16. (a) How is God “greater than our hearts”? (b) According to John, why does Jehovah answer our prayers?

¹⁶ John next points to assurances that we are Jehovah’s children. (Read 1 John 3:19-24.) “We shall know that we originate with the truth” and are not victims of apostate delusion “by this”​—the fact that we display brotherly love. Thus we “assure our hearts” before God. (Psalm 119:11) If our hearts do condemn us, perhaps because we feel that we have not shown fellow worshipers enough love, remember that “God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.” He is merciful because he is aware of our “unhypocritical brotherly affection,” our fight against sin, and our efforts to live in a way pleasing to him. (1 Peter 1:22; Psalm 103:10-14) “If our hearts do not condemn us” because there are deeds proving our brotherly love, and we are not guilty of concealed sins, “we have freeness of speech toward God” in prayer. (Psalm 19:12) And he answers our prayers “because we are observing his commandments and are doing the things that are pleasing in his eyes.”

18. How do we know that Jehovah is “remaining in union with us”?

¹⁸ A person observing God’s commandments “remains in union with him,” at unity with Jehovah. (Compare John 17:20, 21.) But how do “we gain the knowledge” that God is “remaining in union with us”? We know this “owing to the [holy] spirit which he gave us.” Possession of God’s holy spirit and the ability to display its fruitage, including brotherly love, proves that we are in union with Jehovah.​—Galatians 5:22, 23.