The Fantastic Promise of Answered Prayer

1st John 3:22 promises: “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

That promise is almost too broad and vast and wonderful in its extent to be believed. So can you really believe it? Is this indeed a blank check for you to write on? Will you indeed receive anything you ask for? The answer is a resounding, “YES! Providing. . . “

Ah, I knew there was a catch. So what are the conditions to answered prayer?
There are two: The first is: “Because we keep His commandments.” In other words, we have to be obedient to the rules of our Heavenly Father.
The second condition is: because we “do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” That’s a heart willing to go to whatever extreme to please our Father

This makes sense, doesn’t it? Should a disobedient child be given whatever he wants from his parents? Should one with a bad attitude? Should one who is only asking selfishly? You wouldn’t cow-tow to your kid when he asks like that, so why should we expect God to? Even Santa Claus keeps track of who’s naughty and nice.

That doesn’t mean we earn our prayer answers by being good, but it does mean we need to pray with the right motives - with pure motives. Psalm 37:4 says: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Do you see the key? It is to “delight yourself . . . in the Lord.” You delight to bring God glory, delight to fellowship with Him, delight to do His will. That’s the delight of your heart.

Too many people go to God with all the wrong motives. James 4:3 says: “You ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it to your own lusts.” That verse is talking about selfish motives. That attitude is “Gimme, gimme, gimme!” It’s wanting things for my own benefit.

“Yeah, God, I want to drive a brand new car, not this old clunker. I deserve it God, because, do you know how embarrassing it is for me to drive less than the best? I want to make an impression.” Why should God acquiesce to a request like that? He won’t!

But back to that first condition on answered prayer: Verse 22 said – “Because we keep His commandments.” Those commandments are partly defined in the next verse, 1st John 3:23. That verse said: “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.” Wow! Back to love! We’ve gone full circle in this book again. It’s so important, John is revisiting it.

Notice, there are two parts to His commandment: The first is “that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ” That command is given in the past perfect tense, meaning this is a one-time happening that has already occurred in the past. You believed when you were saved, so that part of the command is an established fact.

As a matter of fact, obeying that command is exactly what gets you saved. We’re saved by believing, right? John 3:16 and all: “Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but everlasting life.”

And Ephesians 2:8-9 says:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Actually belief is the primary work of a Christian. John 6:29 says: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Whom He sent, of course, means Jesus. When we believe, we’re saved; a onetime event.
But the second part of the command is ongoing: “And love one another,” in verse 23 is in the present tense. This is what we are supposed to be doing on an ongoing basis to obey and please God.

It follows right along with what Jesus said in: Matthew 22:37-40:
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

That really defines the Christian life, doesn’t it? Do you want to obey God? Do you want to really please Him? The way to do that is to love

That also sounds like Paul’s classic definition of Christianity in Galatians 5:6 (reading from the NIV): “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Those are the same two things – faith and love. But these are the requirements of answered prayer.

Those are also are the requirements of fellowship. 1st John 3:24 says, “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

Wow! Abiding! That means living in Him, and Him living in us. That means fellowship. That means communion with God.

Here, John is using it as a test for salvation - yeah, keeping it in accord with the theme of the book. But it’s an important theme in his gospel too. John 15:7 says: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. “

See, again we find the same blank check promise of 1st John 3:22. Except this time, the condition is abiding in Christ. It is the condition of living day by day in fellowship with Christ. Do you see this cause and effect relationship?

But there’s also a condition on fellowship. John 15:10 says: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

Oh, wasn’t keeping God’s commandments also one of the requirements for answered prayer? Oh, yes! See how all this keeps intertwining? To have our prayers answered we must keep God’s commands, and we must be in fellowship with God. But to be in fellowship with God (called abiding in God), we must keep God’s commands. Interesting? They are connected.

Oh, but keeping God’s commandments, that sounds harsh! Well, if it does, you’re thinking is all wrong. You need a new perspective. This isn’t a cowering private obeying the commands of a tough drill sergeant. You mess up with the drill sergeant, you’d better love doing pushups because he’ll have you doing a whole lot of them if you disobey a command.

If you think of God that way, you’ll always be looking up for that lightning bolt from heaven to strike you dead every time you mess up before God. That’s living in fear, and that’s wrong.

Oh, no! It’s not supposed to be that way. We obey because we love God - Remember 1st John 3:22? We obey because we want to “do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” Can you see the difference?

Well, let’s pause and reflect over what we’ve learned: Friend, can you rejoice in answered prayer? Or does the ceiling seem to bounce back your prayers to echo hollow in your ears?

If that second scenario is you, perhaps you haven’t complied with the first requirement of 1st John 3:23. Perhaps you’ve never believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is the first and foremost requirement. If you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, do so today. Salvation comes by simple faith. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

But perhaps, as a believer, if you’re still experiencing un-answered prayer, maybe you’re failing the second requirement of verse 23. Perhaps you are not loving one another. Failure to do that is just as devastating to your prayer life. You need to confess your sin an begin to live right before God.