Until
now you have not asked for anything in my name.
Ask
and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
John 16:24
In that day you will ask in my name.
I
am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.
John
16:26
During Christ’s life on earth, the disciples
had known little of the power of prayer. In Gethsemane, Peter and the others
utterly failed. They had no concept of what it meant to ask in the name of
Jesus and to receive. The Lord promised them that, in the day that was coming,
they would be able to pray with such a power in His name that they would ask
what they desired and it would be given to them.
“Hitherto…nothing.” “At that day ye shall
ask in My name” and “shall receive.” These two conditions are
still found in the church. With the great majority of Christians, there is such
a lack of knowledge of their oneness with Christ Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit
as the Spirit of prayer, that they do not even attempt to claim the wonderful
promises Christ gave here. But when God’s children know what it means to abide
in Christ in vital union with Him and to yield to the Holy Spirit’s teaching,
they begin to learn that their intercession is effective and that God will give
the power of His Spirit in answer to their prayers.
It is faith in the power of Jesus’ name and in
our right to use it that will give us the courage to follow where God invites
us—to the holy office of intercessors. When our Lord Jesus, in His Farewell
Discourse, gave His unlimited prayer promise, He sent the disciples out into
the world with this thought: “He who sits upon the throne and lives in my heart
has promised that what I ask in His name I will receive. He will do it.”
Oh, if Christians only knew what it means to
yield themselves wholly and absolutely to Jesus Christ and His service, how
their eyes would be opened to see that intense and unceasing prayerfulness is
the essential mark of the healthy spiritual life! They would see that the power
of all‑prevailing intercession will indeed be the portion of those who live
only in and for their Lord.
Blessed Savior, give us the grace of the Holy
Spirit to live in You, with You, and for You to such a degree that we may
boldly look to You for the assurance that our prayers are heard. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment