Perspective on Life That We Lose When We Get Older. Someone Said

“POWER IN PRAYER #5-CHILDLIKE TRUST”
1 JOHN 3:22-24
INTRO: We learn much from children. It seems like that children have a

perspective on life that we lose when we get older. Someone said,

“When a little child becomes conscious of being a little child, the

child-likeness is gone; and when a saint becomes conscious of being a

saint, something has gone wrong.” -- Oswald Chambers in OurBrilliant Heritage.

Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 6.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:3—“Verily I say unto you, Except ye be

converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the

kingdom of heaven.” Our Lord was referring to us become childlike not

childish. There is a big difference. Many in our Churches today are not

childlike but they are childish. The word childlike means “Like,

characteristic of,” but the word childish means “immature.” (FunkWagnalls

Standard Desk Dictionary.Volume 1, A-M. p. 109). What did Jesus mean when He

said—“Except ye…become as little children” ? Essentially it means we

possess: a childlike obedience—“whatsoever we ask, we receive of him,

because we keep his commandments…” (1 John 3:22a), a childlike

reverence—“…do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John

3:22b), a childlike trust—“…we should believe on the name of his Son

Jesus Christ…” (1 John 3:23a), a childlike love—“…love one

another, as he gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23b), childlike

ways—“…he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in

him” (1 John 3:24a), and a childlike spirit—“hereby we know that he

abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” (1 John 3:24b).
While children aren’t sinless or perfect, they do have the

characteristics that ought to be in every Christian’s life: they are

teachable, simple in their wants, have expectant attitudes, and depend

on their fathers to meet their needs. (Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New

kind of simple trust and obedience that should grace our lives. This

childlikeness must be in all areas of our life especially in our prayer

life. Charles Spurgeon said, “Childlike confidence makes us pray as

none else can. It causes a man to pray for great things that he would

never have asked for if he had not learned this confidence. It also

causes him to pray for little things that many people are afraid to ask

for, because they have not yet felt toward God the confidence of

children. I have often felt that it requires more confidence in God to

pray to Him about a little thing than about great things. We imagine

that our great things are somehow worthy of God’s attention, though

in truth they are little enough to Him. And then we think that our little

things must be so insignificant that it is an insult to bring them before

Him. We need to realize that what is very important to a child may be

very small to his parent, and yet the parent measures the thing not

from his own point of view but from the child's. You heard your little

boy the other day crying bitterly. The cause of the pain was a splinter

in his finger. While you did not call in three surgeons to extract it, the

splinter was a great thing to that little sufferer. Standing there with

eyesall wet through tears of anguish, it never occurred to that boy was

too small a thing for you to care about. What were mothers and fathers

made for but to look after the small concerns of little children? And

God our Father is a good father who pities us as fathers pity their

children. He counts the stars and calls by name, yet He heals the

broken in heart and binds up their wounds.” (Charles Spurgeon. The Power of

Prayer In A Believer’s Life. p. 104).
As we continue our series on POWER IN PRAYER I want us to

consider tonight, CHILDLIKE TRUST. Friends, this is how we must

approach the throne of grace. Please note with me three things:
(1) THE KEY
1 JOHN 3:22—“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we

keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his

sight.”
*THE KEY is OBEDIENCE. Faith and obedience go hand in hand. This faith

and obedience must be childlike. Why is OBEDIENCE THE KEY? Because:
A. OBEDIENCE PROMOTES GODLINESS—“And whatsoever we ask, we

receive of him, because we keep his commandments…”. The word promotes

means“contributes to the the progress, development, or growth of; furthers,

encourages.” (Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary.Volume 2, N-Z. p. 529). The more we

obey the godlier we become. The secret to answered prayer is obeying. Faith

and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts

God; and he that trusts God, obeys God. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) (Edythe

Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992).

Entry #8089).
ILLUS: To be like Christ. That is our goal, plain and simple. It sounds like a

peaceful, relaxing, easy objective. But stop and think. He learned

obedience by the things he suffered. So must we. It is neither easy nor

quick nor natural. It is impossible in the flesh, slow in coming, and

supernatural in scope. Only Christ can accomplish it within us. --Charles

R. Swindoll (1934- ) (Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale

House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry #8113).
God will only grant our requests when we obey Him and live godly lives.

Every parent knows that to grant the request of a rebellious child will only

encourage more rebellion and render it impossible to enjoy harmony in the

home. God will give us “whatsoever we ask” if we keep his commandments.

This implies that we have:

COMPLETE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD (JOHN 15:7).
COMPLETE SURRENDER TO THE WILL OF GOD (JOHN 14:13-14).

B. OBEDIENCE PLEASES GOD—“and do those things that are pleasing in his

sight.” The word pleasing here means “agreeable, fit.”When we give our

children a command we do not let them question our authority or wisdom.

Obedience begins with questioning ends. But the child’s reason for obeying

must not simply be because of the parent’s right to command, but the child

should strive to obey to please his parents. Friends, the same should be

true of us as the children of God. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:9—“…we

labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” Our

wordaccepted used there is translated from a Greek word that means “fully

agreeable, well-pleasing.” Our AIM and our DESIRE must always be to

PLEASE HIM in all things! When we do this we can pray with confidence—

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his

commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
ILLUS: Prayer, coupled with loving obedience, is the way to put God to the test

and to make prayer answer all ends and all things. -- E. M. Bounds in The Best

of E. M. Bounds on Prayer. Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 5.
We have looked at THE KEY in CHILDLIKE TRUST but let us also see…
(2) THE KEEPING
1 JOHN 3:23—“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on

the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave

us commandment.”
A. A COMMANDMENT TO BELIEVE—“And this is his commandment, That we

shouldbelieve on the name of his Son Jesus Christ”. To “believe in the name

of … Jesus Christ”means to believe in his person—in his essential nature

and in what he represents. Those who claim to be Christians must believe

in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, both human and divine, who came

to die on the cross for sin. They must be careful to believe in him, not

according to their own concepts, but according to the biblical presentation

of his person. Today some believe in Jesus as a great teacher, a great

moralist, a great humanitarian, but not as the unique Messiah, God’s Son.

reserved. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois. Life Application is a registered trademark of Tyndale

FindEx.com, Inc.). Every place you look in Scripture you will see that faith in God

is essential to successful prayer. As Hebrews 11:6 tells us—“But without

faithit is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that

he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” According

to our measure of faith will be the success be in prayer. Jesus said,

“…according to you faith be it unto you.” (Matthew 9:29). We read in 1 John

3:21—“Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence

toward God.” This means if we have boldness toward God in our prayers. If

our children disbelief our words and doubt our promises then they will not

have any confidence or boldness to ask of us the things they need and

desire. Spiritually, the same is true of God’s children if we disbelieve His

Word and doubt His promises then we will not have confidence and

boldness to ask of Him the things we need and desire. But the Scripture

assures us that “we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with

the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are,

yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that

we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-

16). We MUST have a CHILDLIKE TRUST in our heavenly Father.
B. ACOMMANDMENT TO FOLLOW—“And this is his commandment, That

we… love one another, as he gave us commandment.” Truly believing in

Jesus means that we love others who also believe. We cannot love one

another without believing in Christ and we cannot truly believe in Christ

without having love for others. We are enabled to love others because the

“love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given

unto us.”(Romans 5:5b). This great command to love follows faith. We read

in1 John 5:1-3—“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of

God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten

of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God,

and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his

commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” When a person

does not love God that person is in a similar situation to the child that does

not love his father. Would a father promise to supply all the desires of a

child that does not love him? What if this same child loves not his brothers

and sisters? Would the father say, “Ask what ye will and it shall be given

you”? Those who love not God nor men cannot be trusted with the promises

ofGod!
Jesus told us to “love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one

another.” (John 13:34). But if we are selfish, self-serving, self-confident,

and self-absorbed we cannot expect to have any power in our prayers. We

MUST have a CHILDLIKE LOVE.
We have looked at THE KEY in CHILDLIKE TRUST and THE KEEPING in CHILDLIKE TRUST but finally let us see…
(3) THE KNOWLEDGE
1 JOHN 3:24—“And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him,

and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the

Spirit which he hath given us.”
A. THE FOCUS—“And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and

he in him.” I want you to notice the words “dwelleth in him, and he in him”. I

am 43 years old, soon to be 44, but to me HOME is still 2635 Grapevine

Rd., Madisonville, Ky. Why? Because that is where my parents live. That is

where I grew up, learned about God, life, responsibility and purpose. A child

should love his or her home. Why? Because that is where father and

mother are. He who loves God and keeps His commandments is said to

dwell in God. He has made the Lord his dwelling place and abides in holy

familiarity with God (Charles Spurgeon. The Power of Prayer in The Believer’s Life. p. 113). We

abide in God and God abides in us through the Holy Spirit. Someone said,

“Therefore let God be a home to thee, and be thou the home of God: abide in

God, and let God abide in thee” (Bede). (Robertson’s Word Pictures. e-Sword.Version 7.8.5.

child is to love his home.

ILLUS: Suppose you had a child that said, “ I hate home. I hate the rules, the

restraints, and the responsibilities. I do not care about you and I am

leaving home, but I will come back every week and I expect you to give

me whatever I want.” I am sure most of us would say, “If you do not

remain here, do not expect me to supply you anything. If you are so

rebellious, so uncaring, and so unloving that you do not want to stay

with me, then I cannot promise you a thing.” Well, friends, that is how

it is with God. When we dwell in Him and He is us, He gives us what

wedesire. Psalm 37:4 tells us—“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and

he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” If you do not delight in the

Lord, do not expect Him to answer you.
We MUST have CHILDLIKE WAYS. Our focus must be on dwelling in God and He is us!
B. THE FELLOWSHIP—“And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the

Spirit which he hath given us.”Romans 8:14-17—“For as many as are led

by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the

spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,

whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our

spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of

God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we

may be also glorified together.” This verse in 1 John 3:24 seems to imply

thatwe MUST have a CHILDLIKE SPIRIT. We have been adopted by the

Spirit, Who rules and reigns in the life of the believer. We must not be

willful and think we can move the hand of God to do as we please, we must

not be selfish motivated by pride, nor must we be slothful and expect God

toanswer our requests. But we must have a CHILDLIKE SPIRIT that

submits itself to the leadership of God’s Spirit in everything. In other

words, we MUST walk in fellowship of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, when we

follow His leadership, will make us into what God would have us to be. He

will guide our steps, govern our stops, and help us to pray in the will of

God.
CLOSING: We have considered tonight a CHILDLIKE TRUST by observing THE

KEY is obedience, THE KEEPING of His commandments, and THE

KNOWLEDGE of knowing the importance of THE FOCUS and THE

FELLOWSHIP.
Friend, the question tonight is, “do you have that CHILDLIKE

TRUST in the Lord? Do you approach His throne in confidence

when you pray?”
Prepared by Brother Bryan L. Browning, Pastor of Beechmont Baptist Church, Beechmont, KY for Sunday Evening, February 25, 2007.