The Christmas season is upon us and many will be making out wish lists. As children we addressed these lists to Santa Claus, as adults some address them to God and ask Him to fulfill their wishes. They hold up Bible passages such as John 14:13-14 as evidence for their expectation:
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask[a] anything in My name, I will do it. (NKJV)
That’s pretty clear, isn’t it: ask me anything and I will do it? So then if I ask Jesus for a red Maserati with chrome wheels, he should give it to me right? No.
This is not to say that if I truly desired this I would not end up with a red Maserati with chrome wheels, for we do tend to get whatever it is we fix our heart on. I may have to work three jobs for 5 years to get the money, but if that is what I hold most dear I’ll do it – and in so doing, turn my back on Jesus to pursue worldly gain.
As is so often the case, pulling a single passage out of the Bible and using it to make a point proves to invalidate that passage. Let’s look at what is really being said here.First, what is the situation? Jesus and His disciples are at the last supper: the Passover feast they held in the upper room of the home of Mary, John-Mark’s mother. Jesus has done the foot washing thing, he has identified Judas Iscariot as His betrayer, and he has just told His disciples once again that he is about to leave them, and that they could not go with Him now, but would join Him later. When they ask how they will know the way, Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6)
Phillip asks, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus replies with,
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask[a] anything in My name, I will do it. (NKJV)
In this context, Jesus is clearly not talking about granting their every whim. He is talking about belief and works. The works he refers to are the things he did as he ministered to Israel: feeding the multitudes with what amounts to a sack lunch, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, restoring the lame, even raising the dead back to life. Jesus did these things to glorify God and prove His relationship with the Father. When He said, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” He was not talking about possessions, he was talking about works.
How Do We Ask?
The phrase “ask in My name” does not mean that you mention the name of Jesus as you make your request, but that you ask in compliance with the example and expectations of Jesus. To expect results, you must be a true believer, conformed to the teachings of Jesus (Matt 21:21, Mark 16:17). You must ask in confidence that it will be done, in deed that it IS done (Mark 11:24, Luke 10:17). And you must ask not for yourself, but for others (Matt 7:12, Luke 6:31).
James chapter 1 tells us, “6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;” (NKJV)
Jesus said, “he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do”. But Jesus raised a couple of people from the dead, how could anything the disciples would do be greater than that? On Pentecost, Peter, having received the Holy Spirit, preached to a crowd and brought thousands of people to Christ – more then Jesus converted in his whole 3 years of ministry!
The promise is there. To claim it, we must walk in obedience to Christ, we must know the Word, and (based on these) we must ask what we will in confidence, knowing that God will respond to glorify Himself through Jesus by granting our request. Pray for and with those around you who are in need of comforting, guidance, healing: God is listening.
Footnotes:
John 14:14 NU-Text adds Me.
