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John 16:23-33

²³ “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. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” ²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

“I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus has won. He has overcome this broken, fallen world. Jesus said this even before He went to His death on the cross. Now that we live in the resurrection, now that we live in the time after Jesus has defeated death, how much more can we say, “Amen, Jesus. You have overcome the devil, our sin, and this world full of tribulation and heartache”? Jesus is ascended and is now at the right hand of the Father. He will bring you to be with Himself for all eternity. And yet, the tribulation continues. You suffer in this tribulation while God delays the final judgment. Take heart, believer, God only delays in order to get all His chosen children to safety.

Until the day He returns, Jesus has given you the gift of prayer. Jesus says, “In that day, you will ask nothing of Me.” He is speaking of the time of the resurrection. Jesus is speaking of today. “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.”

What happens when you ask in Jesus’ name and do not receive? The devil and the world love to throw this in our face and rob us of our joy. When we do not see God answering our prayers in the way we want, they twist this promise of Jesus in two common ways. The first is this: Some say that if you pray for something and have enough faith, you will get everything you want. You see this in books or preachers teaching this on TV. So if you have a job that you don’t like or isn’t paying as much as you want, just pray to God, “Heavenly Father, give me a job that pays $250,000 per year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.” Then, they say, if you really believe, God will answer that prayer. And if you don’t get what you are asking for, then you don’t have enough faith and are holding God back.

But you see what that does? It makes God’s answer to prayer contingent upon you. It takes Jesus’ promise and turns it into a crushing statement of Law. And people start to wonder, “Well, if I don’t have enough faith to get God to answer this prayer, how do I know I have enough faith to be saved?” It is a terrible thing.

The second way Jesus’ promise, gets twisted – “Whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you” – goes like this: Every now and then, people will say things like, “When we pray, we shouldn’t always be asking God for things. We should be praising Him, thanking Him, etc.” I think is error more common here, at least I get roped into this one from time to time. There is some truth in that. We should praise and thank God in our prayers. But asking God for things isn’t sinful; it isn’t wrong. God isn’t sitting up in heaven listening to your prayers and keeping a tally of how many thanks you have offered before He will listen to another request.

Again, that makes God’s answer to our prayers contingent upon us and how we pray. Then we try to figure out the right prayer recipe. We start to think, “I’ll throw two cups of adoration, three tablespoons of thanks, a dash of a request. Throw it all up in the heavenly prayer oven and see how it turns out.”

Repent. God doesn’t answer your prayers based either on how much faith you have or what formula you use when you pray. Both of these wrong teachings on prayer obscure the beautiful promise that Jesus has for you.

So why is it that God doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly how we pray them? Notice that right after Jesus tells us, “Whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you,” He says, “I have said these things to you in figures of speech.” That means when Jesus says, “Whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you,” He is using figurative speech. He means whatever we ask that is in accord with Jesus’ Name and mercy. We know this because that night Jesus sincerely prayed in Gethsemane that His heavenly Father would deliver Him from having to go to the cross. But Jesus ended that prayer with, “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Mt. 26:39).

Look at what Jesus says is true. He says when you pray, you are asking not only His Father, but your Heavenly Father. And Jesus says that God the Father loves you because you have faith in Jesus. So when you pray, you pray with the boldness and confidence of a child approaching a loving, caring father.

This is so beautiful. Isn’t this wonderful? Most of the time, what do children ask their father for? Food? Clothes? Shelter? Safety? Sure, sometimes, but not mostly. Most of the time children ask for trivial things. That is just how it is with children.

And praying for frivolous things isn’t wrong – it is natural for children. Besides, God already knows what you want before you ask (Mt. 6:8). So ask! Ask for petty things like a good parking spot or a sunny day on your birthday or for the Twins to win. Ask for whatever you wish because it doesn’t annoy your Heavenly Father. God delights in your trivial prayers because you are His child.

When you pray for things that you desire, it is exercising your faith. When you ask for petty, simple things, you are actively believing that God has the ability and the desire to give you everything good. And God already knows what you need, and He provides it even when you don’t ask for it. And if God doesn’t answer your prayer just as you ask, He is still giving you all good things because He loves you.

Finally, pray to your Heavenly Father because it makes a difference. Jesus wouldn’t tell you to pray if it didn’t. A man walking down the street might pass by several panhandlers and not give any of them a nickel. Either he is cynical and knows that many abuse handouts and use them only to buy alcohol or drugs, or he is simply selfish. But that same man walking down the street with his child is different. The child sees that something is wrong asks the father to give to the beggar, the father is moved by his child’s compassion and gives. Don’t take that analogy too far. God is not cynical or selfish. But your prayers have an effect. They make a difference in the world, and we shouldn’t make light of that fact.

Your God has called you to pray. So don’t worry about making your prayers perfect. Don’t worry about asking for the right things. Just pray. Pray for what you want. Pray to make that green light. Pray to slow your graying hair. And, maybe, in the next breath, you pray for a cure to your aunt’s cancer, for peace in the Middle East. Wonderful. Your Father is pleased by your prayers. Pray for all of these things in Jesus’ name boldly, confidently, and fearlessly.

As you live in this world full of tribulation, this world that Jesus has overcome, pray. Pray because according to Jesus, it makes a difference. Your loving Heavenly Father acts because of them. Amen.

Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.