1 John 5:14-15 — Sometimes God's answer to your prayer is "no." That doesn't

mean He didn't hear you. It means He heard you perfectly.

⛪ Preached at Pilgrim Baptist Church • Cookeville, TN • July 23, 2026.

📚 Continuing our verse-by-verse expository series through 1 John

This sermon on confidence in prayer walks verse by verse through 1 John 5:14-15 to answer one of the most searched questions among believers: why does God say no to sincere, faith-filled prayer? If you have struggled with unanswered prayer and wondered whether it was somehow your own fault, this expository message was preached for you.

Maybe you've been on your knees for years over the same request — a wayward child, a marriage, a diagnosis, a thorn that will not leave. This message offers no easy formulas and no blank checks. Instead, it walks through what it actually means to pray "according to his will," and shows — from Paul's thorn in the flesh and Christ's own prayer in Gethsemane — that a "no" from God can be every bit as much an answered prayer as a "yes."

Preached verse by verse from 1 John 5:14-15, this expository message cross- references Matthew 6-7, 1 John 3, Romans 8, Luke 22, Psalm 37, Isaiah 59, James 4, Philippians 4, Hebrews 5, 2 Corinthians 12, and Luke 18 to build a full biblical theology of confident, will-aligned prayer — without ever turning it into a moral checklist.

This expository sermon walks through 1 John 5:14-15 and related scriptures, explaining:

- True confidence in prayer rests in Christ, not in the length, volume, or sincerity of our words

- "According to his will" means walking in obedience, not reciting a formula (1 John 3:22)

- The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don't even know what to pray (Romans 8:26-27)

- Verse 14 gives the process — verse 15 gives the possession, already settled the moment God hears

- Unanswered prayer is not automatically evidence of hidden sin — see Paul's thorn and Christ in Gethsemane

- Guard your prayer life from three errors: presumption, resignation, and moralism

- A "no" from God can be every bit as much an answered prayer as a "yes"

- The one prayer you can pray with total, unshakable certainty is the prayer of salvation

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Where we left off — 1 John 5:13

00:00:47 - Verse 14 — "This is the confidence that we have in him"

00:04:12 - Where true confidence is located

00:05:01 - Mistake #1 — treating prayer like a performance (Matthew 6:7)

00:06:43 - Mistake #2 — waiting to feel confident before you pray (1 John 3:1)

00:12:34 - The condition — "according to his will" (1 John 3:22)

00:15:52 - The Spirit's intercession when we don't know what to pray (Romans 8:26-27)

00:30:42 - "He heareth us" — God's active, moving hearing (1 Peter 3:12)

00:35:20 - Verse 15 — the process vs. the possession

00:44:29 - Gethsemane and Paul's thorn — genuinely heard, still told no

00:54:14 - Three errors to guard against — presumption, resignation, moralism

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