1 John 5:14-15

In my 18+ years as a junior high teacher, I've had some version of the following conversation a bucket-load of times:

Student: I didn't know...
Me: Did you ask?
Student: Um, no?
Me: Then how were you supposed to know???
Student: I don't know...
Me: You need to ask, then you would know that you needed to (fill in the blank)

If I got paid a dollar for every time something like this scenario happened, I'd probably have enough money to pay for Christmas gifts one year! Well, maybe not that much, but it sure does seem like this happened all.the.time!

As I rehearsed and practiced the words of 1 John 5:14 and 15, this is what came to mind. 

Verse 14 states that if we ask anything according to God's will, He hears us. 

Lots of people get hung up on how they're supposed to know God's will. How are they supposed to ask according to His will, if they're not even sure what God's will is?

Easy. 
Ask. 

Ask while you pray. Ask while you read your Bible. Ask while you're speaking with other believers who may have walked a similar journey. 

Sometimes God makes His will crystal clear. 
Other times, our hearing God seems a bit...staticky and we have to do our best and make a step forward, trusting that God will provide feedback along the way so that we are able to stay on course. 

Verse 15 states that we can know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that God hears the things that we ask of him. I think that this is amazing because it's not just that God hears us with his auditory system, He hears us and will take action on our behalf. 

So the next time that you have something that you want to ask of our heavenly Father, be assured that He will hear you and He will provide an answer.