1 John 5:13-15

"I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him" (1 John 5:13-15 RSV).

Comment:

The key to understanding this passage has to do with what we mean by "the Son of God." The Son of God is the Christ. It is not unique to Jesus; it is the quality that Jesus calls us to recognize as our own true identity. It is our spiritual identity; it is our unique expression of 'eternal life.'  

Jesus consistently taught that once we truly believe in our own divine identity, everything opens to us. If we have 'the faith of a mustard seed,' we can move mountains. It's where we focus our faith that decides what we experience in the mortal realm. And we don't always recognize where we've put our faith. We pray for abundance, for example, out of a sense of lack; our belief that there is lack means that we create more lack. That's why Jesus always began his manifestations (of healing, of food, of wine) with appreciation for what is, rather than a focus on what, to our mortal perception, seems missing. Where we place our faith becomes our life experience—not, perhaps, in the specific physical expression we envisioned, but in perfect spiritual realization.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed