Scripture: 1 John 5 v 11 - 15: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."
Our God is faithful and His Word is true. If we believe in the name of Jesus, His Son, we have eternal life. If we don't believe then we do not have life in us.
Jesus says, I am the life. He gave us life when we were born again and its the only life that counts with God. We see movement and activity among the unbelievers but it is not eternal life. They are still in spiritual darkness as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 v 1 - 4: "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
The God of this world is Satan who has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they resist the light and close their eyes to truth. God has given us the power to witness to them and pray for them to see eternal life. Sometimes it takes years to breakthrough the barriers around their minds and hearts but God is faithful and if our prayers line up with His will, He hears and answers.
The secret is knowing God's will for each person or situation. We must not lean on our own mortal understanding because we may be totally wrong. We must seek the Lord for His true view in everything. He will reveal it in His perfect timing and answer our prayers in unusual ways so that a new testimony can be added to share with others.
God hears us when we faithfully follow this acronym. ACTS.
A is for Adoration. When we enter His domain we come with worship, praise and adoration which brings us before His Throne.
C is for Confession. We clear our hearts of anything offensive and are washed in the Blood of Jesus.
T is Thanksgiving. We shower Him with our gratitude for all He has done for us and others.
S is for Supplication. We lay our needs and requests before Him, making sure they are in line with His will.
There is another acronym that should be added here that will enhance our spiritual relationship with the Lord.
WAIT.
W is for Wisdom
A is for Anointing
I is for Instruction
T is for Timing
When we wait on the Lord for answers to life's difficulties this is what it means. His wisdom and anointing will produce the proper instruction in His perfect timing. When all these come together we see the power of God in action. Because He hears us.
Because we have let Him and ourselves down from time to time God has to be sure we can be trusted to deal with the burdens others carry. We have a free will that can create more problems than it solves if we are stubborn and headstrong, proud and rebellious.
If we want Him to hear us we must be faithful in our lifestyle to conform to the image of His Son. Romans 8 v 28 - 29: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
So if we get our ducks in a row, spiritually speaking, conforming to the nature of Jesus, believing on His name and determining the will of God, He hears us and gives us all we ask for.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, my prayer is for every believer who has received the gift of eternal life, to be in perfect harmony with You so that every prayer will be heard and answered to Your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.
