Prayer, In and Through.

WHATEVER YOU ASK

Christ’s Intimate Teaching on Prayer

Within our Lord’s final conversation with His disciples He inserts six (6) promises regarding prayer. I have commented on the first 3:

1. Greater Works and Global Prayer;
2. Prayer and Our Heart’s Delight; and
3. Prayer and Christian Responsibility.

The fourth promise in this series is found in John 16:23 (ESV), where we read:

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.

Again, we read what seems to be a sweeping promise: Ask whatever and he will give it!  But again, the context is the interpretative key.  The general context is that Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure and he had promised them his presence through the indwelling Spirit.  Anticipating his resurrection, Jesus assures his disciples that what will seem like sorrow will turn out for their joy. “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”^[1] 

Then Christ says to them, “In that day” – in the day when your sorrow is turned to joy, you will ask nothing of me.  “During Jesus’ ministry the disciples brought all their questions to Jesus.”^[2]  But now there is a change, instead of asking him, they will ask the Father, through Him.  “Prayers will be directed mainly to the Father in Christ’s name (in a spirit of complete agreement with the will and purposes of Christ).”^[3]  They won’t ask him because he is not present, so to speak, but they will ask the Father.  “Since Christ has returned to the Father, the prayers of Christians must be made to the Father in the name of the Son.”^[4]

Of course, the promise is guaranteed based on asking in agreement with the will of Christ.  This is not new.  This, of course is what we mean by “asking in Jesus name”.  Kent Hughes provides an interesting insight when he writes,

“Praying in Christ's name means coming only in his merit, not our own. Christ's full name is Lord Jesus Christ, which means Jehovah, Saviour, God's anointed. It is this name whose merit we must humbly pray. We cannot think that somehow God will hear us because of our virtue. We come by virtue of his merit. Poverty of spirit is the basis on which we approach God, and our on-going poverty is the crown of blessing. If we learn this, if we come to God in poverty of spirit, we can expect our prayers to be answered.”[5] So we pray to the Father in agreement with the will of the Son, on the merits of the Son.  

Paul is clear: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5, ESV). Someone might ask though, doesn’t the Scripture also teach us to pray “in the Spirit” (e.g., “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” (Ephesians 6:18, ESV)

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,” (Jude 20, ESV))?  This is a good question, but the Biblical idea is not that we pray “through” the Spirit, but rather that we pray in the Spirit’s power, by the Spirit’s empowerment and in accordance with the Spirit’s purpose (ergo: to glorify Jesus (John 16:14)).  There is little difference between praying “in the Spirit” and praying “in the will of Christ”.  The Scriptures inform us what it is to pray in both senses. 

We could say that we pray to the Father through the Spirit in accordance with the will and the merits of Jesus.   Roman Catholics for example will argue that praying to Mary and the saints is no different than asking someone here on earth to pray for us. Firstly, the Bible never invites us to pray to departed people; and secondly, the Father NEVER answers prayer based on the merits or credentials of a human – dead or alive.  To view Mary or the saints as intercessors in heaven is rank idolatry.

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 16:20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

^[2] Osborne, G. R. (2018). John: Verse by Verse. (J. Reimer, E. Ritzema, D. Thevenaz, & R. Brant, Eds.) (p. 383). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

^[3] Whitlock, L. G., Sproul, R. C., Waltke, B. K., & Silva, M. (1995). The Reformation study Bible: bringing the light of the Reformation to Scripture: New King James Version (Jn 16:23). Nashville: T. Nelson.

^[4] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2115). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] Hughes, II, pp. 102–03, quoted by Gangel, Kenneth. Holman New Testament Commentary - John: 4 (p. 303). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition