Prayer, we would all admit, is one of the most difficult disciplines to maintain in the Christian life. It is one of the most neglected means of grace, and methods of communion with God. And it is the most powerful aspect of the Christian life. Yet, for many, if not most, it is hard to pray, let alone praying great prayers with great confidence. As John is in the thick of discussing assurance, and giving us tests of salvation, he then connects prayer, and not just prayer, but receiving in prayer to these great themes of 1 John. We will explore the theme of praying great prayers, with great confidence, because we have great assurance, from our great God, who has given us a great gift, as I believe it is the flow and idea of this section of 1 John.<\/p>\n
Verse 19: “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John here connects these verses to what he has previously said in the preceding verses. Therefore, the “by this” by which we know we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him, is the previous test of love which he laid out. This section is a continued flow of thought, not a new subject. So John is saying that if we can look at our lives and see the Spirit’s work giving us a true love for the brethren, we can draw assurance from that and know that we are of the truth; because if you do not love God’s people, you can be sure that you are not a Christian.<\/p>\n
Verse 20: \u00a0“<\/sup>for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Throughout church history there have been two main views as to how to understand this verse and it’s meaning within the context. They are as follows:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I am not 100% persuaded as to which intent John specifically had in mind, but both views are theologically true. How you read it really depends on who you are.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you are an unbeliever, or a professor of faith only, be warned! There is no comfort here for you, but only warning. If your own conscience condemns you that you are a sinner, how much more will a holy and righteous God who is judge of all the earth? Much more, for he knows your wickedness better than your own heart does.<\/p>\n If you are a true believer, if you are in Christ, you will heed the warning, but you can also take comfort in the gospel. For the Christian it is both a warning and a comfort. Christian’s take the Bible’s warnings seriously, and heed them. Christians also have the great benefits of the gospel applied to them in Christ. Therefore, God is greater and more knowing than your heart, and when your heart condemns you, the gospel says, “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I want to speak for a moment, to those who are in Christ. There are different w<\/span>ays that our heart condemns us. There are two general ways, one good way, and one bad way.<\/p>\n The good way is that our conscience convicts of us sin, that we might seek forgiveness from the cross. We are convicted that we might be repentant. We ought to desire a tender conscience that pricks us at the slightest hint of sin that we might run to Christ and live holy lives that are honoring and pleasing to him.<\/span><\/p>\n The bad way is that our heart sometimes condemns us with guilt, beyond what is necessary to drive us to the cross. It may do this by keeping a list of wrongs you have done, when God has buried them in the bottom of the sea never to be brought up again. It may tell you that you are not worthy to pray. It may tell you that you have no right to ask great things of God. It may tell you that God will not grant your requests. It might cause you to focus on your sorry self and your failures, distracting you from the greatness of God. <\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Sometimes when our heart condemns us, it may be right, in terms of the law. We have sinned, failed, and fallen short of the glory of God. But when the conscience convicts a true believer of sin, that believer goes to the cross where the gospel speaks a better word than condemnation. Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”<\/span><\/p>\n I think of the great Charles Wesley Hymn, “And Can It Be?”<\/p>\n \u201cNo condemnation now I dread;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Alive in Him, my living Head,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n And clothed in righteousness divine,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Bold I approach th\u2019 eternal throne,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n And claim the crown, through Christ my own.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Christian can take comfort in the fact that God is greater than our hearts and knows everything, because for the Christian, God is not only a righteous judge, but He is their Father, through the work of Jesus Christ. The crazy thing about the gospel is that God knows every corner of your dark and sinful heart, more than you even know yourself, and yet he does not condemn those who are in Christ Jesus, even when our hearts do. God knows everything about you, that you would never even think about telling a single soul about, and yet he still loves you, forgives you, and calls you his own.<\/p>\n This ought to breed incredible confidence before God in prayer. It is the gospel declaration of “no condemnation!” that emboldens us to boldly approach the eternal throne. Without the declaration of “no condemnation!” there is no bold approach to the throne of God.<\/p>\n Verse 21: “Beloved,\u00a0if our heart does not condemn us,\u00a0we have confidence before God;”<\/p>\n When we have assurance, we are confident in asking big things in prayer. When we lack assurance, we lack confidence in prayer, because we are not sure about our standing with God. But when we are confident in knowing that we are his children, we are confident in prayer because we know our heavenly Father loves to answer the prayers of his children. God’s children have his ear in prayer, ever listening.<\/p>\n If our hearts condemn us, there will likely not be true and confident prayer. One of the things necessary for boldness in prayer is to be set free from condemnation. If we are not free from condemnation, no great prayers will we pray.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 22:\u00a0“<\/sup>and\u00a0whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and\u00a0do what pleases him.”<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Any and all answered prayer is grace. There is never a time when we have earned an answer to prayer because of our great praying, or our consistency in prayer. But there is a connection between holiness and receiving from God in prayer. Our confidence in prayer is directly related to our obedience to whom we pray. If we are not availing ourselves of the means of grace that God has given, we should not expect to receive great things in prayer for we are being hypocrites.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n John\u2019s emphasis on the necessity of our obedience and doing what pleases the Lord is not referring to our works being determinate or contributive to our justification and standing before God, if we are in Christ. But rather it refers to affecting our daily walk, and experiential fellowship with God – our daily communion with God.<\/span><\/p>\n Quietly kept sins have hindered many prayers. Let me be clear: they do not hinder God, but they hinder us in prayer, because we are not confident to ask freely and boldly with a clear conscience. Quietly kept sins have hindered many prayers – not God – from ever being prayed. Acceptance of sin has made far too many content with little prayer. I think of saints from past times, who were so bold in prayer and in what they asked of God. Missionary William Carey being a great example as he famously said, \u201cExpect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.\u201d This was a man who was a pioneer missionary to India, despite numerous setbacks and sufferings was used incredibly by God to translate the Bible into their languages. His sufferings were so great and for so long he saw virtually no fruit from his ministry, yet the ways in which God used William Carey are innumerable. Why do we not pray bold and confident prayers like that? I am afraid that one of the main reasons is because we are too content with certain sins in our lives, and thus we are hindered in prayer. I know this to be true, for I know that I am as guilty here as the next man. Most times, our lack of prayer can be traced back to quietly kept sins in our life. Our prayer life is often the true indicator of our spiritual condition. Who we are on our knees before God is who we truly are. We must understand that our holy living, through the grace and power of the Spirit, is vitally connected to our prayer life. Imagine the great things we could pray before God\u2019s throne with free and full access as his children, but instead our confidence and desire has been sapped by sin that we keep around in our life. Oh may it not be so any longer of us! May we avail ourselves of the means of grace to go after repentance and faith that we may spend the time we once spent sinning, going confidently before the throne of God voicing our prayers to his listening ear and able arm!<\/span><\/p>\n During the Welsh revival of 1904, preacher Evan Roberts would teach this same thing. If we are asking for God’s Spirit to bring us revival, yet we are keeping sins alive in our life, we are holding back parts of our life from God, and are proving that we don’t really want God’s Spirit to bring true revival, but just a religious experience.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Is there sin in your life that you are keeping safe, that is thus keeping you from full and bold prayer? Confess it today. Confess it now. Seek God’s face.<\/p>\n Psalm 66:17-19 carries this same theme,\u00a0\u201cI cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. <\/span>If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. <\/span><\/i>But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.\u201d We cannot cherish sin in our hearts and expect our prayers to be taken seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n On the one hand there are those who are utterly deceived in thinking they can ask great things of God, and yet cherish sin in their hearts. On the other hand, there are many whose prayers have been dried up because of cherished sin in their hearts. Let us hate sin! Let us despise it! If we are to love the Lord, we must!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 23: “And this is his commandment,\u00a0that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and\u00a0love one another,\u00a0just as he has commanded us.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n John summarizes and simplifies the Christian life, to remind us what our obedience is to be. We are to believe the right doctrine about the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are to live the right kind of life – that of gospel love. Some like to pit these two aspects of the Christian life against one another. But there is no conflict or competition between them. If you compromise doctrine for the sake of love, you are not loving; and if you do not love in the name of doctrine, your doctrine is wrong.<\/p>\n Verse 24:\u00a0“<\/sup>Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And\u00a0by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All of this we do in the Spirit, which is given to us as a gift – undeserved and unearned. Our obedience, our love, our prayers, all of it when done rightly is done through the power of the Holy Spirit who abides in us and we in him. None of this is to be done through our own flesh, or our own willpower or unction. Through the Spirit we rightly obey, love, believe, and pray.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As John Calvin reminds us, \u201c…whatever good works are done by us, proceed from the grace of the Spirit, and that the Spirit is not obtained by our righteousness, but is freely given to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Since it is through the Spirit that we rightly pray, we see that when John says whatever we ask we receive, he is not referring to just any carnal desire that we may ask of God in prayer. But it is when we are praying in the Spirit that we will receive whatever we ask, for the Spirit will have all his prayers answered, because He knows exactly what to pray, and what is the will of God. As Romans 8:26-27 profoundly tells us: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For\u00a0we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but\u00a0the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>And\u00a0he who searches hearts knows what is\u00a0the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit\u00a0intercedes for the saints\u00a0according to the will of God.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When we are abiding in obedience, living pleasing to the Lord, by the Spirit who is within us whom God has given to us, then we pray according to the Spirit and our prayers are answered. But as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones puts it, \u201cBut if I am not living the life, then any petitions are probably arising from the flesh, form my own carnal nature, and I must not be surprised and disappointed if my requests are not answered and granted to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So let us pray great prayers, with great confidence, because we have great assurance, from our great God, who has given us a great gift. Let us not allow cherished sin to hinder our prayers, but rid ourselves of them, and march boldly to the throne where our heavenly father waits with listening ears.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prayer, we would all admit, is one of the most difficult disciplines to maintain in the Christian life. It is one of the most neglected means of grace, and methods of communion with God. And it is the most powerful aspect of the Christian life. Yet, for many, if not most, it is hard to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,30],"tags":[34,59,158,205,248,250,313,398,545,557,562,570,678,687,699,757,798,867,969,970,971,1014,1031,1056,1104,1105,1114,1226,1237],"class_list":{"0":"post-3659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-preaching","9":"tag-1-john","10":"tag-59","11":"tag-assurance","12":"tag-bible","13":"tag-calvin","14":"tag-calvinist","15":"tag-confidence","16":"tag-dr","17":"tag-gift","18":"tag-god","19":"tag-gospel","20":"tag-great","21":"tag-jenkins","22":"tag-john","23":"tag-joshua","24":"tag-lloyd-jones","25":"tag-martyn","26":"tag-new","27":"tag-prayer","28":"tag-prayers","29":"tag-praying","30":"tag-rags","31":"tag-reformed","32":"tag-riches","33":"tag-scirpture","34":"tag-scripture","35":"tag-sermon","36":"tag-testament","37":"tag-theology","38":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3699,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/assurance-of-eternal-life-assurance-in-prayer-1-john-513-15\/","url_meta":{"origin":3659,"position":0},"title":"Assurance of Eternal Life, Assurance in Prayer: 1 John 5:13-15","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"January 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 13\u00a0I write\u00a0these things to you who\u00a0believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.\u00a014\u00a0And this is\u00a0the confidence that we have toward him, that\u00a0if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.\u00a015\u00a0And if we know that he hears us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4502,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/jesus-prays\/","url_meta":{"origin":3659,"position":1},"title":"Jesus Prays","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"June 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We embark this afternoon on a journey within a journey. Going through the Gospel of John is a journey we are on, and as we set out into chapter 17, it will be a journey of its own. There are so many great chapters in John, and to have one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/upper-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/upper-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/upper-room.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/upper-room.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/upper-room.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/upper-room.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3690,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/bonhoeffer-on-the-psalter\/","url_meta":{"origin":3659,"position":2},"title":"Bonhoeffer on the Psalter","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"January 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Beginning this year,\u00a0my church will be singing a Psalm from the Psalter each week. I am very excited about this. The Psalter is the inspired hymnbook for God's people. Unfortunately many today have neglected this great resource for corporate worship, which we did as well for a while. But not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/01\/16933-004-cd5407ae.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2090,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/global-prayer-in-the-local-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":3659,"position":3},"title":"Global Prayer in the Local Church","author":"Joshua Mills","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We now live in a culture that is hostile to anyone claiming to know absolute truth. We often hear, \u201cif its true to you, then its true to you\u2026but its not true for me\u201d We are faced with this insanity on a daily. For Christians, it is scandalous to share\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/reecesrainbow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/prayer-for-the-media.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1113,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/prayer-as-communion-with-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":3659,"position":4},"title":"Prayer as Communion with God","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cAnd when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6111,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-scent-of-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":3659,"position":5},"title":"The Scent of Heaven","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"November 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio\u00a0 \u201cYou shall make\u00a0an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.\u00a02\u00a0A cubit[a]\u00a0shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height.\u00a0Its horns shall be of one piece with it.\u00a03\u00a0You shall\u00a0overlay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/11\/Incense.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/11\/Incense.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/11\/Incense.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/11\/Incense.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/11\/Incense.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n