John Calvin Commentary 1 John 3:22

"and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight." — 1 John 3:22 (ASV)

And whatsoever we ask—these two things are connected: confidence and prayer. As he showed before that an evil conscience is inconsistent with confidence, so now he declares that no one can truly pray to God except those who, with a pure heart, fear and rightly worship Him. The latter follows from the former. It is a general truth taught in Scripture that the ungodly are not heard by God; on the contrary, their sacrifices and prayers are an abomination to Him. Therefore, the door is closed here to hypocrites, so that they will not, in contempt of Him, rush into His presence.

He does not mean by this that a good conscience must be brought as though it gained favor for our prayers. Woe to us if we look to works, which contain nothing but what is a cause of fear and trembling! The faithful, then, cannot come to God’s tribunal in any other way than by relying on Christ the Mediator. But as the love of God is always connected with faith, the Apostle, so that he might more severely reprove hypocrites, deprives them of that unique privilege with which God favors His own children—namely, to prevent them from thinking that their prayers have access to God.

By saying, because we keep his commandments, he does not mean that confidence in prayer is founded on our works. Instead, he teaches only this: that true religion and the sincere worship of God cannot be separated from faith. Nor should it seem strange that he uses a causal particle, even though he is not speaking of a direct cause. For an inseparable accompaniment is sometimes mentioned as a cause, as when one says, "Because the sun shines over us at midday, there is more heat"; but it does not follow that heat comes from light.