You and I are about to read something beyond our understanding. We can not fully grasp it, because the words seem too good to be true. I invite you to join me in reading John 14, verses 12 – 14. (Read)
Such abuse has come from this passage. Certain people have taken these words and trumpeted them before us: “Do you want something,” they say? “Then ask for it. Take Jesus at his word and claim his promise. Didn’t Jesus say, ‘Ask … and I will do it?’ Let God give you what you desire. You name your need, and then claim it in prayer, trusting in Jesus’ words. Act in faith”, they say. “Name it, believe it, claim it. Need a new car? Don’t ask God for a dinky little machine like a Prius. Ask bigger, in faith, for a car that comes standard with leather seats!”
I went on line, and, with only a few clicks, found the Green Prosperity Prayer Handkerchief, much like this.(demonstrate) The pastor who offers it – free of charge – guarantees he has “personally prayed over it, blessed it, and anointed it.” The web site claims “the prayer cloth is a tangible touch point of hope to help people release their faith because, ‘all things are possible to him that believeth.’” (Mark 9:23) Thousands of people around the world, it claims, “who have used the prosperity prayer handkerchief have given inspiring testimonies of the miracles of healing, prosperity, and spiritual salvation.” You and I will have to be forgiven if we are just a bit skeptical of the power of green cloth, and the twisting of Jesus’ words to try to get what we want. Such abuse has come from this passage.
There is another kind of abuse of this passage. It is to hear Jesus’ words, “Ask whatever you will in my name and I will do it,” and walk away, not believing what Jesus says. Come on, we say, we can’t just ask Jesus for anything and expect to get it. Can we? If this were really true, then when we asked for something, we would receive it. Wouldn’t we? We’ve tried before. When the chips were down and the stakes were high, we prayed. Nothing seemed to happen. Excuse us for not paying attention to Jesus’ promise.
And yet, Jesus’ words are powerful. “Ask in my name and you will receive.” Great things have happened through prayer. John Knox took Jesus at his word and prayed, “God give me Scotland (for Jesus) or I die.” God answered that prayer. Black South Africans, including Bishop Desmund Tutu took Jesus at his word and prayed for a peaceful end to apartheid discrimination in South Africa. Desmond Tutu, who has won the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded last year the Presidential Medal of Freedom gives credit to Jesus Christ for the non-violent end to discrimination in his country. Three weeks ago in worship we gave praise to God for a miraculous recovery taking place in the life of a young woman listed in our fellowship of prayer.
It is not yet time to ignore Jesus’ promise. Come with me again to these words.
Let’s take these words as they were intended, part of a larger teaching Jesus gives. “I’m going away,” he says on the night before his crucifixion, “but I am not abandoning you.” As the chapter 14 begins, he promises he will come back and take the disciples to be with him forever. In his Father’s house, there are many rooms. And, in the meantime, before his second coming to earth, what happens? Jesus promises, “I am not abandoning you. In fact, I am still with you.” Look with me at verse 16. Jesus, the Counselor, will send, “Another Counselor (Paraclete) to be with you.” The other Counselor is Jesus’ Spirit, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sends to inhabit us so that his ministry continues on earth through us. Our prayers participate in the work of Jesus. What we pray helps release the works of Jesus on earth. Therefore, all things are possible. No wonder Jesus tells us to ask and we will receive. Because it is Jesus, through his Spirit, then all things are possible.
An angel tells Abraham he will have a son in his old age. His wife Sarah laughs at the absurd idea. The angel says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14)
The people grumble. “We’re tired of this Manna bread, day in and day out. We want meat, real meat.” God tells Moses He will do it. Moses has difficulty believing it. “How can God provide meat in the wilderness for all the people?” God says, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened?” (Numbers 11:23) All things are possible.
We’ve just celebrated Christmas. We’ve told our children and grandchildren the story of the angel announcing to Mary that she will have a child. Mary has difficulty understanding this. After all, she isn’t married yet. She asks how this shall be?
The angel responds, “With God, all things are possible.” (Luke 1:34, 37)
The disciples don’t see how a teaching of Jesus can be. Jesus says, “with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
A man brings his demon –possessed boy to Jesus for healing, saying, “If you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” And Jesus replies, “If you can (do anything)! All things are possible….” (Mark 9:23)
Ask in faith. Pray boldly. Call upon the name of the Lord in everything.
It’s no mistake that Jesus repeats himself twice: “Amen, amen,” Jesus says. In repeating the word, Jesus adds a seriousness to what he is about to say. “Whoever has faith in me, the works which I do, that person also shall do, and greater than these that person will do.” (verse 12) If Jesus were here, wouldn’t we take as truth his words on prayer? Here’s the thing. Jesus is here. He is here through his Spirit and it is the Spirit who is continuing the work of Jesus on earth. It’s not our work. It is Jesus. And, for whatever reason – I strongly suspect it is because God so loves and cherishes us – we participate in God’s work in the world through our prayers.
This all sounds great. We’d like to believe it, but there’s still that question hovering in our minds. If all things are possible, why are our prayers not answered? There are many standard replies. Some say Jesus’ promise is given only to the disciples who first heard his words. Once the apostles died, Jesus’ promise died, too. Others point out that we shouldn’t focus only on physical acts of healing. Think of the billions now of people who have become Christians. Surely, that is a mighty spiritual work. Some say we have to end every prayer with the words, “in Jesus’ name,” as if saying the name magically produces results. Somehow, these reasons sound like they are trying to explain away Jesus’ words, stripping them of the power Jesus intended.
There’s one more reason we are told why our prayers aren’t answered. It’s the nuclear bomb of guilt. We are told it’s our fault. We didn’t have enough faith when we prayed. We should have believed without any doubt that Jesus would give us exactly what we prayed for. If we don’t get it, then we must not have had complete faith. God would answer our prayer as we wanted. So, we end up thinking it’s our fault.
Will you notice with me what Jesus says? He says, “Whoever has faith….” Anyone who has faith is included, not just those of great faith. Furthermore, Jesus says, “Whoever has faith in me….” The point is not how much faith we have in our belief, but faith in Jesus.
When we try to puff up our faith so that we completely believe our prayers will be answered, we lose sight of Jesus. That’s what it’s about; Jesus. Remember Jesus is promising his followers he is not abandoning them in his death. He will still be with them. The relationship with Jesus is not a relationship of space; we are here and Jesus is there. It is a relationship of intimacy. We are together with Jesus, and, because Jesus goes to the Father, we are invited into that community, we, together with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are wrapped up and in and with God. We’re not trying to get what we want from a distant ATM machine in the sky. We are speaking intimately to Jesus who is right here, with us and in us. It’s all about the relationship. And, in a relationship of love, we want what is best for the one we love. That’s what it means to “pray in Jesus’ name.” To pray that Jesus’ desire will be done, not our own. We want what the One we love wants. So, we can pray boldly. Nothing is impossible for God. Ask what you will in Jesus’ name, so that the Father may be glorified in Jesus. What does it mean, that God would be glorified – honored – in our requests?
Dr. James Boice quotes a story by Ralph Keiper:
Ralph suffered from limited vision. What we can see at 100 feet he could see at 10. So obviously there were many times in his early life when he complained to God of his affliction. “Why should I suffer from this limitation? God could do something about it if he wanted to,” he reasoned. He prayed about his problem and got nowhere. Moreover, he could not even see the reason for God’s delay. He had tried to please the Lord as best he knew how. Why was God silent?
Then, one Saturday afternoon… the Holy Spirit began to speak to him and ask several questions: “What is the chief end of man?” “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever!” Ralph replied. “Do you wish to glorify God?” the Holy Spirit countered. “Of course!” the young man hastened to assure him. “If you had the choice, what would you rather do, glorify God or have perfect vision?”
Ralph paused for a long while. His “of course” began to weaken. For, as he points out, sight is a very precious commodity, especially to those who do not have it. He had to be honest because the Holy Spirit was watching and knew his heart. He knew that sight was far more precious to Ralph than God’s glory. The struggle within was bitter, but Ralph was a victim of grace.
“There is only one answer,” he said finally, “and that choice is to glorify God.” The Holy Spirit insisted on continuing his probe. “Do you really believe that God’s glory is more important than your vision?” He did not push for an answer, but waited quietly. At last Ralph surrendered. “My vision, or lack of it, is not worthy to be compared to the glory of God!” “Do you really wish to glorify God?” the Holy Spirit asked again. “Yes, I do!” “If you do, why worry about the method which God chooses for you to glorify him?”
Boice says, “The goal of prayer is not the fulfilling of our own requests: it is God’s glory.” Dr. Boyce continues.
While Jesus was on earth, he glorified the Father. He said in his great priestly prayer of John 17, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” But the way Jesus did this was not by any way that we would call glorious. Jesus was a wandering preacher who, as he himself said, had nowhere to lay his head. He was misunderstood. He was ridiculed. His own disciples did not understand him. Eventually one betrayed him while still another denied him. All deserted him. Then he was arrested, tried, cruelly beaten, and executed. This was not what we would desire, either for Jesus or for ourselves. Yet this was God’s will for Jesus, and it was precisely in these things that God was glorified.
Do we really know that that means? If we do, it will not be a matter of indifference; rather it will transform our lives. As life goes on we will undoubtedly suffer many of the things that are common to the life of mankind. We will get sick. Friends will get sick and pass away. Many disappointments will come in our homes, work, and other areas. Eventually we will die. How will you and I react in these circumstances? Will we complain and blame God? Or will we receive these circumstances from his hand and seek to glorify him in them? If we choose the latter, we will be able to demonstrate the reality of God’s great grace and peace, produced by God’s sovereign choice in suffering Christians.
When sorrows come the world panics. It has no answer in the face of disappointments, no hope in death. We have hope. Moreover, we have the privilege of coming to God in prayer in order that our will might be made increasingly conformable to his will and that others might therefore be led to glorify him through our testimony. (-James Boice, The Gospel of John)
These are no small words Jesus gives us. As we begin our series on how to pray, there is no more practical way to start than this: ask with confidence, in all things, that God would be glorified.