When Jesus said, Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, was he guaranteeing that we can get anything we want if we just ask the right way? Today, On Truth for Life, Alastair Begg helps us think through this often misunderstood and misapplied passage. We're studying in John chapter 14. Yeah.
Well, we broke off this morning. By Seeking at least to understand, or I sought to try and make clear. The fact that the greatest work that is ever done is the work of salvation, it's the work of regeneration. And that When we understand that to be the case, Then when we move from the twelfth verse into the thirteenth and into the fourteenth verse, We have another control that is provided by the context.
So the verses that are there for us: greater works than these will the person who believes in Jesus do. And the reason that this is going to be the case, and here's the controlling phrase, is because I am going to the Father. That is, if you like, the trigger that is going to give the fullness of all that Jesus is referencing here. And he then goes on to say, Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do. And then, in a categorical statement, he comes further and says: if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Now again, there's a controlling sentence there, phrase there, isn't there? Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
So that the promise of answered prayer. is prayer that is Um expressed to God in order that God might be glorified as a result of answering that prayer. And God is glorified, as Jesus has been explaining. In The cross of Christ. that the glory of God is established in that way.
And later on in the fifteenth chapter, when Jesus is speaking again directly to the things that his followers are going to be doing, he says to them, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. and that your fruit should abide. Here we go.
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Now, what I'm suggesting to you is that there is a direct correlation between this straightforward statement concerning the greater works. and then the answer of prayer. Not that it is entirely to be answered in relationship to salvation. But I'm suggesting that what Jesus has in mind when he speaks in this way is just that. If we're going to ask in in accord with The will of God, if we're going to ask in accord with the character of Jesus, if you like.
If we're going to ask in Jesus' name, then we're going to ask. in relationship to all that his name stands for. And his name is Jesus, Yeshua. He is the Saviour, He is the Deliverer, He is the Rescuer. And the purpose of the prayers being answered It's not our benefit But it's God's glory.
That you may ask whatever you would choose to ask in order that the Father might be glorified.
Now Before I sidestep and address the questions that are in your minds. Let's say to one another. The people who were there to actually hear this firsthand then became the apostles that took the message forward.
So it would be a legitimate thing, I think, to say, now let's see how those people who heard this directly from the lips of Jesus then translated that into life as life unfolded after he had done what he said he was going to do, which is go to the Father. You know the story in Acts chapter 16. Uh they go to Philippi. The gospel goes into Europe for the first time. And as as a result of what they're doing, they end up in in a quite dreadful spot.
And they were doing things that were not lawful as far as people were concerned. And they were attacked and The magistrates tore their garments off and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. This is Poland. Silas.
And having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. And about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying. and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners We're listening to them. And then of course, as you know, there is this amazing earthquake.
shakes the whole place to bits. And eventually, we have this amazing encounter. involving the jailer. Who apparently from nowhere calls out What must I do? To be saved.
Now he says, you can ask. Anything you want. I imagine part of their prayer was Lord, We are here by your appointment. We are here as your servants. Our entire lives have been given over to the extension of your kingdom.
So that men and women might come to know exactly who you are and what you've done and why it matters. Lord. Fulfill your purposes. Lord. Be glorified in the jail.
Give glory to your name. And suddenly As if No correlation between the two. They have the opportunity of leading this man and his family to faith in Jesus Christ. The point I want to make is simply this: they weren't praying, oh God, get us out of here. And even when the church was praying, get them out of there.
They weren't really on track themselves. No, they weren't praying get me out, they were praying glorify your name. And they rejoiced. They rejoiced. Then he brought them up.
That's the jailer. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them, and he rejoiced, along with his entire household, that he had believed in God, that he had believed in God.
So I'm suggesting That you have a pattern of prayer in the unfolding story of the Acts of the Apostles, the early church. And that we have some indication. of how these early believers, if you like, assimilated What Jesus is saying here, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do. that the prayer proceeds from faith in Christ. The the prayer unfolds in union with Christ.
And the prayer Is Expressed for the glory of Christ.
So Jesus is not here promising, to answer Any prayer that happens to rattle around. in your head. You say, but he says that. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Well, he doesn't say I will do anything that is rattling around in your head. He says no. If you ask anything in my name. In my name is not an incantation. You see, We have absolutely No right.
No right. to expect That whatever passes through our thinking processes. We can ask God about and we can be guaranteed that it will be done. No more than we have any warrant as believers for asking God to remove any difficulty Any disappointment? Anything at all.
and make sure that we never have to deal with anything like that again. Oh, but says somebody, you you've got to you can't just deal with this and violate your own principles. What what, for example, about Jesus, the things that he says in other in other places? Let's take, for example, what he says in Mark chapter 11 after he has cursed the fig tree. And you know that when you turn to it, Acts chapter 11, verse 20 or so.
And they had a conversation with him about the fig tree that had been cursed. Jesus, in responding to the question by Peter, says, have faith in God. Truly I say to you, Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, and doesn't doubt in his heart. But believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Mm-hmm.
What what are you going to make about that? Make of that?
Well, if you know your Bible, you know that that is An ongoing picture, it's a figurative picture that runs all the way through, especially the prophets. Um it's it for example Um Isaiah.
So you know I'm not making it up. Isaiah uh fifty-four. And uh God says through the prophet, for my mountains may depart and the hills be removed. But my steadfast love shall not depart from you. See what he's saying?
There's more likelihood of this mountain range. disappearing from sight. Than there is the possibility of my covenant love being removed from you. He doesn't anticipate that the mountains are about to be removed. He's using it as a picture by way of contrast.
And I suggest that the same thing is actually here, that this is figurative, that it is a metaphor. That is not to devalue it, that is not to diminish it in any way, because in actual fact, what Jesus is saying is that by faith, we may be enabled to overcome difficulties and to deal with circumstances that are apparently insurmountable to us. That we have every right to come before God and address him in that way. Provided we ask correctly. James chapter 4, 1 John chapter 5.
And these buffers are there, not as means of prevention. But these buffers are there in order to keep us on track.
so that we don't ask incorrectly. You see, God is God as God. Forever and ever. God is not in any way diminished in his miracle conducting capacity at any point in all of human history. That is unassailable.
God is able to do what he chooses to do, and we acknowledge that. But we also have to acknowledge He chooses to work through actual events. He chooses to work medically through the gifts that he's given to physicians. Not exclusively, not entirely, but nevertheless, routinely. It is something out of the ordinary that takes us beyond that realm.
Now, the reason this is so important is because if we get this wrong, there's no saying where you'll end up. When I was a young minister on my own for the very first time within the first 24 months, so I was 20. Five. And we had a young missionary that went to Senegal as it turns out. And she went out to Senegal, and within a relatively short time, perhaps within a year.
She had to come home for med medical tests. When she had the medical test, they found that she had a mass in her abdomen. That they tried to radiate, they tried to do whatever they could with, but there was no possibility for her restoration. She was in her twenties.
So she was in bed at home. with her mom and dad. Believing parents. I didn't know what to do when I was told. that well-meaning people Well-meaning people.
Or the persuasion Not along the lines of what I'm suggesting here, but a certain persuasion, they had gone to this house. They had prayed over this girl. And then they had physically removed her from the bed. and tried to walk her through the house.
So, as to prove to her parents that they had asked whatever they would like to ask of God, and it was answered: look, she's walking. When she died, Not long after that, These same well-meaning people Along the lines of the mountain being removed. put an unbelievable burden on her mom and dad. by explaining to them That the reason their daughter was dead rather than alive.
Okay. It was because they did not possess sufficient faith. to ask for this mountain to be removed. Have you got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Yeah.
Have you got any mountains you can't tunnel through? Yeah.
Well, God specializes in things thought. Impossible. He can do just. What? No other can do.
These verses demand our attention. And the should bring us to the place where we recognize that we have no right Two Um circumscribe. the province of God. Nor do we actually possess any right to prescribe to God. what needs to take place.
We have every right to come to God and lay our lives before him. and seek his blessing. My friend Bruce Milne has left us so much of a wonderful legacy in his writings. And Addressing this matter He says When we seek to understand things in this way. It will appear That what we're saying is that we don't actually believe God.
that we don't actually believe the belief of the Bible. This is what he says. This interpretation does not imply. That the church ought not to anticipate tangible demonstrations. of the presence of the risen Lord in its midst.
I'm I'm there. Show yourself strong, Father. Save hundreds of people. Save thousands of people. Save the least likely people.
Do something. We're not at liberty to stand back from that. But at the same time, it does not encourage unhealthy sensationalism or unworthy arrogance, on the part of the disciples. In the final analysis, The one who works in the church is its head and lord. and hence the powers of the kingdom.
are available only through Believing prayer. Pin Jesus' name. It is also, I think, helpful. I find it helpful. to ask of certain things as they come along the way.
Does this work for Jesus? Because if it doesn't work for Jesus, then it's not going to work for me. Or how did Jesus handle this? After all, he's the son. He's part of the Trinity.
Well, we don't have to guess at that, do we? Because It's recorded for us. Yet. Not what I will. But where you will.
Yes. We're going to pray for healing. Yes. We're going to pray believing prayers for healing because we believe that God can heal. He may heal with or without the medical facilities because he's God.
But it's a far cry from that. humble conviction in Jesus' name. to march in dying people. around their house. in a sensational display.
of a really poor understanding. of the Bible. If we think about this. in relationship by and large to our to our prayers. Mm-hmm.
If we pray in this way, then we're only actually asking. for that which is in accord with God and his purposes. And we can't always know what is in accord with his purposes. We know that he loves to save people. We do know that he is far more willing to bless us than we are to ask him to bless us.
But we don't know the details. We don't know whether our lives will be long or whether they'll be short. William Carey, the founder of Modern Missions, goes to India and he leaves us with a great line. Expect great things from God. attempt great things for God.
That's what he did. Do you know how long he was there before he saw a single convert? It wasn't weeks. It wasn't months. It was years.
He was there. Expecting great things from God. God in His sovereignty was doing what he set out to do. How many of my prayers are actually big prayers like this. Prayers for the extension of God's kingdom.
prayers for the most unlikely people to be converted. Prayers that God would be glorified in everything. as opposed to Could you please help me with this? Could you please fix that?
Now we can bring everything to God in prayer. Don't let us go wrong. We understand this. But I think if the apostles came back And here that's pretty. They might say Why don't you ask him for something?
that he really wants to give. For you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him? What are these good things?
Well, the other translation is that He will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. Do we need the Holy Spirit? Yes, why?
so that we might be Closer to Jesus, so that we might then be the servants of Jesus, so that we might proclaim the word of Jesus, so that people will come to Jesus, so that God will be glorified. And when we go all the way to the to the end of the Bible, I think this whole notion is borne out. There's a reason why, in the Lord's Prayer, you know, we pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your kingdom come. We don't know what's happening to this kingdom.
I mean, it looks like it's on very shaky foundations at the moment. We're concerned about that. We know that we're supposed to pray for those in authority, for princes and for governors, and we're doing that as well. But, Lord, we want your kingdom to come. You see.
the greatest work. is the work of redemption. It's the work of regeneration. And if that is the focus, And Jesus encourages prayer. then it seems to me that that ought to be Our priority.
At least that. I just got a horrible feeling that God will see me and say, Why did you never ask me for things I wanted to give you? Did you really think you needed a motorbike? I mean, did you really think? that you needed this.
Did you really think you needed to live forever? Why did you ask for that? Jesus didn't ask for that. We can ask for everything. We can ask for anything.
In Jesus' name. within the framework. of his purposes. and in light of his promises. Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg. We're always looking for more ways to help you tell others about who Jesus is and what He's done and what His promises really mean. And Alistair is here. I wanted to ask you a question about your book, The Man on the Middle Cross, and how it's being used around the world over the last. Year, we've seen how a clip pulled from the message you were giving in Texas reached millions of people.
That man on the middle cross clip that I'm sure many of our listeners have seen circulating. And I just heard that the book that you wrote that shares that story, along with a couple other Bible stories, is an evangelistic tool that has now reached more than a million people in its first year of publication. It is remarkable. The other thing mentioning that, Bob, is that uh the translation of this Has been, again, because of what folks do, but has been fantastic. I just Received the copies from Italy and from France and a whole bunch of places.
They are also saying that this has proved very, very helpful. And we're grateful to our truth partners whose monthly giving makes it possible for us to partner with publishers around the world to translate The Man on the Middle Cross and distribute these non-English language versions globally.
So if you're passionate about sharing the gospel, Join our Truth Partner team today by visiting truthforlife.org slash Truth Partner or call us at 888-588-7884. I'm Bob Lepine. Tomorrow we're going to learn how we turn sorrow. into joy. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life.
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