Prayer is a powerful gift that God has given us. It is a way for us to communicate with Him and to receive His help and guidance. Prayer is the process through which we express our thoughts, feelings, and needs to a mighty God. But sometimes, we can struggle to pray with confidence. We may doubt whether God hears us or whether He will answer our prayers. If you have ever prayed for something fervently and that request was unanswered, your confidence can take a hit. However, unanswered prayers do not indicate that God is aloof to our requests. In this post, we are going to dive into a passage that encourages us to pray confidently and know that God is listening.

Confidence in prayer – 1 John 5:14-15

In 1 John 5:14-15, the apostle John tells us that we can have confidence in our prayers. He writes:

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.

NIV

God’s promises about prayer.

1. God hears our prayers. No matter what we are going through, we can be sure God is listening to us. He is not too busy or too distant to care about our concerns.
2. God answers our prayers according to His will. This doesn’t mean He will always give us what we want, but He will always give us what is best.
3. We can have confidence that our prayers will be answered. When we pray according to God’s will, we know He has heard us and is working to answer our prayers.

God, do you hear me?

Recently, I had a little dialogue with my young son. We were having a conversation about prayer, and he admitted he wasn’t sure if God heard him. I asked him whether he thought God heard my prayers. He quickly retorted, “Oh yes, Mom, God definitely hears your prayers!” He was absolutely sure God heard my prayers. It was at this moment I took the opportunity to teach a little lesson I learned about prayer early in my walk with Jesus.

I painted a little picture for him. Let’s say you were rushing to leave the house, and I said, “Bye buddy, have a great day; love you!” If I didn’t hear you say anything back, am I sure that you heard me?

He responded…”Not really.”

On the contrary, what if I said the same thing and I heard you respond, “Thanks, Mom, love you too!” Would I be sure you heard me?

“Yes,” he answered.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because I responded,” he said.

“Exactly.”

I went on to explain to my son that our prayer life with God is similar. Sometimes, we rush through our prayers telling God all the things that we need, are worried about, and our hopes, but we don’t stop to listen to His response. Part of gaining confidence in prayer is waiting and making space for a response. Let’s discuss the other aspects of our focus passage that can help.

How to Have Confidence in Prayer

How can we have confidence in our prayers? Here are a few tips:

1. Pray according to God’s will. The Bible tells us that God answers the prayers of those who are in His will (1 John 5:14). So when we pray, we should ask God to help us to understand His will for our lives and to pray according to that will.
2. Remember God’s faithfulness. The Bible is full of stories of people whose prayers were answered. Think about the times when God has answered your prayers in the past. This will help you to have confidence that He will answer your prayers again. Personally, I write prayer requests on a post-it note, and I hang them up until I receive feedback on the status. I have an entire box full of prayer victories. This builds a foundation of trust in God.
3. Trust God’s goodness. God loves us more than we can even imagine. He wants what is best for us. So when we pray, we can trust that He will answer our prayers in a way that is good for us, even if it is not always what we want.

Having confidence in prayer is one of the most important things we can do as Christians. It allows us to communicate with God and to receive His help and guidance. When we take the time to pray according to God’s will, remember his track record of goodness in our lives, and wait to listen for His response, we grow in confidence as we pray. Praying with confidence takes time and is a lifelong process. The more you pray, the more you see God answering prayer, which leads to praying with more and more confidence.