1 John 5:14-15

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.

(v14-15, NIV)

Apparently, there's a formula to getting what you ask for from God. John begins this with the aspect of confidence. There is confidence that we should have when we approach God. God is a God whom we can approach in prayer, and there is a level of confidence we can have. It's not fear or uncertainty that we have when we approach him. There is the fear of the Lord, but that is a different kind of fear.

So what is this confidence? If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. This does not simply mean that our voice was audible to him. Looking to the next verse, we can see that it means more than just that. If he hears us, we have what we asked of him. Simply put, we'll get what we asked for.

Don't stop there. It's easy to simply read through this and forget the assumption made at the beginning of this. The thing we ask is assumed to be according to his will. So, if you ask for something that isn't according to his will, this whole thing doesn't apply. This isn't to say that we should only ask things according to his will. Rather, we should be confident in knowing that he hears us and things happen if it is according to his will. His will may be hard to discern, but that's not the point. If our requests line up with him, then things will happen. When it lines up, we're in line with God, and that's a good place to be in. Live in accordance to his will. Our requests are granted if they are aligned with his will. God will hear us.

What's interesting is that it says "we have". It seems to imply that we have already received or are currently in possession of the thing we asked for. The verse doesn't say "we will get what we asked for". It's almost as if the thing we ask for has already been put into motion, since it is according to God's will. Don't take this the wrong way; this doesn't mean that our prayers are useless. Rather, wouldn't it be great to be a part of God's will? It is quite a pleasure to be in the middle of God and the workings of his will. Pretty cool stuff.