“In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say
to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that
your joy may be full.” (John 16:23–24, ESV)
Here Jesus continues speaking directly to His disciples.
They had been very close. All that they did in ministry was at His instruction
and all that they knew of the Father’s will for them was given to them by Him.
If they needed anything they could and did take it to Him. At the same time
Jesus told them that His being sent was according to the will of the Father,
and that He and the Father were so united in oneness that if they had seen Him
they had seen the Father.
At that moment He was preparing them for His leaving and His
return to the Father. They would no longer be able to approach Him physically
as they had become so accustomed. But this did not mean that they would be cut
off. Far from it, just as before when Jesus had been speaking to them from the
Father, after He left they would approach the Father just as they would Him and
the Father would hear their prayers and answer just as Jesus would have in
their presence.
For Jesus’ disciples there was a dramatic change coming.
Their requests would soon be made directly to the Father through their
relationship with the Son. It would be as if Jesus were asking the Father on
their behalf, and the Father would answer them just as Jesus did in their
presence. By assuring them of this, Jesus affirmed again that they surely would
not be left alone. And, in addition to the Father answering their requests,
they also would have the Holy Spirit to guide them in all the truth. Between
the direction of the Spirit and the response of the Father the disciples truly
would know God’s continued presence, hand, and direction in their lives and the
ministry which they were left to accomplish—those greater works that Jesus
spoke of in John 14:12 and which were followed with, “Whatever you ask in my
name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask
me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13–14, ESV)
Rather than sensing loneliness and walking in a cloud of
uncertainty, Jesus assured His disciples that they would continue to know God’s
presence and faithfulness to them such that they would know the full joy that came
from walking with Him and watching Him work.
As for who the promise of answered prayer applies, the words
of Jesus to His disciples in these instances are not the entirety of what
Scripture has to say. John himself wrote in 1 John 5:13-15, “I write these
things 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 that we have toward 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 that we have
asked of him.” (1 John 5:13–15, ESV) John took the instruction He had received
from Christ, and through the direction of the Holy Spirit assured us that God
indeed does answer prayer. He answers prayer for all who believe in the name of
the Son of God having received eternal life. We can go to God with confidence
knowing that He hears us, and more than that we can do so with the assurance of
knowing that He will answer. John tells us that God grants prayer
requests—those that are according to His will, His plan, His direction for our
lives, and those that we pray for.
Looking back to Jesus’ personal interaction with His
disciples we know that Jesus did not give them everything they asked for. There
were some things that His disciples desired that did not line up with what God
intended (e.g., who would be first in the kingdom or who might sit on His right
or left). Looking at these promises of answered prayer there is inherent in
them our being in accord with and submitted to the will of the Father. Just as
Jesus told His disciples that it was really up to the Father to determine who
might sit on His right or His left (Mark 10:40), so there may be things that we
pray that really are not in line with God’s will and as such may not be
granted. Even the apostle Paul asked several times that a thorn be removed from
Him, but God did not do so. Paul wrote of this, “Three times I pleaded with the
Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will
boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8–10, ESV)
When I bring things to God in prayer it really is not a
matter of me changing God’s mind or prompting Him to move in a certain way, but
really more of me speaking these things to Him and then submitting myself to
align with His perfect will and what He desires to accomplish. God hears every
single prayer. He knows every word on my tongue before even one of them is
formed (Psalm 139:4), and the reality of things is that I don’t. As I spend
time before Him I have the incredible opportunity to hear His voice, to allow
His Spirit to conform my heart, to direct my mind, and then watch Him work. My
joy is in knowing that God will work to accomplish His perfect will. When I go
to prayer it is a valuable time for me to get to know Him better and to wait on
Him to do what He knows best. There is great joy in knowing that I don’t have
to figure it all out. I don’t have to have all of the answers or even ask it
the right way. There is great freedom in knowing that I don’t have to get my
own understanding right before pleading my case before Him. There is joy in knowing
that I can come to Him with the assurance that He indeed will direct my steps.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on
your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your
paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NASB95)
Prayer is not about moving God, but knowing that in spending
time with Him that He moves me.
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