must 570 00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:09,440 align with God's will. That's a condition. 571 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:14,840 And then we have the assurance that when they are, we have the 572 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:18,240 assurance that our prayers will be heard and will receive 573 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:24,360 answers. God hears everything. 574 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:28,600 He hears the spoken request. He hears also the unspoken 575 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:30,640 requests. We prayed this morning. 576 00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:33,840 There were some silent requests. God hears those. 577 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:40,880 When John means here that Jesus hears our petitions really 578 00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:43,760 favorably, that's why I put it on the screen. 579 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:49,320 Jesus is hearing with a spirit that he wants to help us out. 580 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:53,840 So that's what religion means here, that Jesus hears our 581 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:59,280 petitions in a favorable way and he comes out to our aid because 582 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,400 he loves us. Think about this example I'm 583 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,520 going to give you. Think about a mother. 584 00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:09,720 I have a room here full of children and there are multiple 585 00:43:09,720 --> 00:43:11,440 mothers. Everybody's talking around, 586 00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:21,920 there's so much noise, etcetera. But when her child cries, that 587 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:32,320 mother hears the voice, so likewise our heavenly Father 588 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:40,000 knows the cry of his children. Jesus is always available to 589 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:45,480 guide us. His ears burn low to listen, and 590 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:49,560 He promises to hear and grant what is best for us. 591 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:55,160 And so when we have this confidence in God that he hears 592 00:43:55,160 --> 00:44:00,280 our prayers, then we will have no nagging doubts as to the 593 00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,840 righteous, the rightness of his ways. 594 00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:10,120 But we will calmly trust, knowing that His works, his 595 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:16,960 decisions are the best for us. The knowledge that our God is a 596 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:21,360 prayer hearing God will assure us that he will grant every 597 00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:27,080 right petition that is offered to him, every petition that is 598 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:31,920 in harmony with the divine design and we can rest assured 599 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:38,440 in the knowledge that our prayers God approves, they will 600 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:42,000 receive the best possible answer that is for us. 601 00:44:43,120 --> 00:44:49,080 So as I close this morning, our study, I would like to make an 602 00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:51,920 appeal to you. Come close to God. 603 00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:56,880 Put aside anything that separates you from God. 604 00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:04,640 Ask Him to show you anything that hinders you from fully 605 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:08,600 experiencing the blessing and the outpouring of the Spirit to 606 00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:13,000 you and abide in Him. The statement that we read, 607 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:17,200 Abide in Him. Make that a daily priority in 608 00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:24,280 your life, and when we leave this way, we will better 609 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:27,400 understand God's will for our lives. 610 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:35,760 Our prayers will align with His will, and then we will see Him 611 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:40,600 work powerfully as He prepares for His Son coming. 612 00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:47,040 Amen. Yes Jesus, we want you to lead 613 00:45:47,040 --> 00:45:51,960 us every day, day by day. Guide us Lord, into your word. 614 00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:57,840 Help us, Lord, understand Your will into our lives and give us 615 00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:03,880 the heart to be able to commit our lives into your hands. 616 00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:07,160 We ask, Lord, for forgiveness of our sins and for guide us every 617 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:10,320 day into our lives. Fill us with Your spirit to have 618 00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:15,880 the power to be faithful to You and have us be true witnesses to 619 00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:19,120 the people around us. Looking forward for your second 620 00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:22,080 coming. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.