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, NIV)
When I caddy for my father Larry on the Champions Tour, it is not uncommon for him to ask me for my opinion on a read for a putt. He is pretty self-reliant on the greens, but often asks for confirmation on his reads for added confidence. When he really wants to make an important putt and feels like he cannot do it on his own, he will call me over and say, “Josh, I really need this one. Give me your best read with those young eyes of yours.”
It’s interesting to me how many times he has made those putts after calling me in and asking for my help on the read! Are my reads really any better than his would have been? I don’t know. Although, I do see that he often makes a more confident stroke when he is trusting the line. In these situations he is choosing to fully trust the caddie rather than rely only on himself.
Today’s passage tells us that God wants us to approach him with this same type of confidence my dad puts in my “young eyes” on the golf course. If we ask for anything that aligns with his will, he not only hears us, but we will receive it.
I don’t think it is coincidence that these verses come at the end of a letter written that talks in detail about the characteristics of a person born of God, which we have examined this week:
– Put complete trust in the saving grace of Jesus Christ and not ourselves
– Seek to remove habitual sin and the desires of the flesh from our lives
– Truly love others because of God’s incredible love for us
– Living victoriously over sin and death in the name of Jesus
From these points and other biblical truths, we gain a theological understanding that allows us to grow in our assurance of life as children born of the most-high God. We also find faith and complete confidence that when we go before God, he has our best interest in mind and grants our requests if they are within his will for us. May we all go before God this year with complete trust in him and the desire for his will to be done in our lives.
—
Josh Nelson
January 11, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.