1 John 3:21-22

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

(v21-22, NIV)

We shouldn't be worried if our hearts condemn us. It may happen, but we must understand that God is greater than our hearts. Hopefully our hearts will not condemn us. As a result, we can have confidence before God. This doesn't mean that we are better than God. This doesn't mean that we do not fear God or anything like that. Instead, because of Jesus' payment for our sins, we have his imputed righteousness. As a result, our debt of sin has been paid for by him. God is fair and he will uphold this payment. As a result, we can come before him without condemnation for our sins. We should still remain in awe and in humble obedience to him. He is our God. Have confidence before God, but not in a bad way if you get what I mean.

What's interesting is that we receive from him anything we ask. The reason for this is because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. Some may take this verse and complain that God didn't do what they ask. However, this verse is in the bounds of obeying his commands and doing what pleases him. If you do in fact live within the boundaries of his commands and do what is pleasing to him, God will give you anything you ask. You are asking within God's will and according to what he wants. The difference is when we ask for things outside of his commands and pleasure.

Let's say for example that there is a son who is disobedient to his father. This son never listens to his father and steals from him and maybe runs away taking his father's money. If for some reason, the son comes back selfishly wanting something more from his father; would his father grant his request? Maybe he's coming back wanting to borrow the car after a life of disobedience and never really doing what the father wants. Would the father be so inclined to give it to him? Some may argue yes, but not likely. Okay, maybe we'll try a different example. Let's say you work with a coworker who is obnoxious and never really a team player. He doesn't cooperate well with others and is always trying to selfishly get what's best for him disregarding who he has to step on to get it. If suddenly he is at your mercy desperately needing a favor from you, how likely are you to graciously grant him what he needs? I wouldn't want to help him out. Why would I? He only selfishly wants for himself and is always disrespecting others. He never listens and is a complete jerk. In the same way, how do you expect God to give you what you ask when you don't even obey what he commands?

You may think then that all you need to do is follow a list of commands in order to selfishly get what you want. However, if you live within the bounds of his commands, you will not selfishly demand things only for yourself. To do such a thing would be to step outside of God's commands. Therefore, it doesn't work that way.