Prayer that Leads to Joy
The night before his crucifixion, Jesus prepared his disciples for the challenges they would experience when he left them (John 16:1-4, 31-33). He assured them that though he would leave them soon through death, he would return to them soon through the resurrection (John 16:19-22). By leaving them, he would make it possible for the Holy Spirit to join with them on earth to finish his teaching ministry through them (John 16:5-15). Today we enjoy the outcome of this ministry in the New Testament Scriptures.
The resurrection of Jesus would also bring joy to their hearts. This joy would resemble the intense happiness and enthusiasm that a mother feels after she gives birth to a child (John 16:20-21). Yet it would surpass this joy because it would never go away (John 16:22). This joy would encourage and sustain the disciples for years to come as they ministered to an antagonistic world in the place of Jesus, despite experiences of suffering.
To strengthen this experience of joy amid suffering, Jesus highlighted another result of the resurrection – the possibility of effective prayer. The resurrection of Jesus would provide a basis for his followers to enjoy a more significant level of interaction with God through prayer. They would be able to pray in a more informed and effective way than ever before.
The resurrection encourages requests rather than questions. (John 16:23-26)
In this teaching about prayer, we find the word, “ask” five times in our English Bible, but two different Greek words underlie these references. The first occurrence is a word (erotao) which refers to asking questions to receive information. The next four occurrences are a word (aiteo) which refers to asking requests to receive something. Knowing this difference between two kinds of asking helps in understanding what Jesus taught about prayer.
Jesus taught that after his resurrection the questioning phase of his ministry would end. Before his crucifixion, however, his disciples asked him incessant questions about his mission and identity. Despite his patient and informative replies, they had only reached a partial understanding. Thankfully, they believed that he was the Savior and Son of God (John 16:29-30). Even so, they wanted him to overthrow the Roman Empire and to restore peace, prosperity, and prominence to the nation of Israel. For Jesus to leave them and die on a cross would certainly dash these hopes. (John 16:31-32)
By teaching about prayer, Jesus revealed that they would understand the answers to their questions only after his resurrection from the dead. That is what the phrase “in that day” means (John 16:23). It refers to the entire period following his resurrection, extending from the first century until today. The writer of Hebrews refers to this by saying, “In these last days [God has] spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:2).
The reason Jesus could say that they would no longer ask questions of Jesus after the resurrection was that they would learn the answers to their questions after he rose from the grave and returned to heaven. After his resurrection, Jesus would spend forty more days on earth, providing his disciples with additional teaching (Acts 1:3). Afterward, he would send the Spirit to complete his teaching ministry in his place (John 16:12-15).
Today we enjoy the complete teaching ministry of Jesus through the 27 books of the New Testament. In this way, Jesus provided all the answers we need regarding his mission and identity. He confirmed and clarified these things by dying and rising again. Though we continue to study the Bible, inform our faith, and increase in the knowledge of God, we – like the first disciples – must go beyond erotao to aiteo. We must go beyond asking questions about Jesus to asking requests of God in Jesus’ name.
The resurrection enables you to pray in the name of Jesus. (John 16:26-28)
To pray in the name of Jesus does not mean to add the phrase “in Jesus’ name” to the end of all your prayers. It means far more than this.
Ask the Father directly
By taking the penalty for your sins upon himself, Jesus opened direct access to God the Father. He provides this access to those who love him and believe on him as God and Savior. With this open access, you may approach the presence of God in heaven at any time. Jesus emphasizes this direct access by saying that it will not be necessary for him to ask the Father to give you this permission (John 16:26). Those who believe on Jesus as God and Savior already have his approval. To pray “in the name of Jesus” means that you may approach the presence of God the Father directly, just as Jesus himself can do.
Asking on the merits of Jesus
To pray “in the name of Jesus” also means that you can make requests to God based upon the merits of Jesus Christ. Nothing you do can earn prayer favors from God. God does not operate on an achievement or points system. He is not like the imaginary Santa Claus who supposedly keeps a list of those who are “naughty and nice,” answering your requests accordingly.
You cannot approach God in prayer by saying, “I have been good today, and so please answer my prayers.” As one preacher has said, “Much modern prayer, even by serious Christian people, is useless and ineffective because the people involved approach God thinking that he is obliged to grant their requests because of something they have themselves done for him.” 1 Furthermore, you should not refrain from approaching God “because you have been bad today.” If you “have been bad today,” then acknowledge your sin to God in full disclosure and receive his forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9).
To pray “in the name of Jesus” means that you approach God resting on the merits of Christ alone as the basis for your requests. Hebrews 10:19-22 describes it this way: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Christ has covered your sins with his blood. By this he has removed the wall of separation between you and God, who cannot allow sin into his presence. He has also given you a special identity as one who now enjoys free access to God.
While it is disrespectful, offensive, and wrong to approach God with known sin and disobedience in your life, it is also disrespectful, offensive, and wrong to approach him thinking that you deserve to be there or that you have earned the right somehow. You cannot do enough good or obey enough commands of Jesus to earn the favor of God. The only ID and credentials which gain you access to the Father in prayer is the righteousness and goodness of Jesus Christ. To rely on anything or anyone else – including your own good Christian behavior – is entirely out of place. It is a deep and serious misunderstanding about the nature of prayer.
Asking what Jesus desires
Praying in the name of Jesus not only refers to having direct access to the Father (as Jesus did), and to approaching the Father on the merits of Christ alone, it refers to asking God for the things that Jesus desires. As one preacher has said, “Prayer is not a means by which we get God to do what we want. Rather, it is a means by which God does through us what he wants. 2
To pray “in Jesus’ name” does not mean that you may ask God for whatever you desire and for whatever comes to your mind, so long as you somehow “claim the authority of Jesus” or add “in Jesus’ name” to the end of your prayer. Instead, it means that you actually know what Jesus desires and you specifically ask God for those very things.
What does this mean in a practical, personal sense?
First, it means that you study the Bible to learn what Jesus says. What kind of person does he want you to be? Pray for that. What kind of things does he want you to do? Pray for that.
Second, it means that you know how to apply what the Bible says to the important decisions that you are making in life.
- Are you wanting to discover the right career path for your life? What kind of things would Jesus ask from God about this desire?
- Do you need a job? What kind of things would Jesus request from God about your job?
- Are you waiting to be married? What kind of things would Jesus request from God about your singleness and a future spouse?
- Do you need housing? What kind of things would Jesus request from God about your housing needs?
- Are you struggling in your marriage? What kind of things would Jesus ask from God for you and for your spouse?
- Are you experiencing physical illness or pain? How would Jesus pray to God if he were experiencing the same thing?
James 4:3 teaches that failure to understand this teaching about prayer is the cause for many unanswered and wasted prayers, saying, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Too often we come to God in prayer, but we do nothing more than throw a random assortment of selfish, shallow, and thoughtless requests at him, giving very little thought to what the Bible teaches us to ask, to say, and to desire. Our prayers sound nothing like the prayers that Jesus would pray. Therefore, our prayers receive no answers. As a result, we not only receive few answers from God in prayer, but we also experience low degrees of genuine joy.
When you approach God the Father directly, on the merits of Jesus Christ alone, and you ask for things (not questions) that reflect a clear understanding of his Word and his will, then God will answer your requests. He does this on the merits of Jesus and because it is already his desire and intention to do so. When this happens, Jesus teaches that your “joy will be full” (John 16:24). This means that you will experience the deep, intense, and lasting joy that comes from asking for the things that Jesus desires and receiving those things from God.
Jesus closed his teaching by assuring the disciples that they would experience intense and ongoing persecution in the world (John 16:33). However, by finding the answers to their questions in the Scripture that the Holy Spirit would give, they – like us – would be able to go from asking questions about God and his will to asking requests from God to do his will. This newfound access to God the Father in prayer – direct access, on the merits of Christ, to pray what Jesus would pray – not only grants you unspeakable joy amid suffering, but it also provides you with the peace of God and the confident, cheerful courage to seek his will and to do it, no matter how the world responds. Do your prayers reflect a growing understanding of the will of God in Scripture? Do they sound like the prayers that Jesus himself would pray?
Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.