Ask the Father in My Name: A Meditation on John 16, for the 6th Sunday after Easter

And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see

you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man

taketh from you.  And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall

ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:

ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time

cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs,

but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. 

At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you,

 that I will pray the Father for you:  For the Father himself

loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed

that I came out from God.  I came forth from the Father,

and am come into the world:

again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

The immediate context of this week’s Gospel reading, is Christ addressing His disciples prior to His crucifixion.  Jesus’ disciples were to be witnesses not only of His teachings and life, but also of His betrayal, passion, death, and resurrection.  These disciples Jesus would eventually return to on Easter Sunday and send forth as His Apostles in the power of His Holy Spirit, to preach His Gospel of repentance and the forgiveness of sins to the whole world.  These disciples who would become His Apostles had a special role to play in establishing Jesus’ Church, becoming special and inspired witnesses to Jesus.  We know that their role was unique in the early Church, because in Acts, even the replacement of Judas Iscariot is accomplished by very particular standards… including only those who had been witnesses of Jesus’ life, ministry, and resurrection. 

Throughout the book of Acts, we see Jesus’ direct promise to the disciples fulfilled often.  When the Apostles pray to the Father in Jesus’ Name, often their requests are granted in quick and miraculous ways—healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, and so forth.  But not all the requests of the Apostles were immediately granted.  Remember that even St. Paul, an Apostle who was born out of time, so to speak, prayed that a particular affliction would be removed from him… and God told him, “No—My grace is sufficient for thee.”  Thus we see that among those to whom Jesus offers this promise (Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you) has limits.

To pray in Jesus’ Name is not simply to append His Name to the end of our prayers, like adding an impressive signature to a legal document.  In the ancient world, to speak in another’s name was to speak in their authority or on their behalf—as when a servant or vassal carried the authority of their lord or king.  No one would think that a servant could command his master to do things against his will, since such rebellion by a servant would be wicked and treasonous.  Ambassadors of the king or the local lord had only the authority given to them by their master, and could only speak authoritatively on their master’s behalf when they abided in the proclamation of their delegated authority.  Likewise, Jesus’ Apostles would be sent out in the delegated authority of Jesus, to speak Jesus’ Word of Law and Gospel to all mankind.  According to that Word, abiding in that Word, the Apostles exercised Jesus’ authority and the Father answered them accordingly.  If they stepped outside that Word and asked something not in accordance with the Word and will of their master, the Father had no obligation to honor or grant such a request.  The Apostles’ authority and power flowed through them from Christ and His Word; apart from Christ and His Word, they could do nothing.

While none of us today has the unique role of the first Apostles, not being Jesus’ eye-witnesses of His life, death, and resurrection, the same basic principles apply to us.  When we pray as Christians in Jesus’ Name, we pray in accordance with the delegated authority Jesus has given to us by His Word and Spirit.  When we ask anything of the Father in accordance with Jesus’ will and Word, we have the assurance that He hears us, and will grant us what we ask.  If, however, we pray for things outside or beyond His Word, we have no assurance that our prayer is in accordance with His will, and likewise whether or not the Lord will grant our plea.  For example, when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we can be sure that the Father will grant that prayer request, because we are praying back to Him by His own Word.  However, when I pray, “Lord, let this cup of suffering depart from me,” I do not know whether or not it is the Lord’s will to grant it.  Like St. Paul, the Lord may respond that His grace is sufficient for me in my suffering, and that it is not His will to remove it from me now.

So what does this mean for the prayer life of the Christian?  It means that we dwell in the assurance of every promise God has made to us in His Word, and that when we pray to the Father in accordance with His Word, we can be sure of His gracious answer.  When we pray for strengthening our faith, He gives it by His Word; when we pray for deliverance from sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil, He gives it by His Word; when we pray for forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, He gives it by His Word; when we pray to be delivered from temptation and the power of the evil one, He grants it by His Word.  All the promises of the Gospel which the Lord Jesus sent His Apostles out to proclaim, we know we have when we pray for them in Jesus’ Name.

But what of the things Scripture does not specifically promise?  While the Lord has promised to hear the prayers of His people for healing, deliverance from temporal suffering or tyrants, or even to move mountains out into the sea, He has not necessarily applied that promise to every individual situation.  In this fallen world, we fallen creatures still face death—should the Lord tarry in His return, there is some disease or injury which eventually will take our lives.  Even so, we pray for each other, and we yield our desires to the will of God, and regardless of His answer, we say in faith, “Amen—let it be.”  If God should provide healing or deliverance, we give Him glory and thanks; if God should withhold healing or deliverance, we give Him glory and thanks that our eternal life and salvation are sure in spite of every temporal persecution.  Whether we live or we die in this world (and chances are, everyone will do both,) we belong to our Savior, who has promised to us life everlasting.

As for prayers for things which go against Christ and His Word, well… we have no confidence in any such prayer at all.  To ask of God that He do things against His will, His righteousness, His love, His mercy—against the Holy Law and Gospel of His Scriptures, and revealed most fully in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ—this kind of prayer is a blasphemy against the Name and authority of Jesus.  When we find ourselves praying for such things, we ought to repent of our evil misuse of Jesus’ authority and Name (and our violation of His 2^nd Commandment, to keep His Name holy) and then in faith pray for forgiveness… which is a prayer He is always ready to hear and to grant.

As you examine your life and prayers in light of Christ and His Word, remember what great and wonderful things He gives to you by His Word and His gracious will.  All the unsurpassable and eternal gifts of His Cross are given to you by His Gospel, which transcend all the pain and suffering and death of this fallen world.  As you abide in Christ and His Word, you have all His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation which never end, and the promise of His abiding presence with you throughout your journey in this world.  Rest secure in these unshakable promises, even as you humbly pray for the temporal needs of yourself and your neighbors, giving thanks always to your living and reigning Lord who loves you beyond all measure.  Turning from the darkness of your own fallen will and desires, abide in the Word and will of Christ, where you may ask anything of the Father in Jesus’ Name, and He will give it to you, out of His unfathomable love and compassion for you.  Abide in Christ by faith according to His Word, and you may be sure that Christ abides with you in His saving grace and mercy forever, hearing your prayers, and keeping you in His loving embrace.  Amen.