Jesus said: “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14: 13–14). This promise seems to give us a blank cheque. It sounds as if we can ask God for anything we want, tag on the words ‘in the name of Jesus’, and voila – the answer is guaranteed. Jesus will give us whatever we want. I suspect that most Christians know that that is not the correct understanding of this verse, but many of us still wonder, well, what is the correct understanding? I know it doesn’t mean I can have anything I want but what does it mean? After all, Jesus did say: “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”
Our Biggest Mistake
One of the biggest mistakes we make when reading the Bible is that we read it as a collection of individual verses, which can be plucked out and used as we need them. But that is not how God’s Word was written. In John 14, for example, Jesus is having a conversation with His disciples. Perhaps you have had the experience of joining in a conversation which was already under way, and so it took you a while to understand what was being said. In this dialogue Jesus was preparing His disciples for life without His physical presence. The crucifixion would leave them scared and confused, so Jesus provided them with comfort, assurance, and instructions about how they would continue His work after His Ascension.
Greater works than Jesus?
He has just told them that they would do the works He had been doing, in fact, he said, “you will do even greater works than these, because I am going to my father” (verse 12). By this He did not mean greater in sensation, He meant greater in magnitude. For example, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached, and 3000 people were saved. That is more converts than Jesus won in 3 years of ministry. These are the greater things Jesus had in mind. The next words Jesus said were: “I will do whatever you ask in my name”. What they would ask for, of course, is the ability and wisdom to do these greater works in the power of the Holy Spirit.
God is not a Magic Genie
Jesus is not promising to be a personal vending machine; rather, He is encouraging confidence as we continue His mission of taking the Good News to the ends of the earth. When Jesus says to pray “in my name,” He means that we can pray in His authority. Names in the Bible are important. A person’s name often reveals their character, it tells us who they really are. When our requests, made in the name of Jesus, to further God’s purposes and kingdom, God will act on our behalf, and the Father will be “glorified in the Son”.
I found this helpful illustration on the website: Got questions.org. In the days before supermarkets and credit cards, a shopkeeper would maintain a ledger, a book recording the purchases of each customer and any outstanding balance. The shopkeeper knew his customers well. Sometimes a customer would send someone else to the shop to make purchases on his behalf, possibly his child or a servant. The person sent in the customer’s place would be able to receive the goods “in the name of” the account owner. But, if they tried to purchase things not in line with what the customer usually needed or wanted, the purchase would be denied.
Coming to God in the name of Jesus is a bit like that. Jesus holds the account, and we are welcome to come to the Father in Jesus’ name to receive what we need, on our Masters’ behalf. The Father willingly grants our requests because of the good standing of Jesus. After all, we are continuing His work here on earth. But, if we ask for things that are contrary to the character, purpose, or will of Christ, things that do not extend His kingdom, then we cannot expect to receive those things. The shopkeeper (God) will close his ledger and say, ‘you had better go back to your master (Jesus) and make sure this is what He wants. Until then, you’re not getting it.’
Perhaps you are thinking: But what I am asking for is the salvation of my neighbour, or the healing of my child; surely these are within God’s will. They may very well be, but perhaps the timing is wrong. We do not see the big picture of all God’s plans. We don’t know all the ramifications of what we are asking. There is so much that we simply do not know, but God does. And so, we need to keep on asking, but humbly and patiently align our hearts with His will, in His perfect time. We do well to remind ourselves of our Lord’s own prayer in the garden: “Not my will but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42).
Motives
Sometimes the reason our prayers seem to remain unanswered is because our hearts are not right, our motives are selfish. James 4:3 says: “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Remember, the request must be in Jesus’ name, in harmony with His character, His will, and His kingdom-work here on earth.
Sin
There are times when our prayers remain unanswered because we are carrying sin in our hearts. I don’t mean that because you did something wrong yesterday, now God is refusing to listen to you today, but if you harbour sin, if you hold onto it, it will hinder your prayers. The psalmist wrote: “If I had cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18).
Relationships
The way we treat each other may also impact our prayers, for Peter writes: “Husbands, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers” (1 Peter 3:7).
God gets the Glory
So, in coming to a clearer understanding of what Jesus was telling His follower\s, we need to take into account everything the Bible says about prayer, and we need to read each verse in its own context. When Jesus said: “I will give you whatever you ask in my name,” He was not giving us a magic formula for getting whatever we want. He was giving us a guiding principle to align our desires with God’s, to submit our wills to His. When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we pray in agreement with the will and work of Jesus here on earth; we pray for that which will glorify God and further extend His kingdom. God will give us whatever is necessary to accomplish His objectives. Ultimately, God receives the glory for whatever is done, because He is the One doing it.