Ask!

Ask!

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 1 John 5:14 KJV

The Inspiration:

John speaks from the place of personal encounter; as we all know, hearsay evidence is not admissible in court. You are called as a witness to testify to what you must have personally seen, heard, felt, tasted or experienced. In the same court, be sure that you will still have to submit to cross-examination to prove the truth of what you claim to have personally experienced. That is the power of a personal encounter. You don't get it by physical inheritance, magic wave, assimilation, osmosis or by paying for it; it comes from a place of total surrender and absolute trust in the One who is God, and who is the same no matter the dispensation or generation. If I know this God, it will definitely breed confidence and hope. If He does not know me as His own, there is nothing I can receive from Him.

The Expectation:

It is those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus that are addressed here. Who else can make you confident in a world that is slowly headed towards destruction? What else can secure tomorrow for you except the One who owns and holds tomorrow in His hands? John speaks of the One and only, the Lord God Almighty, who has answers to all of life's questions and can bring out the greatest miracles from the most mundane objects. It was He who gave working feet to the man at the gate called Beautiful, and He it was who made Hannah the barren the mother of many. This must inspire confidence in me as I consider who this God is. He is not like mortal man, unsure and uncertain of the very next second of the day. He is the One whose supply knows no end, and no demand on earth can exhaust the resources of heaven.

The Conclusion:

My confidence must be IN Him, not outside Him. There is nothing to be gained being outside. You will be out of the cover that God gives. That shows positional awareness: I must consistently check my bearings to be sure that I am in Him. In him lie the riches of God's grace; and He does not give them to outsiders as much as He does to His children. The fact that you can read these words mean you have access to God's grace, but it is for a season. A time comes when grace will expire and all that will remain is the expectation of judgment. As I wait for this final judgement, God asks me to ask anything according to His will, and His promise is that He will hear. He is not deaf, and He takes no pleasure in the suffering and pain of His people. He will hear, and His responses will always be right. God's time of favour is here.