God has made several well documented promises which are simply impossible to believe with the human mind. He calls them mysteries of the kingdom of God (or heaven). Last time, we touched on one such promise: You Know All Things.

There are several reasons God would not allow us the mental capacity for His mysteries. We will share a couple here. First, salvation is by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8), the just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17), and faith is not a head thing.

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10

This begs an important question: Why would God trust the gift of faith to a corrupt heart? Well, He hasn’t. Contrary to what many have come to understand, the heart of a redeemed person is no longer corrupt. We know this from Ezekiel 36:26:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

How have we come to understand something so contrary to the truth of our heart’s condition? Why have so many been teaching this deception (and will hopefully now stop)?

The liability lies firmly with our carnal minds. They are at enmity with God and God’s people (Romans 8:7). In an attempt to maintain influence and control, they blame-shift our fleshly faults onto our hearts. NOTE: I am intentionally using the plural here because this often happens as much in community as within our own person.

The fact that our carnal minds have been able to hide for so long from this culpability, while causing so much destruction in the church (even deceiving pastors and teachers), gives strong evidence to the carnal mind’s insidious attempts to influence our lives. Truly, the carnal mind is our #1 enemy.

Secondly, God has limited our mental capacities because He wants us to learn to lead with our hearts. In addition to being the organ of faith, the heart contains the desires God intends to give us.

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4-5

We must learn to trust God, not our powers of reasoning, to accomplish the things God intends to do. Only in this way will He get the glory for the work. We were created to glorify God and enjoy His presence forever, not glorify ourselves by our own exploits.

So, as you consider the following, do so knowing your heart is a new gift from God. Know “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13),” which is to give you His kingdom (Luke 12:32). Furthermore, know that He “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20).”

Two Astounding Promises

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7

In His parable of the True Vine, Jesus gives two amazing promises for those who are His. Abiding – us in Him, and His words in us – is the condition for the astounding promises that follow. This reminds us that most, if not all, of God’s promises are conditional. Our ignorance or dismissal of this fact leaves us deprived of the blessings our loving Father, our King, and the Holy Spirit desire to provide.

Our ignorance is tragic and inexcusable because we have the Holy Spirit – the Teacher of all things – abiding in us. All we need do is turn to Him for understanding, revelation, and encouragement.

Dismissal is also unnecessarily tragic because God has committed Himself to establish us in Christ.

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest… according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.… Romans 16:25-27

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. 1Thessalonians 3:12-13

If we take the time to listen, in simple childlike humility, to these words as the truth of God, the confidence will come: As Surely as I am in Christ, I will also, day by day, be established in Him. What more can we desire? Expect it confidently, ask for it fervently, and count on God to do His work (Murray, 2003).

Conditions met, we come to embrace two of the most profound promises in all of Scripture: you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

Many have shied away unnecessarily from this promise, afraid they might be supportive of, or captured by, the Prosperity Movement. That fear is not totally unfounded; the proponents of that false gospel use this very passage to justify their heresy. However, we must not allow someone else’s deception to keep us from the truth.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

With soundness of mind, the Holy Spirit’s power to teach, and confidence in the love of the Father to protect us, we can search out the truth in hope and confidence.

The first of our promises – you will ask what you desire – relates to the desires God has put in our new heart. Remember, it is not corrupt and would therefore desire only those things God desires to give us.

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

The desires God placed in our hearts include the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Generally, our hearts are embedded with every desire to please God and obey His commandments. This includes being a godly spouse, parent, teacher, pastor, etc. (depending on our life situation). Our hearts contain desires to “say goodbye to everything”, “give preference to one another”, “turn the other cheek”, etc.

Now, I don’t know about you, but some of these desires are hard to ask for; and that’s the amazing thing here! As we abide in Christ, and His words abide in us, we find the courage to ask God to do in and through us the most daunting and impossible things. This reminds me:

…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling when we abide in Christ, and His words abide in us. In other words, we find ourselves pursuing the will and working of God.

This brings us to the second promise of John 15:7: and it shall be done for you. Given what we’ve learned to this point, we can all say together, “Of course it shall be done! Whatever desire we ask for is the Father’s will!”

And now the promise of confidence in prayer makes even more sense:

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, 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 the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1John 5:14-15

The Father establishes us in His Son for this very purpose: to know what to ask, that which He desires to give us, for His glory.

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:8

Our Father in heaven has not left us wondering what to do, nor how to do it. He has made all provision for our understanding and participation with Him, His Son, and the Holy Spirit.

God has a way for everything. Will you accept the faith, grace, and courage for it? I pray and encourage you to say, “Yes Father, make it so.”

Have a strong day in the Lord,

Rob

#iamjustthepen

Murray, A. (2003). Abiding in Christ. Bloomington, MN; Bethany Houses Publishers