Whatever You Ask

Jesus gives a wildcard promise in today’s Bible reading.

Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified  in the Son. (John 14:13 CSB)

Jesus says he will give His followers anything they want. Right?

Not so fast!

Notice the condition: in my name. And notice the purpose: that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If your prayer request is asked in Jesus’s Name, He will grant the request in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Jesus doesn’t grant the request in order for you to be glorified.He will never glorify you. Never.

But He will always glorify His Father. Always.

Application

How often do you pray for things that would glorify you instead of God? Oftentimes when I ask for something, God asks me if this is really “God-glorifying”. I’ll quickly reassess my request and acknowledge, “You’re right. Letting my team win this game isn’t one of those things that qualifies as ‘in My name’, but James does say that one of the reasons we don’t have is because we don’t ask, (James 4:2) so I’m asking anyway.”

It comes down to relationship. The longer I walk with Jesus, the more He reshapes my prayers into things that are more in line with His Name. Then He can give me  the “whatevers”.

This devotional was originally published November 1, 2019.