John, chapters 13-16, are some of the last words of the Lord to His disciples before going to the cross to die for the sins of mankind.  As He speaks with His disciples, the Lord’s gentle love and concern for His own are very obvious.  He is preparing them to continue after He is no longer with them physically in the world.  Let’s read John 14:13-14, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”  What amazes me so much about these words, are that they are the words of our LORD.  Here, He is not telling them what to do for Him, He is telling them what He will do for them!  Isn’t that amazing?  The Lord desires to be of service to US!  He had said in Mark 10:45, “…the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Although the work of salvation was completed by Christ when He died and rose again for our salvation, He still continues to work on our behalf.

  • According to Hebrews 4:15, Christ continues to perform as our High Priest.
  • According to 1 John 1:21, Christ continues to perform as our advocate, or comforter.

In our portion in John, we see that our blessed savior has promised us that when we make our requests known to God, and we approach Him in the name of the Lord Jesus, He will do it.  What security and provision we find in the Lord’s words here.  He encourages us to pray, and He instructs us how to pray…we approach God the Father through God the Son.  It is so important that we realize that when we pray to the Father, that we are able to approach Him because of what His dear Son did for us when He sacrificed His life for us on Calvary.  As believers on the Lord Jesus, we are now ‘in Christ’ (Ephesians 2:13, Ephesians 1:10, and many more places).  We are the children of God and have been made fit to be in the presence of God through the purifying work the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross.

I’m sure most of us can say, “I’ve prayed for things and did not receive them.  Why?”  There are several reasons for unanswered prayers in the live of the believer.  Here are a few:

  • Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  If we think favorably of sin, this could cause the Lord to turn a deaf ear to us.  The World English Bible translates the word ‘regard’ as ‘cherish’.  If, as believers on the Lord, cherish the sinful things of this world, we will find the Lord will not answer our prayers.
  • James 4:3, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”  If we pray to the Lord and ask for things that will only fulfill the lusts of our flesh, we will not receive those things from the Lord.  To yearn for those things that please the flesh is so dangerous for the believer.  Our desire should be to please Him, not to please ourselves.
  • 1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.”  Here we have the guarantee that if our requests to the Lord are according to His perfect will for us, He will answer!  The Lord knows what is best for us, and He will answer our prayers accordingly.  Many times, we pray for things that will only hurt us in the future.  The Lord is aware of such things and will only give us those things that are good for us and will glorify His holy name.

Let’s be men and women of constant prayer.  Let’s commit ALL our cares to Him because He loves us.  (1 Peter 5:7)  Let’s pray in faith that, according to His perfect will, the Lord will grant us our requests when we pray to the Father in the name of the Son.  (192.10)