Whatever you ask in my name

The Upper Room Discourse, found in John chapters 13-16, includes four earth-shaking promises.  In verses John 14:13; 15:7-8; 15:16; and 16:23-24, we have the repeated phrase, "Whatever you ask in My name…":

 

• "Whatever you ask in My name"
• “If you ask Me anything in My name,"
• "Ask whatever you wish"
• "Whatever you ask of the Father in My name"
• "If you ask the Father for anything in My name"
• "Ask and you will receive

The meaning is clear, and compelling.  It is as though He is issuing a blank check.  He is offering them a new kind of resource- prayer in the name of Jesus.  Up until this point, they had never prayed this way.

“Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." (Jn 16:24)

Now I'm sure the disciples had prayed, just as people around the world pray.  It is common human activity.  But to pray in Jesus' name seems to be something different.  I wonder what Jesus meant.  

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (Jn 15:7-8)

There seems to be two clear conditions for the one who believes in Jesus.  If we abide in Him, and if His words abide in us, then He tells us to ask whatever we wish.  Maybe abiding in Christ and His word put guidelines to our prayers.  The one abiding in Christ is living in daily dependence on Him.  The one abiding in His word will be filling their heart and mind with truth and spiritual guidance.  Taken together we would have the mind of Christ and the heart of Christ.  That would steer our prayers so that they are in accordance with His will.  

1 John 5:14–15 (NASB95): This is the confidence which we have before 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 the requests which we have asked from Him.

So one of the secrets of powerful prayer is to pray according to the will of God. Certainly when we pray in Jesus name that is our goal. But how can we be certain that it is according to God‘s will? Any time it lines up with the clear meaning of the word of God then we are on track. You could say this is the OBJECTIVE side of God's guidance in prayer.  But this still doesn't answer all our questions. 

Take for instance the case where there are two brothers who have a conflict between themselves, one which they can't resolve. Now we know that Scripture says to be at peace with all men as far as it is possible with you. So it seems like it would be clearly in line with God‘s will to pray that they can resolve their issues. But, what if one of the brothers is resistant?  Will God override his will? In this case we might need some discernment and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Certainly this would normally be an excellent prayer request. And who knows what God‘s timing might be on it. But in addition to the objective side of God's guidance, there is also the SUBJECTIVE side.  As we abide in Him, He will be giving us God's heart in the matter.  The Holy Spirit might direct to us pray in slightly different directions.  Like, Lord, soften their hearts, or Lord, show me if I should say something, etc.  He might show us to simply pray and wait.  

Some people feel awkward about the subjective side of things.  But you can't discount it.  We must abide in Him and abide in His word. 

But what else is meant when He says pray in the name of Jesus?

“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. (Jn 16:26-27) 

Jesus is explaining how the new relationship they were to have with the Holy Spirit would have a profound effect on their prayer life.  After Pentecost the Holy Spirit would reside in them.  Jesus would be in them.  So rather than ask Jesus to ask the Father, they were told they could ask the Father directly.  As we are living in Christ and He is living in us, we can ask the Father in the name of Christ.  It is as though Christ in us is doing the asking.  This explains why we should have high expectations for these prayers.  And Jesus has set the bar very high… 

Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Mt 21:18-22)

So, Jesus is telling us that "if you have faith and do not doubt" we could pray and dramatic miracles could happen, like trees withering or mountains thrown into the sea.  What can we conclude about this?  Obviously, Jesus could do these kinds of miracles, but who else has?  I am not aware of any mountains being displaced lately.  Does this mean that we don't have the kind of faith He is talking about?  Probably not. But, even so, Jesus is emphasizing the incredible possibilities when prayer is offered in faith.

And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. (Mt 17:20)

So, it is not the size of your faith, but the object of your faith.  Even the tiniest bit of faith when placed in God through Jesus Christ, has incredible potential. But, it appears even the tiniest faith is still lacking in the world we live in…

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”  (Lk 18:1-8)

So, what do we conclude at this point? 

1. Prayer is the greatest resource we possess as believers in Christ.
2. The prayer offered in faith has almost limitless potential.
3. Even the tiniest bit of faith can unlock this potential.
4. We must however pray according to the will of God.
5. We discern His will by abiding in Christ and having His word abide in us.
6. We are exhorted by Christ himself to pray to the Father in the name of Christ.
7. This is possible because Christ lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

So, why do you suppose Christ makes this incredible offer to his followers?  I can think of several reasons: 

1.     He loves us. (Jn 16:27) As a matter of fact, the Father loves us the same way He loves the Son.  And the Son loves us as He loves the Father.  It is hard to believe sometimes, but true.  So, the promise of answered prayer is a key element of our relationship with God.  The Christian life is a life of faith.  Prayer is one of the best ways to express our faith.  It teaches us to live dependently on our heavenly Father.

2.     God wants us to experience His joy (Jn 16:24).  I’m sure we all have been surprised by answers to prayer and overjoyed by the results.  What a thrill to know we are not at the mercy of the our circumstances and that we have access to an all-powerful Creator.  And to know He loves us and cares about us.

3.     It glorifies God (Jn 15:8). Our heavenly Father loves to glorify the Son as He loves to glorify the Father.  We can enter this relationship by praying in Jesus’ name.  Answered prayer demonstrates God’s goodness and power and proves Jesus’ unique relationship with the Father.  As spiritual fruit results, this validates our relationship with the Father through the Son.  When God reveals His nature and power, He is glorified- his wonderful majesty is more clearly seen by what He has made. 

So, don’t wait.  Start today. Abide in Christ and in His word.  Ask whatever you wish.  Pray in Jesus’ name.  And expect results.  God will be glorified in the process.