Day 5 - Week 17 - 1 John 5:14, "Now this is the confidence we have before Him; whatever we ask according to His will, He hears us."

We've been talking about having enough trust to say "thy will be done" without hesitation, knowing that God's will for us is better than anything we could plan for ourselves.  That He is the only one that knows our story beginning to end and that He is the only one who knows exactly what is best for us at every point in our lives.

But I can hear someone saying, "Wait a minute....Jesus trusted....Jesus said, 'thy will be done'...and yet Jesus was crucified on a cross.  If that was God's will for Him, how can I be expected to say 'thy will be done'?  That is not the kind of future I want.  What if God's will for me brings something I really don't want?"

Well, this is where the maturity of our faith is measured.  This is where what I call our "reborn eyes" need to be utilized to see past the immediate.

For that's exactly what Jesus did. 

Hebrews 12:2 , "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Was the cross painful?  Absolutely!  Did Jesus want to go through that pain---we know he did not.  But He knew if that is what His Father had in store for Him, then there was something infinitely greater in store for Him beyond that pain.  He could see, "the joy set before Him" and so He endured.

God's plans are not always painless, they are not always easy.  But any pain endured will bring with it greater reward for our obedience.  Our Jesus died for great purpose, the salvation of our souls.  God's plan was absolutely good for all....for us and for our Savior.

Philippians 2:8-11, "He humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."



God, help me to see beyond the now, and into the forever.  Help me to know that Your plans are plans for eternity, and that whatever You bring me in the here and now has rewards that will last forever.  Help me to see through eyes that have been reborn from the temporal to the eternal.  Let me trust that everything from You is good and that I can trust in You always  and in all ways.  Thank You Jesus, my Savior, for being obedient to God's wonderful plan that brings all who believe salvation.

Day 3 - Week 17 - 1 John 5:14, "Now this is the confidence we have before Him; whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."

 Quoting from "100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart" by Robert J. Morgan, regarding this week's verse,

The meaning and marvel of prayer grows deeper and more practical as phrase builds upon phrase.  Prayer is...

• Coming before Him.
• Coming before Him with confidence.
• Coming before Him with confidence and asking.
• Coming before Him with confidence and asking according to His will.
• Coming before Him with confidence and asking according to His will, knowing that He hears us.

If our prayers are nothing more than throwing out some "wishes" and having as much faith in their fulfillment as when we blow out the candles on our birthday cake, cross our fingers, or wish upon a falling star, then God probably isn't that impressed with them.

We are told to come before God with confidence, and ask Him for what we are needing.  We are told to examine those needs to see if they are aligned with what we know to be God's will, and when we do that and bring our needs, our unresolved hurts, or our seemingly unsolvable problems to Him, then we are told to know that we have been heard. 

And if God hears His children, He will not ignore them.  Just as Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."   Peace comes because we know that we have been heard and we trust that our loving God and Father will handle our requests in the very best way for His child

Trusting God comes from knowing Him; knowing Him comes from reading His story, the Bible.  When you read His Word, He becomes real to you and you begin to know His character.  Once you know that God is trustworthy by all evidences given throughout the Bible, then it becomes much easier to trust Him to work for good on your behalf. 

"Oh how He loves you, Oh how He loves me, Oh how He loves you and me."

Day 2 - Week 17 - 1 John 5:14, "Now this is the confidence we have before Him; whatever we ask according to His will, He hears us."

In his reflections on this verse, Robert J. Morgan states,

Sometimes when I purchase roses or plants from a nursery catalog, there's a little box on the order form saying, 'If we are out of the item you want, may we substitute one of equal or greater value?'  I always say no, because I don't think the workers in the warehouse know what's best for my garden.  But with the Lord we should always say, ' Yes, Lord!  You may substitute.  You may grant an alternative answer of equal or greater value.  I trust You with substitutions.

Isn't that a great way to look at "according to His will"?  I think we always have in the back of our mind that when we have to include "thy will be done" we're opening ourselves up to having to accept something less than what we really want. 

When in reality, God is always ready to give us more than what we know to ask for.  We can't even begin to know how good the things that God may have in mind for us might be.  He is the only One who knows our story, beginning to end, and He is the only One who knows what is best for us at each particular time.

Just like in our last verse...that would be Hebrews 4:16, "Therefore let us approach the throne of glory with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time"  (YAY...I said it without looking!)...we again are asked to trust in God's absolute knowledge and wisdom in granting to us the best for us at the best time.

Satan would have us believe (just as he tried to convince Eve) that God is always withholding the best from us, but God showed  His absolute love for us when He gave us His one and only Son.  That should prove to us that He will not withhold any good thing from us.

We need to get past our hesitancy to add "thy will be done" and instead embrace that thought as the best thought for our future.  God has good plans for His children.

Thank You God for having the very best planned for my future.  Help me to not insist on my way, when Your way will bring so much more benefit to me.  Help me to trust Your love for me completely by continually looking at the sacrifice of Your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Day 1 - Week 17! Ready, set, let's go!

Four Corners of the Bible
Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us; we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans Road to Salvation:
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Romans 5:8 - But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9 - If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 12:1 - Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual worship.

The Gift of Scripture:
2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.
Joshua 1:8 - This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth, you are to recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Psalms 119:11 - I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 - Listen Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I give to you today are to be in your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:7 -  Repeat these words to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 
Hebrews 4:12 - For the Word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide the soul, spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

The Gift of Prayer
Hebrews 4:16 - Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

Isn't that just the most beautiful verse?  I have loved this past week's verse as it has settled into my being and given me such confidence in the fact that God's mercy and grace are always presented to me at the very right time.  I have come before Him this week asking for His grace in giving our family more time with my sweet brother-in-law who is very sick, battling infection that has set in as he has been undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma.  And I know that God is hearing our prayers and we are trusting Him and leaning into His love for us.  I would ask you to pray for Robert McCaffree ("Shorty" to many of us!) too --- for his healing and for him to feel God's presence and comfort, even as he goes through physical discomfort.  For him to feel that indescribable peace that only God can give to us.  Thank You God for answering prayer even as it is spoken.

And we continue now with our second verse on the gift of prayer...ready?

1 John 5:14
Now this is the confidence we have before Him; whenever we ask according to His will, He hears us.

Now there's a confidence builder!  But notice the conditional "whenever."  Let's start pondering this new verse...

Day 7 - Week 16 - Hebrews 4:16 - "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

Hebrews 4:16 "Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

Who, what, where, why...now we get the "when"..."at the proper time."

Robert J. Morgan says, "That phrase literally means at the opportune or needed time, just when we need it."

He also includes a wonderful quote from G. Campbell Morgan:

I am never tired of pointing out that the Greek phrase translated, 'in the time of need', is a colloquialism, of which 'the nick of time' is the exact equivalent:  That we may have grace to help in the 'nick of time.'  Grace just when and where I need it.  You are attacked by temptation, and, at the moment of assault, you look to Him, and the grace is there to help in the nick of time.  No postponement of your petition until the evening hour of prayer; but, there...in the city street, with the flaming temptation in front of you, turn to Christ with a cry for help, and the grace will be there in the nick of time.

And another by Amy Carmichael:

One day I was in trouble and oppressed about many things.  It was one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong.  I was trying to get my quiet time but was constantly interrupted.  Suddenly these words came---I could hardly believe they were in the Bible, they seemed so new to my needy heart---'Grace to help in time of need.'  I found them and read them and marked them with joy, and in that moment, the moment of their coming, I was renewed in strength.

So the "when" is when we are the neediest, "in the nick of time"..."in time of need"..."at the proper time"...no matter how you choose to say it, God will respond to our requests when He sees it to be the absolute best, most appropriate, most needed time for us to receive His provision...as always, God's timing is perfect.  We can't demand the "when" of God's response --- He is the only One who knows the perfect "when."

Trust.

God's mercy and grace will be received "at the proper time."

Day 5 - Week 16 - Hebrews 4:16 - "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

We've established the who, what, and where...tonight the "why"?

Again, quoting from Robert J Morgan, "Mercy is God's attitude of forgiveness in not giving us what we do deserve.  Grace is His attitude of blessing and benevolence in giving us what we do not deserve."

Isn't it true that everything we ask of God falls into one of these two categories? 

We come to Him to ask for His mercy over our lives when we know we have messed things up once again...to ask Him to forgive us, even though there is nothing about us that merits forgiveness.  But we know, both because we've been told and because we've previously experienced it, that, 

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  1 John 1:9

We come to our Father and seek His mercy.  His promised mercy to us only because of Jesus our Savior.  Without Jesus atonement, we would cower in God's presence because of our sinfulness rather than being able to approach it with boldness and seek His mercy.  Our sinfulness deserves God's wrath - His mercy withholds that wrath and in its place we find mercy.

OR.....

We come to our Father asking for His grace; His grace to give us what we certainly do not deserve...His blessing over our lives.  We ask for His blessing over us, over our children, our grandchildren, our country.  We ask God to protect us, to strengthen us, to heal us.  We ask Him to lead us, to suppress wickedness, to bring our dry country rain.

We do not deserve the ability to ask anything of God...yet because of His grace, we can come to Him and present all of our requests and, in fact, He desires us to do so.  And the most important aspect of His grace....our salvation.  Again, it is only because of Jesus' sacrifice that we can come to our Father as His children and ask for His undeserved blessing over our earthly lives and to attain the ultimate blessing of eternal life with Him.

I am again humbled to think that I have been given such a truly awesome ability...to present my requests for both mercy and grace at the heavenly throne of God Almighty.  He is truly a loving Father to His children.