1 John 5:13-15
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 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.
According to…
compliance with, in conformity with, in keeping with, in line with, accordant with, commensurate with, conforming to, consistent with, following, heeding honoring, honoring, in agreement with, in congruence with, in consonance with, in fulfilment of, in harmony with, in obedience to, true to, in the manner of pursuant to, along with in, compatible with, befitting, in character with, as befits, suited to
I can ask for fresh strawberries in the winter and I may get some, but I guarantee they won’t be as good. God is not a genie in a lamp. He is not a greenhouse that produces things when they are out of season. No, He knows what we ask for and He knows what we need. These verses are not saying you get fresh strawberries in the winter just because you asked for them. There is a small phrase in there we skip, ‘according to His will’. ‘According to His will’ means getting what we need, getting what will help us, and yes, sometimes just getting something we really desire. The key is being so close to God that we have confidence our desires already link up to what God wants for us, even the occassional fresh strawberries in winter.
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