According to 1 John 5:15, it’s possible for us to “know God hears us” – with three reasons from John as to how we know too.
The first being 1 John 3:22, that God hears us “because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” In which case, of course God hears us, because thanks to Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for our sins (2:2), all our imperfect obedience to God’s commands and not always doing what pleases him, are totally forgiven and “purified” – decontaminated of all imperfection (1:9). In his Son, therefore, the Father reassures us that the air waves are totally clear of all obstructions between us and him. He hears us all right, loud and clear.
John’s second reason for knowing God hears us is that Jesus is constantly “speaking to the Father in our defence” (2:1). It’s amazing that God set it up this way, but it gives us a picture in terms we can grasp – of a court where Jesus is our champion presenting our case to the Father, and the Father in all his splendour giving his Son his full attention, because this is his Son speaking.
So that’s two reasons for knowing God hears us, both supplied for us in his Son. That’s why his Son is the Father’s personal testimony or witness to us (5:11), because in what Jesus did for us in his sacrifice, and in what he’s doing for us right now, we have the Father stamping his absolute guarantee – on everything we come to him for – that he hears.
So far so good, then – but – we’re still stuck with a conscience that has us flagellating and condemning ourselves for every wrong thought and action. And we may have grown up in a version of Christianity that had us worrying if we’re praying enough, or studying enough, or being good enough for God to hear us. So what has God done to deal with that?
According to John in 1 John 5:10, “Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this personal testimony of God to us in himself.” In other words, John’s third proof for us knowing God hears us, is that we simply found it in ourselves believing God hears us, and for nothing we did to make it happen. We didn’t even need to ask him for it – if we even thought of asking him – because it was God who set up all three of these proofs himself so we know he hears us.
So now we know that God hears us, we’re into the second part of 1 John 5:15, “Whatever we ask”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 