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. In the previous
blog, we looked at the first in John 14:13-14 and noted that the promise to
“ask whatever” is couched in the context of praying for global ministry
and missions, and those petitions asked in accordance with Christ’s will, will
be done.
In this blog I want to look at the second promise found in John
15:7 (ESV): “7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it
will be done for you.”
One immediately notes that this promise is conditioned with
the little word “if”. “If you abide in
me, and my words abide in you.” This relates to the command previously related
by our Lord: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by
itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
(John 15:4, ESV). Verse 7 adds the rest
of the condition: “And my words abide in you.”
Dr. D.A. Carson comments: “The imagery of the vine is
stretched a little when the ‘branches’ are given the responsibility to remain
in the vine, but the point is clear: continuous dependence on the vine,
constant reliance upon him, persistent spiritual imbibing of his life—this is
the sine qua non of spiritual
fruitfulness.”[1] Jesus indwells us by Another Comforter/Helper
and we are placed “in Him” (John 14:16; 1 Corinthians 12:13).
We do not create that relationship.
That is a reality of the New Covenant.
But we are called to live out that reality. In other words: “You are in Him, so live that
way.” Seek to live your life through Him
and obey His teaching[2] in
all decisions. In that situation, we may
“ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
“If God’s people truly abide in Jesus they will desire what
he desires and will pray according to his words, and those prayers will be
pleasing to him.”[3] “To
remain in Christ and to allow his words to remain in oneself means a conscious
acceptance of the authority of his word and a constant contact with him by prayer.
. . He was not promising to gratify every chance whim. But so long as the
believer was seeking the Lord's will in his life, Jesus would grant every
request that would help accomplish this end.”[4]
Practically speaking this means that our Bibles must never
be too far from our prayers. The
determination to do God’s will through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit;
and the desire to desire the things Christ desires, require of us an intimate
knowledge of the Scriptures. There can
be no confidence in our prayer life if we fail to seek holiness or if we fail
to discern the mind of Christ in His Word. It is certainly in this context
whereby the psalmist could affirm: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he
will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4, ESV). It is safe to say that those who delight
themselves in the Lord will seek what He delights.
[1] Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according
to John (p. 516). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI:
Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my
love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
(John 15:10, ESV)
[3] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible
(p. 2054). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[4] Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis
CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/III. The Private Ministry of the Word
(13:1-17:26)/B. The Last Discourse (13:31-16:33)/2. The discourse on relations
(15:1-27)/a. The relation of the disciples to Christ (15:1-11), Book Version:
4.0.2
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