Monday, June 18, 2018
605 - I Didn't Ask, Part 2
Spirituality Column #605
June 19, 2018
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
I Didn’t Ask, Part 2
By Bob Walters
"Until now you have not
asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be
complete." Jesus, John 16:24
Let’s build
on last week’s discussion about what we can “name and claim” when we are in our
“asking” mode in prayer before God.
This
particular verse in John is a favorite among Christians who go to God in prayer
to get stuff and solve problems. God can
provide, certainly, but Satan is plenty active in these matters too. We underestimate how often our “gimme” prayers
meant for God are claim-jumped and rerouted through Satan’s quagmire set amid
our doubts.
To quickly
set the scene for John 16:24, all of John 15 and 16 are Jesus talking to His
disciples as they leave the Last Supper and walk to Gethsemane where Jesus prays
(chapter 17),is arrested, tried … and you know the rest. Jesus says “you have not asked … in my name” noting the obvious that nobody
realized they were supposed to. The
disciples by now mostly “got” that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, but
remained clueless how true salvation worked: with sacrificial love, not brute
force.
A good
tandem verse is Matthew 21:22, where Jesus says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” The key here is not “you will receive,” it is “If
you believe.” When you believe in
Jesus you have a far better idea of what to ask God for. It’s a common thread in the “ask and you
shall receive” messages of Christ.
In this fallen world we encounter
awful things God has no intention of changing until the last day. The atheists among us will deny both God’s
existence and any true meaning of life. The
libertines will dismiss God as an uncaring bully or worse. But the wise among us understand the long
game. When we believe, we know how to ask and what to ask for, most notably for
closeness to God, trust in his righteousness, peace in our situation, grace in
our travails, generally at all times to be a witness to God’s glory, not a
testament against it, and of course, to help us understand. “I know
and trust Jesus” is what makes for truly high horsepower prayers. Lay out your heart; then listen.
The show-off, self-centered prayers
of the Pharisees or of today’s “prosperity gospel” purveyors are surely open
lanes for the demons to do what they do best – misrepresent God, spew distrust
in God, and diminish humanity’s understanding of God’s glory by keeping our
human minds on worldly desires and difficulties. Satan is the “friend” who gets you blamed and
rejoices when you distort, pervert, or blame God.
Our true peace in Christ – which
I’m here to affirm is our greatest gift this side Glory – is our only ticket to
the joy Jesus mentions in John 16:24. If
we understand that “happy” is about me and “joy” is about Jesus – and joy is
closer to God’s glory – we’ll pray earnestly in relationship with Christ rather
than selfishly in panic about the world.
Jesus came
with unprecedented, unasked-for gifts from God: the defeat of death, an
eternal, glorious life with God, assurance of His truth, and forgiveness of our
sins.
We should
take Him up on it, and then ask humbly for His help.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com) listens more and talks less in prayer than
he used to.
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