What is the key conditional statement in this passage? What needs to go right in order for God to hear our prayers?

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.

1 john 5:14-15

“According to his will.”

It may seem like a trick at first, but in the larger context of the chapter, it is simply a logical part of the relationship between God, our father, and his children. We know his will because we know our father. We know what is acceptable to ask for because we know what his goals and desires for us are.

The word’s origins line up with this. We think of being confident as being assured and secure in ourselves, but it comes from the same usage as trusting someone with a secret, being in one’s confidence. In both cases, it’s a matter of trust.

So, when we go to God, our father, and ask him to fill our wants and needs we can do so unashamed and unafraid and fully convinced he wants what is best for us. So when we pray, pray confidently.

Ethan Kirl