1 John 3:20-22
If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
It is such an amazing grace that we can have confidence before God. People always live in the darkness and vanity, so that they don't admit that they are weak and sinful. But it says here that God is greater than our hearts. Many times we would think that we could hide ourselves from God and get away, because no one sees our sins. But we can hide ourselves from other people, but not from God. Psalms 139: 7-8 says: "Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there." In other words, we have nowhere to hide.
God is also omniscient. Psalms 139: 1-4 says: "O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely." God knows all about what we think of, what we say and what we do. Whenever we confess our sins to Him, 1 John 1:9 says: "he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." For exactly this reason, we can come before God with confidence. So in verse 21 John said: "if our hearts don't condemn us", which means if we are cleansed from all our sins by the precious blood of the Lord, we can come before God with confidence.
John showed us here one of God's promises. Verse 22 says: "and receive from him anything we ask". Do you know that God has given you such a precious promise? Once you understand this truth, you will find out that prayer is the greatest responsibility of a Christian. Just like what John Wesley said, God doesn't do anything else besides answering our prayers. In other words, What God's mainly does is to hear our prayers and answers them.
Pray with Pastor Tong Liu
Lord, we thank you, for you have given us the authority of prayer. May you help each brother and sister, so that they can bring their needs to you. We believe that for sure you will answer their prayers, and reach out from the throne to deliver us. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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