THURSDAY 30th
1 John 5:13-15
‘I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.’
When John came to finish his gospel he wrote these words ‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’ (20:30-31) He wrote his gospel so that people would believe, with his letter he has written because people have believed. What he had desired in writing the gospel had happened and is still happening the world over today. The good news that comes from both his gospel and his letter is that in believing in Jesus as the Son of God we have eternal life.
As we are nearing the end of this epistle, I bring a gospel challenge again for any who may in some way have come across this devotion and yet you do not know Jesus as your Saviour. Can I encourage you to get hold of at least a copy of the gospel of John and see what he has written, so that you yourself will also come to believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you will have eternal life.
John then continues in these verses to say that the Son of God hears us as we ask anything according to his will, the one who has become our Saviour is also the one who listens out to hear us as we call out to him, not as a magic genie who will grant to us everything we wish for or may demand like a little child may demand from his or her parents, but to give to us those things that are needful or necessary, anything which fit into the pattern of what is his good, acceptable and pleasing will for our lives.
When you listen to some of the prosperity teachers (and to be perfectly honest with you, it would be best never to listen to them), you would think that God sits in heaven with a treasure chest and all you have to do is ask and he will give you everything you want, the treasure chest is just overflowing with anything and everything you wish to ask for or demand. Thank God his giving is not based upon what we desire or demand, but upon his knowing what we need and what is best for us. So when you pray, when you ask, ask according to his will, not according to your wants, for God knows best, he knows your needs and he will supply them according to his riches in glory with Christ Jesus.