FROM THE SERVANT GENERAL
OUR THEME FOR 2020
(Part 52)
IN JESUS’ NAME WE PRAY – 2
May 23, 2020
Today’s gospel: John 16:23-28
We have looked at praying in Jesus’ name. It is not an automatic formula for getting what we want. Rather, it is an assurance that is based on three things about what we ask for. One, what we ask for must be in accordance with God’s will. Two, it must be for the furtherance of Jesus’ mission. Three, it must glorify God.
Now Jesus says to his disciples again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” (v.23b-24).
But why do we have to ask in the first place? Is God not a loving God who desires the good of His children? Will God not give us good things even without our having to ask? God indeed is a loving Father, but there are reasons why it is good for us to have to ask.
First, we ask so that we do not take God for granted. If every good thing was just there for us, then we would quickly forget about God and our dire need for Him. We must realize our total dependence on God. In realizing this, then we are led to turn our lives over to God and look to Him for our total well-being. When that happens, then we are in the right place in our relationship with God.
Second, we ask so that we truly appreciate what God gives us. In having good things just like that, we not only will take God for granted, but we will take the good things for granted. We must know that every good thing is a gift from God. Our life, our health, our provisions for living. We know how things in the world can turn quickly to the bad and even to the worse. We do not fully appreciate what we have until we lose them. In asking, we pinpoint the things that are important to us.
Third, we ask because it delights God for His children to go to Him and look to Him for good things. Just consider our own situation with our children. What a sorry situation it would be if our older children just took for granted what we do for them. While we would gladly do good for them, it delights us when they come and ask, and we are able to grant what they ask for. With God, it is not so much what we ask for, which He would grant if good for us, but that we go to Him to ask. It is about our relationship, with or without favors granted.
Fourth, we ask in Jesus’ name so that our prayers and desires are purified. Would we ask in Jesus’ name if we knew that what we ask for is just about our being selfish and self-centered? So we begin to think about our real needs, and how our life would be more in line with God’s will for us. Then, and this is crucial, we begin to focus no longer on ourselves but on God. We consider what would be pleasing to God, and how we still fall short for the moment. Our asking then would no longer be for our own sake but for the sake of God.
Fifth, we ask so that our joy would be complete. Are we not more grateful and do we not rejoice more when we do ask and our prayers are granted? We rejoice that we have a loving Father. We rejoice that we are in God’s care and not just left to fend for ourselves. We rejoice that we can turn to the all-powerful God for our needs, especially in times of great hardships and challenges.
