Translation
And this is the bold confidence
Go to footnote numberwe have toward Him, that if we should ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Paraphrase
In this way we can approach Him and speak freely and with bold confidence: if we are inclined to ask Him anything that is within His will, we can be sure that He pays attention to it.
Footnotes
1
The verb used here means “to speak freely and with boldness.”
OUR REQUEST MUST BE ACCORDING TO HIS WILL
We cannot ask for anything we want, but only for things that are within the clearly expressed will of God. God has already said He will do these things, the only things we cannot be sure of are the timing and methodology. If we choose to participate with God through prayer He may decide to do those things in our lifetime and He may choose to include us in the process of implementation. All of this fits the definition of “true prayer” which I explain more fully in my study lesson called What Does it Mean to Pray In the Name of Jesus?