Whatsoever ye shall ask

Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.


No, these are NOT magic words. This is not a magic formula. This was not Jesus saying that he will do anything for us no matter it is. When we ask for something in HIS name, we are asking for something HE would approve of, something we KNOW He would desire for us. All too often we ask for things that we *THINK* Jesus wants for us, or should want for us, but the truth is (and this is the a BIG truth) that all we should really want- is God's will to be done.

Yes, I've been writing about this for a long time now, but everything just keeps pointing back that way and for a good reason- it's truth and a truth we need to comprehend fully not just partially.

Asking in Jesus' name.

If we ask in someone's name what exactly are we hoping for?
If I ask my sister for something in my mother's name, for example, if I ask my sister for a loan in my mother's name, what am I doing? I'm asking her to look at my mother and what she stands for and by my mother's good grace, through my mother's merits I want her to grant me this loan. Now if my mother was against loaning out money for whatever reason and my sister knew this she might just decide that because it's against my mother's will as she's known it that it's not a good idea to give me that loan. My sister might also decide that because she knows I want the loan for something that isn't exactly going to help me in the long run so she denies me the loan. However, my sister might realize it is in my best interest regardless of how my mother felt about loans, and she might think that my mother would have given it to me under my circumstances and with all that in mind I would get the loan from her. Do you see the poor analogy I'm trying to make here?


Jesus will do nothing for us if we ask in His name for something that would be against God's will.
Jesus will do everything for us if we ask for God's will to be done and believe that the answer we receive is God's will.


So when we read these words of our Savior--


Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.


Whatsoever ye shall ask IN MY NAME, THAT will I do- we have to remember we are asking in the name of our Savior and in His name we it will be the will of the Father that will be done just as it always was in His life.

When we read… if ye shall ask ANYTHING in MY NAME, I will do it… we MUST understand without any question that the ANYTHING is ALWAYS part of God's will. Jesus would do nothing without it being God's will, absolutely NOTHING. So when we dare to ask for something in Jesus' name we need to do it asking wholeheartedly for God's will, not ours.


Does is hurt to ask for frivolous things? Does it hurt to ask for say a million dollars? Most of genuinely would love the security that a million dollars could give us. Security to keep a roof over our heads, a working car on the road, food in our bellies, health care. I'm not talking about asking for a million dollars to spend wildly on anything we have a whim for. Most of us would use it resourcefully, so is it wrong to ask for it? I don't think it is… as long as we are asking that it be according to God's will, not ours. As long as we aren't turning around and chastising God for not hearing us, for not answering us in a way we desire. God knows much more than we can ever, ever hope to know and we are SAFE in Him. And when I say SAFE in Him I mean our ETERNAL life is SAFE in Him. Our life here and now, this flesh life we were brought into the world in, is not the life we will one day have by the grace and mercy of our Savior. We need to live for eternity- beyond the here and now. All the suffering we are called to endure in whatever form it takes- is only temporary.


By His amazing grace and in Jesus' name may His will be done, may the Father's will be done, in our lives now and forever.


Amen.