Winter 1990

Asking in His Name
(Selected)

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" Matt 21:22.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" Matt 7:7-8.

If we have a surety in our spirit as to the will of God in a given situation, we can ask in confidence, and then stand firm on the ground of faith, waiting for it to come to pass. When we ask "In Jesus Name" we should be cautious that we are in union with our Lord; thinking, speaking, and moving in His will and authority.

If the Lord's will is not known to us, we can place a petition before the throne and leave it in His hands, asking that thy will be done. Then we can rest, knowing that He is faithful and will do what is right and best.

At four different times in John chapters 14-17, Jesus speaks about "asking." Each time, He progressively lifts the hearer to a higher realm. He brings us beyond simply asking, to a Spirit endowed inter-action between us and the Lord.

This developing relationship with the Lord guides us gradually upward, as a circular spiral, to a higher plane of spiritual life and experience. It can be envisioned to be like Jacob's ladder, taking on the shape of a spiral staircase that leads from earth to heaven. As the circular flow of love between us and the Lord grows, we are lifted ever closer to His Throne.

In John 14:8, Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father. Jesus answered, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake" John 14:9-11.

Jesus is telling Philip that first and foremost he must believe that He is the Son of God. He clearly tells him that He and the Father are one and that the "works" which he sees Him do are actually the "works" of the Father. Then He tells him, "And whatsoever ye shall ask what ye will and that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" John 14:13. The desire of Jesus was to glorify the Father and to show to the world the love relationship and unity that He and the Father had.

Note the preface, "In my Name." We must clearly define "Name." In that time, there was a close relationship between a person and his name. The two were practically equivalent, so that removing the name was to extinguish the person, Num 27:4. To speak in ones name is to carry his authority, II Cor5:20. To pray in the Name of Jesus is to pray as His representative on the earth, in His Spirit and will; which implies the closest possible union with Him.

"If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments" John 14:14-15. Jesus is saying in effect, "If you have received my authority to ask and believe that this power is vested in me, I will do the "works." His very next words, "If you love me, keep my commandments," makes a connection between His doing what we ask and our relationship to Him. Keeping His commandments is an indication that we are maintaining a true love relationship with Him.

Chapter 15 of John brings us a step higher in this circular flow of the essence of God, love. Jesus is the well from which we are to draw, while the Father brings the increase. He likens this relationship to our abiding in the vine as its branches, and the vinedresser who tends and prunes the vine. Then He states, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" John 15:3. This establishes the foundation upon which this abiding relationship with Him is to be built. The very next word spoken by Jesus is "Abide" which is repeated seven more times in His teaching about the relationship between the vine and its branches. He tells us that we cannot bear fruit unless we abide in Him.

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" John 15:7. Note that He did not mention His Name; for now, He and us (the vine and branch) have become joined in a unified will. Again He states, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" John 15:8. The Father is glorified first in the Son, and then in us.

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my word; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love" John 15:10. This time, Jesus does not put the emphasis on keeping His commandments, but rather on abiding in His Love. Next, He turns from the importance of our having a vertical relationship with His Father, and focuses on the necessity of horizontal relationships between us and others. "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you" John 15:12.

The next verses reveal a change in that through our becoming one with Christ and have so abided in His Love that we have now become friends with Jesus. Now, as the Son is to the Father, we can directly approach the Father in His Son's name, instead of asking the Son to ask the Father in our behalf. Jesus considered it necessary that our abiding love relationship with Him flow out to others. This is a pre-requisite to this change in our "asking," for immediately He repeats the words, "These things I command you, that ye love one another" John 15:17.

Jesus again tells His disciples that the Comforter is coming. He encourages them to receive and embrace the Holy Spirit, for through Him they will come ever closer to the Father and Son. He then voices the promise of the fulfillment of a oneness between the Lord and us, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" John 16:23-24.

Through our abiding in Christ, we not only become His friend, but now His Father becomes our Father, and His friends (others) are now our friends. It is this abiding in Christ that enables us to keep His commandments, and it is in keeping these commands that the flow of love increases. Now we can approach the Father in Jesus' Name that "Whatsoever ye ask, He may give it you" John15:16. Lastly, in John 16, Jesus is able to promise that as Has so asked of the Father that it will be given Him. And He is also confident that when we ask according to His will, because of the abiding intimate love relationship that has developed between Himself and His disciples- that it shall be given to them also.

In this close union between the Lord and us, the Lord does not just stop there, but it goes beyond even to our asking. In John 16:24 Jesus said, "Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy many be full." Therein lies the key; in that by our asking our requests in the name of the Lord He is able to respond, bringing joy to the heart of both the Creator and His creation.