1st John 5:21

1 John 5:21 “Dear children, keep away from statues of gods.”

An idol is anything in this life that man worships instead of God. Or something he allows to take God’s place. It can be money, career safety, pleasure or another person. John also could have meant all the pagan gods back then, because there were many. We need to put God first in our lives and stay away from false religions.

1st John 5:18-20

1 John 5:18-20 “We know that those who are children of God do not keep on sinning. The Son of God keeps them safe. The evil one can't harm them. We know that we are children of God. We know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We also know that the Son of God has come. He has given us understanding. Now we can know the One who is true. And we belong to the One who is true. We also belong to his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God. He is eternal life.”

There are three important things in these verses.

1. We have the power over sin. Where it says “anyone born of God does not continue to sin”
2. A Christian is on the side of God and against the world.
3. We know Jesus: that He came, why He came, that He is the truth and gives us eternal life. We don’t have to guess about the meaning of life anymore, or where did we come from or who is God or what happens after death. Jesus told us and we know.

1st John 5:14-15

1 John 5:14-15 “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.”

The key of course here is praying in God’s will. We pray that He aligns what we want with what He wants and then we can be sure He listens and will answer. Remember, Jesus prayed, “thy will be done” not “thy will be changed” (Matthew 26:39, 42) when He was in the garden praying.

People’s natural impulse when praying is asking for what we want; where as true prayer is asking God for what He wants and the only request is for grace to accept His will and the strength to do it.

God is always waiting for us to pray and is always ready to listen. We never need to take a number or leave a message. We don’t get the menu: Press 1 for God, 2 for Jesus, 3 for the Holy Spirit. (And then you press 1 and get Press 1 for spiritual request, 2 for material request, 3 for healing. And when you press 3: Press 1 for spiritual healing, 2 for healing of the body, 3 for healing for another person!) It won’t happen!