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The Exclusive Mediator of Glory (John 14:13) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to reformed thinking. Today we are diving into a
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portion of Scripture that is so often quoted it almost risks
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becoming background noise. And yet it's probably one of the
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most frequently misunderstood and maybe misapplied promises in
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the entire Bible. Tell you what, John chapter 14
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verse 13, Jesus says whatever you ask in my name, this I will
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do. It's a statement that just seems
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to offer everything, doesn't it? A promise of, you know,
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limitless access to God. It does, but that's the issue.
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When you lift it out of its setting and you treat it as this
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stand alone slogan, it almost always generates
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misunderstanding, disappointment and some pretty serious
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theological error. That's right, the common mistake
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is just immense. For so many, this verse works
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like a spiritual blank check. You just attach the words in
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Jesus name at the end of your wish list and that's supposed to
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be the trigger. A kind of verbal tag that acts
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more like a superstition than actual, you know, submission to
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Christ. Exactly.
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And it's been distorted, especially in popular teaching,
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into a guarantee that we can just demand our personal
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desires, you know, material comfort, perfect health,
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immediate wealth. Well, the default setting of the
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human heart is to center the universe around itself, around
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its own comfort. But Jesus himself, right here in
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the text, gives us the governing purpose that corrects that
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default. So that's our mission for this
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deep dive, really to recover the interpretive key that anchors
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the entire promise. And the key isn't buried.
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It's stated right there. For us, the promise is tied
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securely to Christ's name. That means his authority, his
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merit, his will. And it's aimed at one single
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purpose, God's renown. That the Father may be glorified
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in the Son. That's it.
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And when you reunite the promise with its purpose, it just
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changes the whole conversation, doesn't it?
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Completely. It's no longer just an open
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invitation, it becomes a detailed instruction manual for
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how this whole new spiritual economy works.
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OK, so let's unpack this. Treating John 14 point Luntin
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like a standalone sentence is really the root of almost every
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interpretive mistake here. You can't just RIP it out.
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You can't. If you tear that promise away
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from its setting, from the tight chain of thought in verses 12
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through 14, the text will start to say what our own hearts want
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it to say, not what Christ actually intended for his
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disciples. So we have to ground ourselves
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in the setting, the upper room. Yes, this is the farewell
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discourse, John 13 all the way to 17.
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And the disciples are, to put it mildly, troubled.
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They're confused. The whole world is about to
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collapse. Jesus has just told them he's
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leaving. And not just leaving, but
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leaving to be executed. The.
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Gravity of that moment is just dominus.
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It's hard to overstate the atmosphere Is 1 of genuine
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crises PEP panic really among these men who had staked
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everything on Jesus being physically right there with
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them? So when Jesus opens this section
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by saying let not your hearts be troubled, that's not some
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casual, you know, cheer up. Not at all.
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It's a covenantal assurance. It's meant to steady them as
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they face the absolute confusion of his departure.
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He's preparing them for a life where they'll be scattered,
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persecuted, and without their king to physically consult every
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day. And it's right in that high
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stakes setting that he introduces prayer.
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It's not a side topic or something to distract them.
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Precisely, prayer is unveiled as the appointed necessary way for
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the Ascended Christ to continue His mission through His people.
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It's the mechanism. It is the spiritual mechanism
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that empowers their obedience and their witness in a hostile
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world. Think about it.
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If Jesus had just left them with a command go do these things,
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they would have been paralyzed. Of course.
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Instead, He gives them the means of relying on His own ongoing
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power, and that means it's prayer in His name.
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And the thing that kicks off this whole new arrangement is
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right there in verse 12. It's the hinge for this entire
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unit because I am going to the Father.
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That movement, His ascension, is what triggers the promise that
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comes next. That because is.
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I mean, it's the linchpin of of history.
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Christ's death, resurrection, ascension, it all establishes
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this completely new phase. His going to the Father isn't
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retreat. It's a coronation.
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It's an enthronement. He is taking his seat at the
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right hand of God to execute his office as King.
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And because he's enthroned, he can now administer all the
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benefits of his work to his church globally.
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Which explains why the promise of asking in verse 13 comes
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right after the announcement of these continuing works in verse
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12. They're.
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Linked. And that link helps us correct a
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pretty big misreading of those works, especially that phrase.
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Greater works than these will he do.
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Yes. So many believers hear that, and
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they expect, you know, escalating miracles, bigger
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healings, more stunning spectacles than even Christ
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performed. And that kind of flat reading of
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the text just misses the point of this new phase entirely.
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If you read greater just in terms of spectacle, you're
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forcing Jesus into a competition with himself, Demanding ever
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bigger signs. So what's the true scope then?
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It's far grander. During his three years on earth,
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Christ's signs and healings and teaching were all localized.
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They were geographically confined to Israel.
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His ministry was, in a sense, preparatory.
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OK, So what makes the works that follow greater?
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The greater work is the worldwide gathering of the
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Church, the spiritual miracle of regeneration after Christ's
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ascension. The gospel just explodes beyond
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the confines of Israel. It goes to the nations.
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So the apostles, through the Holy Spirit, they preach the
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gospel, and thousands of people are, you know, instantaneously
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born again. Converted from spiritual death
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to spiritual life. OK, but for a listener who grew
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up thinking greater works really did mean, you know, bigger
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healing miracles, how do we reconcile that?
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Does your reading somehow limit Christ's?
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Power. It doesn't limit his power, it
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correctly defines his redemptive purpose.
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I mean ask yourself which is the greater spectacle?
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Healing one blind man in Jerusalem or regenerating the
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hearts of 10,000 souls across 5 continents through the preaching
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of the Word. When you put it like that.
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The second one is greater in scope, in effect, and in its
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redemptive reach. The miracle of spiritual new
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birth is the supreme sign of Christ's kingly reign right now.
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So the promise in John 14.13 is tied directly to sustaining and
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extending that gospel mission. The logic is clear when verse 13
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follows verse 12. Prayer in My name is the
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mechanism given to the Church for the continuation and
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expansion of Christ's saving work.
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That moves prayer from being just about my personal needs to
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being a missionary necessity. That's it.
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And Jesus, he doesn't leave any room for doubt here.
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He seals it in verse 14 with that repetition.
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If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
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That repetition feels so crucial.
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It's certainty paired with caution.
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The repetition says Christ's action is absolutely certain.
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He guarantees it, but at the same time it highlights the non
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negotiable qualifier. The request has to be in my
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name. And the name isn't a magic
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password. No, it's not a spiritual
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Talisman. It signifies covenantal
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mediation and delegated authority.
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And that requirement is the guardrail that keeps this whole
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promise from being used to, you know, sanctify our own self will
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or to demand personal indulgence.
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So if the promise is bounded by its context, continuing Christ's
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mission, we're protected. Protected from treating prayer
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as just unconditional eponymy, and also protected from reducing
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it to just passive resignation. It's active, it's authorized,
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and it is guaranteed. This really changes the whole
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discussion. The promise unfolds in these 4
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movements, guiding us from this huge invitation to a really
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specific supreme purpose. So let's focus on the
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authorization itself, starting with that sweeping invitation.
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Whatever you ask. The breadth of that initial
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phrase is it's meant to capture your imagination as a believer.
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The Greek phrase hotien basically means anything
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whatsoever or no matter what. He's inviting us to be bold.
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He is consciously beckoning trust.
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He's deliberately listening the timid tongue.
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If we're coming to the King of Glory, we shouldn't insult him
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with these petty, safe prayers that we could probably answer
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ourselves. The scope of what we can ask for
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should correspond to the limitless supply of the Godhead.
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But then we have to deal with the boundary that comes right
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after it. Yeah, because a simple reading
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of whatever will inevitably lead people to imagine things that
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contradict Scripture. Well, this is where systematic
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theology and what we call the analogy of faith comes in.
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Scripture can't contradict itself.
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And James later on in James 4.3 he explicitly condemns asking
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for things just to spend it on your passions.
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So requests driven by lust or pride or revenge.
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I'm not suddenly sanctified just because you attacked some
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religious language. To them, the whatever has to be
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morally consistent with Christ's character and spiritually
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consistent with his redemptive purpose.
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So. How do we define that boundary
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for someone struggling to figure out what falls inside that
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Kingdom? Whatever.
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Since the content text links this asking to the greater works
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of verse 12, the scope is what purifies the subject.
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The Whatever is fundamentally about sustaining the ongoing
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obedience, holiness and witness of the disciples.
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You can still ask for a job. Oh, absolutely.
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You can ask for a job, for healing, for relief from
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affliction, but the request has to be submitted under the
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umbrella of serving Christ's mission.
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It becomes a Kingdom whatever request.
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Meaning if the thing I'm asking for, if it were granted, would
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pull me away from obedience or diminish my witness.
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Then it falls outside the boundary of his name.
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This really requires us to repent of how small our faith
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can be, doesn't it? Yeah.
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We often limit ourselves to these small, manageable requests
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because deep down we doubt that whatever.
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But the promise exists precisely because the mediator's merit is
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infinite, which means the scope of what we can ask for is
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limitless as long as the request aligns with Christ's ends.
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OK, so that brings us to the second movement, the exclusive
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authorization in my name. This phrase is the non
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negotiable filter. It absolutely resists that
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common superstitious error that treats the phrase like a
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mechanical incantation. Not a magic phrase that
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automatically forces God's hand. Exactly.
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Christ is defining a specific kind of relationship, not
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offering some abstract ritual. So if the name isn't just a
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label, what does the biblical meaning of name really signify
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in this context? In Hebrew, thought, the name is
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the person as they are revealed, their reputation, their
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character, their authority, their rightful claim.
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So praying in Jesus name establishes the idea of
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exclusive mediation. It does.
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Jesus is stating that there is no other pathway, no other
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currency, and no other mediator recognized in the court of
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heaven other than himself. It affirms solace, Christus,
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Christ alone. Which means when we pray in His
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name, we're approaching the Father entirely on the basis of
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Christ's merit, His righteousness, His atoning work,
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not our own goodness. That is the very heartbeat of
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Reformed prayer. Prayer is not a wage we earn by
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our devotion or a spiritual activity.
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It's a privilege and it was purchased by the Sun.
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We are sinners. We don't approach God based on
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how worthy we feel or how eloquent our prayer is.
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That's right. When we approach in the name of
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Jesus, the Father sees the righteousness of his Son, who is
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our representative. This just removes any confidence
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we might have in ourselves and puts all the assurance on the
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worthiness of the name we're using.
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So if you feel unworthy to pray. You have to remember that the
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name you use is infinitely worthy.
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I find the illustration of delegated authority really
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helpful here. It clarifies that we aren't
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asking just as ourselves, but as representatives of the King.
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Let's use that power of attorney illustration.
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Imagine you're a man with no money, no standing, and you need
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to make a huge financial transaction.
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The wealthiest man in the city who holds all this power grants
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you legal power of attorney to do business in his name.
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When you go to the bank, the teller doesn't look at your
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ragged clothes or your empty bench account.
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They only look at the signature and the authority that it
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carries. The authority rests entirely in
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the name on the document, not in the person asking.
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Exactly. When we pray in Christ's name,
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we are carrying His agenda, doing business that's been
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authorized by the King. But that also demands we
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scrutinize our requests. It does.
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If the request contradicts Christ's known character, His
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Holiness, His mission, his truthfulness, then it's not a
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prayer in his name. It's an attempt to forge his
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signature on a check he never intended to write.
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True prayer in His name requires submission to the aims of the
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One whose authority we borrow. We ask for what He wills to
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grant. That's the heart of it.
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OK. So if the authorization is based
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entirely on the son's merit, the guarantee that follows is well,
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it's maybe the most audacious part of the promise.
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He doesn't just offer a suggestion, he issues a
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sovereign decree. This I will do.
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The phrasing is not just strong, it's a staggering Christological
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claim, an emphatic declaration of his own sovereign agency.
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Jesus uses the future active indicative verb poyush.
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I will execute or I will perform.
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And he couples it with the emphatic personal pronoun ego.
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I myself. I myself will do it.
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Why is that emphatic pronoun ego so critical for understanding
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this promise? It connects our prayer directly
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to his active, ongoing reign from heaven.
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He's claiming a divine prerogative, the authority to
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intervene in space and time to manage circumstances, overcome
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obstacles and orchestrate Providence in response to the
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request. This isn't the voice of just a
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good teacher or a prophet. No, this is the voice of God
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himself. It's an irrefutable testimony to
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His deity. Only an omniscient, omnipotent
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and omnipresent being can hear millions of prayers
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simultaneously all over the globe and then coordinate the
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complexities of Providence to answer them all justly and
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wisely. If Jesus were anything less than
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the eternal Son, this promise would be complete madness.
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But because he is the ascended Lord, the enthroned King, the
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promise is absolute truth. He actively administers the
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affairs of his Church from his executive seat in heaven.
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So this part of the promise is really the perfect antidote to
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practical deism. The pervasive error that says,
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sure, God created the world, but now he's distant and active,
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uninvolved. Jesus says no, I am active, I am
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governing, and I will personally intervene.
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So when we pray, it's not just a psychological exercise to change
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ourselves. We are engaging a real mechanism
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of objective intervention where things actually change because
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the King acts. The doing is as real as the
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asking. This rescues prayer from
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fatalism, confirming that our asking genuinely matters.
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But it also guards against manipulation, reminding us that
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Christ acts freely and wisely, not because we've coerced him,
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but because he has sovereignly decreed that this is the means
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he will use. The whole effectiveness of
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prayer resides in the one who promises to act.
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It does. OK, so we've had the broad
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invitation, the exclusive authorization, the divine
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guarantee, and now we get to the absolute non negotiable steering
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wheel of the whole promise. This Pringle.
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That the Father may be glorified in the Son.
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That final clause uses the particle that which signifies
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the governing purpose. This is the critical correction
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for our self centeredness. The answer to the prayer is not
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an end in itself, it's purely a means to this much greater
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purpose. Jesus makes sure we know the
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ultimate reason for prayer is doxological.
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It exists to display the honor of God.
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And specifically, the Father is glorified in the Son.
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How does that Trinitarian connection work in answered
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prayer? It reveals the unity of the
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divine will. When the Son answers a prayer
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prayed in his name. It's a display of his power, his
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mediation, his saving reign. And that action directly results
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in the Father's greatness being shown to the world.
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His mercy, His wisdom, His faithfulness, it's all
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demonstrated. The Father is glorified
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precisely through the sun. Their will is 1 and their
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purpose is unified, the redemption of a people and the
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display of their own glorious perfection.
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That purpose clies then becomes an immediate diagnostic tool for
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our hearts and our requests. It has to be if the deepest
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motive of my prayer terminates on my own self exaltation or my
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personal indulgence, it fails the hyena test no matter how
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religious it sounds. So if the motive is a career
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success, mainly so I can get prestige or wealth so I can
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retire early. It runs headlong into a
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contradiction with the stated purpose.
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The Son has pledged not to finance our idols.
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He cannot answer a prayer that competes with the Father's
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honor. But on the other hand, prayers
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that seek, you know, holiness, spiritual endurance for the
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Saints, gospel fruit, wisdom under pressure.
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Those harmonized perfectly with this goal because those answers
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undeniably magnify Christ's sufficiency and the Father's
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goodness in the world. So the outcome has to be that
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when a prayer is answered according to John 14.13, the
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result is worship of the giver, not just enjoyment of the gift.
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The gift itself just points back to the glory.
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This is the purification of our whole understanding of prayer.
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It teaches us to ask boldly using Christ shaped mediation,
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expecting Christ answered action and aiming only at God's
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ultimate renown. So if we pull the lens back a
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bit and connect this passage to the broader redemptive story, we
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can see why Jesus introduces this promise right at this
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specific moment. It signals a major turning point
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in how God interacts with his people.
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The move from the temple to the sun.
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Precisely under the Old Covenant, access to God was
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structured through the temple, the priesthood, the ceremonial
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shadows. Israel prayed toward the house
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where God caused his name to dwell.
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But the whole Gospel of John has been re centering all authority
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and all access in the person of Jesus.
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He's the true Lamb, the true meeting place, the true High
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priest, and this promise to pray in my name is the new and living
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way. It's the new covenant form of
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access. It doesn't rely on geography or
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ritual or our merit, but entirely upon Christ's finished
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work and his person. It's like a transition from a
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huge old fashioned switch transport system to a direct
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personal fiber optic line straight to the throne.
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And that line is secured by Christ's own merit.
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That's a great way to put it. And the promise comes here
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because the decisive sacrifice is about to be offered, and the
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true high priest is about to enter glory.
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And that transition is fundamentally mission shaped.
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It is. Jesus knows he's about to
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Commission this small group of disciples to carry out these
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greater works. This promise supplies the grace,
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the wisdom, the provision they need to carry the gospel beyond
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Israel, past cultural boundaries, to the ends of the
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earth. The Lord trains his people to
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depend on Him for the resources to carry out the mission He's
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given them. Yes.
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The moment the Gospel overflow begins, the promise of
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authorized prayer is granted. This moves us into territory
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that often trips people up, the doctrine of means and
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sovereignty. Some people hear about God's
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absolute sovereignty, and they think, well, if God has decreed
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everything, why should I even bother asking?
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He'll do what he's going to do anyway.
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That is a profound mistake. It's a subtle form of spiritual
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laziness, or maybe intellectual pride.
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Christ's sovereignty isn't a reason to stop praying.
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It is the only coherent foundation for prayers.
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Meaning. He ordains the ends.
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And he also ordains the memes by which those ends are
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accomplished, and the prayers of his people are one of the
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primary means he has ordained. So if Christ truly says I will
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do it, then prayer has to be a real instrument, a necessary
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mechanism. It's not just a devotional
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ritual that changes on the inside, It's one of God's
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established methods for executing his decreed will in
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the world outside of us. And this is how we resist that
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practical deism we talked about. Yes, prayer is the instrument by
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which the enthroned Christ actively distributes help and
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grace and gospel fruit to his people.
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When we ask, we're not trying to overcome God's resistance.
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We're engaging in the very mechanism he set up for
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advancing his wise, gracious government of all things.
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So the moment a believer concludes that asking doesn't
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matter because God is sovereign. They've fundamentally denied
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Christ's stated method of reigning.
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Systematically, then, this promise gives us an incredibly
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clear Christological synthesis. It anchors our assurance by
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teaching that access is mediated only through Christ's name and
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merit. It's a direct theological
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refutation of any idea that our sincerity or spiritual effort or
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self abasement is the ground of our confidence.
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If you're a weak believer, you can pray boldly, because the
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strength of the petition rests entirely in the mediator who
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carries it, not in you. And the phrase I will do it
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confirms his act of exaltation. He is presently ruling subduing
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enemies, ordering Providence, and supplying grace from heaven.
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His physical absence has been converted into the power of His
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enthronement. And the Trinitarian synthesis
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comes full circle. In the goal, the Sun acts so the
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Father may be glorified in the Sun.
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This elevates prayer far above just a generic religious impulse
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aimed at some undefined deity. It is communion with the living
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triune God. The whole exercise is contained
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within the life of God Himself, making the Father's honor and
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the Son's agency a unified divine objective.
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When we pray in alignment with the Son's will, we pray in
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alignment with a divine purpose. And that clarifies the
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parameters of acceptable prayer. It trains us to measure prayer
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results not by whether we got what we wanted, but by whether
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the answer, whatever form it takes, served God's renown
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through Christ. Any request that inflates the
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self or indulges sin. It contradicts the stated goal.
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We should seek answers that make the father look magnificent
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because the son is clearly seen to be capable and sufficient.
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So John 14.13 acts as this purpose of theological Plumb
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line. It corrects the errors that pull
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us off course on both sides. That's right.
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Let's look. Closely at those two big
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theological ditches that this verse corrects.
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The first ditch is what you could call the prosperity
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distortion or presumption. This reading fixates obsessively
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on the word whatever, and it treats in my name like a simple
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incantation to activate cosmic resources.
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And the deep air there is that it substitutes human comfort for
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divine renown as the central goal.
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It tries to enlist Christ's power to serve our own earthly
22:10
security and ease. It measures God's love by the
22:13
material things he provides. And it turns Christ into a means
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to an end. A spiritual ATM card.
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It trains believers to approach the throne not as humble
22:22
subjects but as demanding consumers.
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And it intentionally ignores the context.
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I mean that Jesus of John 14 is telling his disciples they will
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face hatred, affliction, persecution, right?
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So if they ask for whatever, the guarantee is that they'll get
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what they need to endure and accomplish the mission, not what
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they need for a life of uninterrupted luxury.
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So if the Father's glory is the goal, then these prayers driven
22:46
by covetousness aren't bold faith.
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They're just bold unbelief dressed up in religious
22:51
vocabulary. Christ will not sign off on
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requests that undermine the Father's honor.
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And the second ditch is the fatalistic distortion which
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leads directly to prayerlessness.
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This one often sounds spiritual, you know, couched in language of
23:03
distorted sovereignty. God will do what he will do
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anyway, so my asking is inconsequential.
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It's highly destructive error isn't.
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It because it just removes the relational aspect of prayer.
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It effectively treats Christ's clear promise.
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I will do it as meaningless, which leads to functional
23:20
self-reliance. It forgets that Christ not only
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ordains the results, but He also ordains the necessity of His
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people's asking. So if you're convinced you're
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asking makes no difference, you're living as if Christ's
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kingly rule is inactive and his promise doesn't matter.
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Refusing to ask is an act of practical unbelief.
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It's a denial of the relational life that Jesus is actively
23:42
opening to his disciples. So John 14.13 is the antidote to
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both extremes. It tells the presumptuous heart,
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You may not use my name to enthrone your personal agenda.
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And it tells the fatalistic heart, You must not treat my
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sovereignty as permission for silence.
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It calls us to the only righteous posture coming through
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Christ's merit, asking with holy boldness and aiming consistently
24:04
at the Father's renowned. That's the balance.
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OK, let's get practical then. For listeners who are hearing
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this and thinking I need to overhaul how I pray.
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Where do we begin? We begin by making sure our
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posture aligns with the promise. Before you even state the
24:18
petition, the approach has to be clear.
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Something like. Father, I come to you not
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because of my own sincerity or virtue, but solely because your
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Son has opened the way through his perfect merit.
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And then the aim has to be stated.
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Father, please answer in the way that most thoroughly magnifies
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your renown through the active power of your Son.
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That conscious realignment is essential.
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It prevents boldness from turning into just brazen
24:43
demanding. So we can use those 3 practical
24:46
tests for our request taken right from the verse to filter
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our desires. The first Test is authorization,
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right? Can I ask this truly in Jesus
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name? Meaning can I ask this under his
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Lordship? For instance, if you're asking
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for a business rival to fail out of bitterness, or for wealth to
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indulge a selfish habit that requires Christ to endorse greed
25:07
or vanity. You're forging his signature.
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You are. A truly authorized request is
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one that Christ Himself would be willing to sign because it
25:15
reflects His Holiness and advances His will.
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The second test is about the doxological purpose.
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Would this, if it were granted, make much of the Father and the
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Son? We need to sincerely assess the
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outcome if this request is granted.
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Will it result in greater gratitude for Christ, greater
25:31
obedience, greater witness to the world?
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Greater love for the Saints. And if the honest answer is
25:36
well, it would mainly just lead to my own comfort and a
25:38
reduction in my reliance on God. Then that request needs
25:42
repentance and reshaping before it's offered again.
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We're seeking outcomes that lead back to God's renown.
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And the third test connects back to the original context of the
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greater works. Does this harmonize with
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Christ's ongoing work through his people?
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This test pushes us toward mission.
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We should prioritize asking for things that plainly glorify the
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Father and the Son. The spiritual fruit of
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regeneration. Boldness and proclamation.
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Endurance during persecution. Wisdom for church leaders.
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The growth of holiness in our own lives.
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If we're asking for those things.
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We are asking for what Christ has already guaranteed is His
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mission. This reframes and purifies even
26:21
the most ordinary requests. Let's take a common one asking
26:24
for a job or a career change. The self-centered request often
26:28
sounds like this. Lord, give me this promotion so
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my life is easier, I don't have to worry and I can have the
26:33
things I want. The motive just terminates on
26:35
self security. But the John 14.38 shaped prayer
26:39
looks completely different. It sounds like this, Father
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provide work and financial provision, not for my ease, but
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so I may serve faithfully. Avoid the temptation of illicit
26:49
gain. Use my resources to support the
26:51
gospel mission and adorn the gospel in my workplace through
26:54
my integrity and witness. Glorify yourself in the sun
26:57
through this provision. That is a huge shift in the
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ultimate objective. Let's apply to suffering, say a
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request for healing. The untethered request is simply
27:06
heal me Lord, so I can escape this discomfort and get back to
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my normal life. But the 14.13 shaped prayer
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submits to Christ's wisdom. Father, heal me if it would
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magnify Christ and allow me to serve Him with greater freedom
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and zeal. But if you appoint weakness,
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then magnify Christ by granting me patience, joy, and a
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testimony that demonstrates Christ's sufficiency despite my
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circumstances. Let your renown be seen in my
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affliction. That approach fastens your
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personal need directly to Christ's purpose.
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It does. It changes how you view both the
27:37
request and the potential answer.
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This systematic correction also completely reinterpret how we
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respond to what we call unanswered prayer, a no or a not
27:46
yet. When we pray within these
27:47
guardrails, we recognize that the Sun answers as the wise,
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enthroned king who sees the beginning from the end.
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The goal of the promise isn't that we dictate the form of
27:56
God's kindness, but that we receive the greatest good, which
27:59
is God's renown. So no one can actually glorify
28:01
the Father and the Son. Powerfully, for instance, by
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protecting the believer from a request that would have led to
28:07
pride, or by cultivating a spiritual endurance that
28:11
demonstrates Christ's sufficiency under pressure.
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The true success of prayer is that the answer, regardless of
28:17
its content, serves God's glory. So this promise fundamentally
28:21
calls for repentance in two directions.
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Repentance from using God. Treating prayer as leverage for
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our own comfort while neglecting holiness, and repentance from
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neglecting God. A prayerless life that functions
28:33
as though Christ were distant and inactive.
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It calls us toward a steady, Christ centered dependence.
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When the church learns to pray in Christ's name for the
28:42
Father's renown, she's not shrinking her prayers.
28:44
She is finally praying in accordance with the infallible
28:47
will of heaven. So what does this all mean?
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We started with a piece of scripture that's been flattened
28:51
into a slogan, and we've seen that Jesus give it a really
28:54
precise, vigorous shape. It's not smaller than we hoped.
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It's far greater. It demands bold asking based
29:00
entirely on Christ shaped mediation, resulting in
29:03
guaranteed Christ answered action and aiming at God's
29:06
renown as a singular, uncompromising goal.
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And that purification of the promise is, I think, the
29:12
sweetest realization for a believer.
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We realize the promise is greater because it draws us into
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the very purposes of God, A cause so much bigger than our
29:21
personal comfort. It gives real comfort to the
29:24
troubled believer. Christ reigns, He listens to
29:26
authorized requests and He acts personally and it provides
29:30
necessary correction to the self-centered believer.
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Prayer is not a sanctified way of manipulating our way to
29:36
earthly ease. So it calls us to measure the
29:39
success of prayer not by whether we got the specific thing we
29:43
asked for, but by whether the response, whatever form it
29:46
takes, serve God's renown through Christ.
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The ultimate perspective is this a no or a not yet answer when
29:53
you receive it with submission. Glorifies the Father by
29:56
cultivating endurance and humility, making Christ look
29:59
perfectly sufficient. The sweetest answers, then, are
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those that make the father look great because the son is clearly
30:04
seen to be the capable, active provider.
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Our call is to pray boldly, confident in the name we're
30:10
using, but never brazenly submitting our desires to the
30:13
objective of God's renown. And remember who you're speaking
30:16
to, you are speaking directly to the enthroned king, the one who
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holds the stars in place, and he has pledged his own reputation
30:24
on this. I will do it.