Message #18 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
"Spiritual Intimacy"

by Kaye Johns

One way to know when our prayers have been according to God’s will is that we see answers. The prayer promise of 1 John 5 is clear: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him." [1 John 5:14-15]

When we pray according to God’s will, He answers. Of course, like all promises, this must be considered in the light of the whole body of truth. For instance, we can’t live disobedient lives and expect to receive whatever we ask in prayer. [1 John 3:21-22] But assuming we are living in such a way that we meet every other condition for answered prayer, we can take this promise literally.

But can we know God’s will? A better question might be, would God ask us to meet any condition He will not enable us to fulfill? Of course not. We’re assured in 1 John that we can enjoy fellowship with the Lord [1 John 1:3], that the Lord lives in us [1 John 3:24, 4:12, 13, 15, 16] and allows us to live in Him [1 John 3:24, 4:13, 15, 16, 5:20], and that He has given us His Holy Spirit to teach us all things. [1 John 2:27]

The Lord wants us to know and pray according to His will. And when we live the life that allows spiritual intimacy with Him, we can.

Pray with me now--Lord, help us choose to live in spiritual intimacy with You, that we may pray according to Your will, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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