Grace Fellowship Church Pastor/Teacher Jim Rickard Sunday, May 31, 2009

Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hades; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the Church (body of Christ); the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

1 John 5:14-15 Confidence in God with prayer as the example for living the unique Spiritual Life.

Verses are a paragraph on the function of prayer as the manifestation of virtue confidence toward God.

John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Prayer is an extension of the spiritual life. You are not spiritual because you pray. You pray because you are spiritual.

The Gospel of John emphasizes the Deity of Christ, being co-equal with the Father in relation to our prayer life, which should give us confidence for our Spiritual Lives.

The 1 st Epistle of John emphasizes the Plan of the Father for our Eternal Life, in relation to our prayer life, which should give us confidence in our Spiritual Lives.

“In fact this is” links the exhortation of “knowing” in verse 13 with the “confidence” of verse 14.

What has occurred in the past through the realization of eternal security, continues into the present time through the function of prayer.

Confidence as a virtue directed toward God is only manufactured inside God’s Power System (GPS).

Knowing eternal security produces confidence in prayer.

PARRESIA-“Confidence” freedom of speech, confidence or boldness, openness or plainly.

ECHO: “to have and to hold” The Progressive Present is for action in the state of persistence in the function of Spiritual Momentum through the PMA of Bible Doctrine.

We must have complete confidence in God, to execute anything in the Spiritual Life.

If we have fear, worry or doubt about our relationship with God we will accomplish nothing and our prayers will not be answered.

“If we ask” is a 3rd class condition “maybe you will and maybe you won’t.” This is the volitional responsibility of the believer in executing God’s protocol plan.

Principles: 1) When you offer a prayer you intend to participate in the answer to that prayer.

2) In both the Epistle and Gospel, prayer is a volitional responsibility. You exercise positive volition towards God and His Word when you pray to Him.

3) Praying in itself is saying I have confidence in God. Otherwise why bother praying if you do not have confidence in Him.

4) In positive volition you are confident in God and offer Him your prayers.

5) In negative volition you are not confident in God and do not offer Him your prayers.

TIS KATA THELMA - “Anything according to His will”.

You must know the will of God before you enter into a serious prayer life, and you can only know the will of God through perception of Bible doctrine.

When you do He AKOUO’s “He hears” in the Perfective Present Tense. God hears our prayers in eternity past, with emphasis on the present reality.

There are prayers answered every day because believers ask according to the will of God.

God hears prayer that follows the pattern of His game plan.

The believer in Subjunctive possibility offers prayers to God, while God in Indicative reality always hears our prayers offered according to His protocol plan.

Grace Offering

Grace Fellowship Church Sunday, May 31, 2009 Tape # 09S-023 Confidence in Prayer 1 John Series 1 John Series 1 John 5:14-15; John 14:13-14 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2009