"The righteous cry out,
and the LORD hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit."
Psalm 34:17-18
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Hello again! Let's begin with prayer....
"Father God our Holy One, I come to You today to thank You for hearing Your children when we cry out to You in our troubles and in our rejoicing. I know that You do not hear us because You need to, but because You love Your children. For that I am eternally grateful. I bless Your name with all my heart.
I pray and ask forgiveness for my sins. Forgive me for not being in Your word nearly enough this week. Forgive me for letting other things get in my way. I pray that You will cleanse me this day and make me new again.
I lift up each woman reading this study today. I pray that she will learn more about You and how You hear her prayers when she obeys You. I pray that she will be encouraged by that fact and take it with her today. I pray that You will walk with her and lift her up when she gets down.
In Jesus' name....amen."
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The Outworking of Love
In this next to last portion of chapter 3, we will begin to conclude our look into what love is to the Christian and how the Christian is supposed to love. In Chapter four, we will look deeper into what love is and what obedience is because John really stresses LOVE in chapter 4 far more than in chapter 3.
1 John 3:22-23-
"And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is the commandments: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment."
Last time we looked more into how a Christian can have that confidence....or boldness.... to put our hearts before the Lord God. We can have that confidence to stand before God when we keep His commandments.
Please read:
John 14: 12-14
So many times this verses is taken out of context and used to justify asking God for anything....almost as if God were Santa Claus.
But if we look at what Christ says, that is not what we find out about God:
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also..."
There is the main point Jesus wants His disciples to know: believe in Jesus and do what I do. Only then will you have what you ask for:
"And whatever you ask in My name..."
Another contingency: in Christ's name.
The word for "name" here is onoma in Greek and it means: authority or character. So Jesus is saying that whatever we ask in His name....His authority, His character....then and only then will our prayers be answered.
So, if we ask the Lord for a million dollars, fame, material wealth, power....are we truly asking in His name, authority, or character? I do not think so since Jesus did not have a place to live!
"...that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
Here is the purpose for Jesus answering our prayers....for Jesus doing anything at all...that the Father may be glorified.
So, again if we are asking for things that pertain to this world...which we learned is passing away...then we know that our request is not bringing glory to God. All of the works Jesus did brought glory to the Father.
John 13:31-32
1 Pet 4:11
1Cor 10:31
"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
Jesus did the will of His Father, and now He tells us that if we do the will of the Father our prayers will be answered. What an awesome gift from above!
Jesus had that perfect confidence in God:
John 11:40-42
Remember, John was present when Jesus spoke these words. He saw what happened. He witnessed how God answered Jesus' prayers and how Jesus did the will of the Father only. But most of all, John saw that God was glorified when He answered Jesus' prayers and raised Lazarus from the dead.
Now it is he who wants believers in Christ to have that same confidence in the Father than Jesus had.
And we can have that confidence if we obey His commandments:
"And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment."
Believing on the name of Jesus.....His character, His authority....and loving one another ensures us that God will hear us.
What a glorious gift that is! But we need to make sure we are not praying for things that are not in Christ's character. How do we know? By staying in God's word daily we have discernment to know that what we pray is pleasing to God's ear.
Heb 7:25-27
It is Jesus, the High Priest, who lives to always make that intercession for us. When we pray, it is Jesus who takes our prayers to the Father. If what we pray isn't pleasing to Him, then how can it be pleasing to the Father?
Pray in Christ's character. Pray in His authority. Pray in His name. Always.
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Life Application
How do we pray in someone's name if we do not know that name at all?
2 Tim 1:12
Paul had such great confidence in Christ because he knew Him. He did not walk with the Lord as John did, but Paul was given sight by the Lord and given a mission. As a result, the Lord was with Paul daily.....and Paul knew the Lord on that personal level.
How can we go to the Lord with out personal requests if we do not know Him? How can we "cast our cares upon Him" if we do not know His name?
Knowing Jesus is the key. We can know Him by studying His name.
I enjoy reading autobiographies because I can really get to know the author. But I also know the author is only telling me what they want me to know.
Biographies, on the other hand, are second hand accounts. Therefore, you have to take into account that the subject of the book may or may not have approved of the project.
If someone wanted to know me best, they should read a book I wrote about myself instead of reading a book someone else wrote about me.
Well, unlike the Apostles, we have that book written by the Lord Himself. We can know Him personally from Genesis all the way to Revelation. Then, and only then, can we truly call upon His name or pray in His name.
To know Him is to know His character and His authority. To know Him is to truly love Him.
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Until next time....
"Guard jealously your relationship to God. Jesus prayed 'that they may beone, even as we are one' -nothing between. Keep all the life perennially open to Jesus Christ, don't preten with Him. Are you drawing your life from any other source than God Himself? If you are depending upon anything but Him, you will never know when He is gone."
-Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, 1935, January 20 devotion)
Blessings,
Ruth
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