The last part of our text for this week says:

“13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

When we pull this section out of John’s flow of thought in his letter, we might be tempted to make broader generalizations about God’s will (and what’s in and what’s out of God’s will and what we ask for in alignment with that will). But John doesn’t leave it that open-ended. He goes on to say:

“16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. (I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.) 18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”

I put parentheses around the last half of v 16 and v17 because they really function as a footnote for John - something that needs to be noted but is not the main point of his thought flow – so for now, let’s set those verses aside and look at the whole thing again:

“13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. 18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”

Part of our prayer life, according to John, is the assurance that sin does not have power over us and that God’s will for us is to have lives where the marring and scaring effects of sin become less and less as we approach God more and more. God’s will centers around our confident/assured approach to connecting with the One who continually offers renewal, grace, and peace as he calls and receives us back to himself again and again and again and again…

As you pray today, rest in the knowledge that sin does not have final power over us. Know that God’s desire is to pour a life that is eternally new into your spirit each and every day.

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About the Author

Isaac Gaff is the Managing Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Calvary UMC