(1 John 3:19) And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
John tells us that we can have assurance before God, but there is a chain of reasoning with it. In the text verse he says “we shall assure our hearts before Him.” But it is the end result of his other teachings/exhortations to Christian love in action. In verse 18 he says “if we love the brethren in deed and truth”. A lack of that heart assurance condemns us – verse v20 – and if our heart does not condemn us then we have confidence toward God.
The word for assure means to persuade and the word confidence means free speaking. Being persuaded means there is no doubt – we know that we know Him. Free speaking is to be able to say anything; this speaks of prayer. Too often Christians like to claim assurance before God without following God’s commands or even simple Christian etiquette to be able to possess it. They profess assurance loud and long all the while their hearts are condemning them because of some interpersonal problem they have with another Christian or even with an unbeliever. We try to pray around the problem and make a show of having the victory, but God will bring the problem into focus in our prayer time and dull our testimony.
John uses the word love 26 times in this letter; the word know 31 times, but the word assure only once (in our text) and the word confidence just four times. In each case the promises of boldness in prayer or trust in answered prayer are based on our obedience.
The key to our relationship with God is based upon our abiding in Him – keeping His commands – “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. {4} He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. {5} But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. {6} He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. {10} He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. {11} But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”
The key to an effective prayer life is knowing God and remaining in His will – “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. {14} And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us"
. To the degree we abide in Him we will have confidence when He returns – “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
Our ready love for the brethren will keep us bold in our prayers (1 Jn 3:21). Our Christ like lifestyle will give us boldness at the judgment (1 Jn 4:15-20).
John tells us that an absolute and steady belief in God’s salvation removes doubt that God hears us. We gain more confidence as we “do” truth; we find more boldness as we understand God’s answers to our needs and prayers for others. That, in turn, increases our confidence that God is listening to our prayers, making our hearts all the more confident in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.