God Cares When You Pray

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

It’s hard to imagine a more precious promise than this one—that God listens to us and answers our requests. Imagine—the sovereign God of the universe listens to every prayer of every believer on the planet and promises to answer. Our faith in that promise can cause us to boldly come before God, knowing that he will listen and answer those prayers.

We can pray for others to have this same confidence. So many people doubt God’s existence and his ability to listen to our prayers. But this passage, written by the apostle John, provides God’s guarantee that God does listen to our prayers, and when requests are in line with his will, he gives what is requested.

Our requests will be in line with God’s will if we stay in a close relationship with him. As John recorded in his Gospel, Jesus promised his disciples that “if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). So we need to stay close to God so that our requests will be in line with his will. God hears and answers prayer.

GOD’S PROMISE TO ME
• You can be confident that whenever you ask me for anything in line with my will, I will listen and answer.

MY PRAYER TO GOD
Oh Lord, help me hold on to your promise that you hear me when I pray. When I bring requests to you, I pray that they will be in line with your will.