LEARNING DAILY

 

John 14:14, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”   Jesus

 

1 John 5:14, Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His wiil, He hears us.

 

Anyone who has walked with the Lord for very long knows that a verse of Scripture can not be taken and used for their own purpose.  If you have walked with the Lord for a while, you have found out that asking for anything in Jesus’ name is not a magical formula to get something you want.  There is certainly great power in the name of Jesus.  His name is above all names!  But, the power of prayer comes from communion with Him and knowing what He wants, what His desire is.

 

James 4:3 tells us that, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”  James is clear that if we pray and ask as we are told to do but do not receive, we are asking for something that is probably selfish and not in God’s will.  I had been praying and asking God for something for many years.  I was in an area that I thought would be perfect for “what I wanted to do”.  Finally, I asked Him if He was going to give it to me.  In one of the very few times I believe God spoke clearly to me in order for me to understand, He said, “No!”.  That was it; I was asking for so long for something to build me up; I was asking amiss. 

 

The Forerunner Commentary states this, “To ask for anything in the name of Jesus Christ, it must be in keeping with what He is.  To ask in Christ’s name is to ask as though Christ Himself were asking, Therefore, we can only ask for what Christ Himself would ask.  It is therefore necessary for us to set aside our own will and accept His.  If we do as Jesus did, we are sure to receive answers as He did.”

 

So, we study what Jesus did on the earth.  He wants all to come to Him and be saved through Him.  I do pray for those who ask for prayer – those who are sick, those who need direction, those who have financial need, for those who are out of God’s will because of deception.  I pray in Jesus’ name because of the power it brings because answered prayer brings glory to Him.   That is why prayer is answered.  I am also careful to acknowledge that God sees tomorrow when I stumble in living today.  I know that healing occurs for some by being taken to be with Him for eternity.  What a beautiful healing that is. 

 

The Forerunner Commentary had this to say as well and is important to believe. “We must come away with the realization that prayer is not dictating to God, but a humble and heartfelt expression of our attitude of dependency and need.  Because of this, the one who truly prays is submissive to God’s will, content with Him supplying his need according to the dictates of His sovereign pleasure.”