WHATEVER
YOU ASK
Christ’s
Intimate Teaching on Prayer
In John
16:24 (ESV) we read: “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you
will receive, that your joy may be full.”
This promise follows on the heels of a previous promise in verse
23. There we were instructed that our
prayers ought to “. . . be directed mainly to the Father in Christ’s name (in a
spirit of complete agreement with the will and purposes of Christ).”[1] And in that regard we can be confident. These passages on prayer are part of an
intimate conversation Christ had with his disciples. The first four can be read here:
- Greater Works and Global Prayer;
- Prayer and Our Heart’s Delight;
- Prayer and Christian Responsibility; and
- Prayer, In and Through.
So, this fifth promise again encourages us to ask and the
promise is given “you will receive”. The
imperative is to ask (Greek: αιτειτε).
What is important is to know that this is in the present active
imperative, meaning it’s a command to keep asking. It’s an ongoing expectation. D.A. Carson explains that “they are to
do this in full recognition that this is the route to the joy Jesus had earlier
promised them.”[2] Therefore this “. . . reminds believers that
frequent answers to prayer will give Jesus’ followers great joy as they see God
actively at work in the world in answer to their prayers.”[3]
In summary,
the disciples of Christ are commanded to pray and pray motivated for the reward
of joy. “Pursue the fullness of
your joy! Pray! From this sacred word, and from experience, we can draw out a
simple rule:
Among professing Christians, prayerlessness always
produces joylessness.”[4]
The opposite is true.
[1] 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.
[2] Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel
according to John (p. 546). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids,
MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.
[3] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible
(p. 2057). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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