“IF YE SHALL ASK ANY THING IN MY NAME, I WILL DO IT.”

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“IF YE SHALL ASK ANY THING IN MY NAME, I WILL DO IT.”
by Philip Owen

I just received a phone call from a man requesting money. His testimony was that he believed in God and had done what the Bible instructed. As he explained it, “The Bible says that if we ask anything in Jesus’ name, we will receive it. I asked in Jesus name, but I didn’t receive what I asked for.” I am certain that the verses to which he alluded are found in John’s Gospel: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (14:13, 14). I am also certain that his disappointing experience of not receiving what he had asked for has been repeated myriad times by people who have made a request in prayer and have done so saying that their request has been made “in Jesus’ name.” What are we to conclude from these many failures? Was Christ deceived? Is the Bible a pack of lies? Or have some misappropriated, misunderstood, and misapplied this promise?

Misappropriated. The first thing we must realize regarding this promise is that the Lord made the promise to His disciples, in other words real believers. One reason countless people who claim this promise do not receive what they request is that, though they are church members, have been baptized, and profess some sort of faith, they are not truly redeemed. The religious lost cannot claim this promise, which is for those who ask in His name. For first of all, to ask in His name is to petition based on our standing in Christ and our union with Him through redemption. A Christian is not one who merely claims the name but who has been united and identified with Christ by grace through faith. Though claiming to be a Christian, a lost person is promised nothing from God through prayer, can claim nothing, and will receive nothing.

Misunderstood. The second thing we must realize is that this verse does not stand alone but takes its place within the context of all of Scripture and its entire teaching on prayer. For example, the “any thing” to which the Lord referred does not include simply anything and everything that we desire. For in making this promise Christ did not contradict His own Word, which declares elsewhere that “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jam. 4:2). Clearly, appending the name of Jesus to a lustful, greedy, or selfish request will avail nothing. Other instructions concerning prayer apply as well.

Misapplied. Taken in context, we see that this promise comes at the end of a discussion concerning who Jesus is. He has been explaining to His baffled disciples that He is One with the Father: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (14:9); “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (v. 10); etc. Later in the same discussion, He explains, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (16:24). The thrust of the verse in context is that the “whatsoever” and the “any thing” that they had been accustomed to ask from God, they can now ask from the Lord Jesus, in believing acknowledgement that He is God. Anything they had asked of God, they could ask of Him. Furthermore, to think that asking in the name of Jesus means something other than asking according to His perfect will (that which upholds His name) and for the purpose of glorifying Him (that which magnifies His name) misapplies the text. Having prayers answered applies to those who submit to the Lord and desire that He be honored in the prayer answer that they receive. Anything else makes a mockery of prayer and of the Holy One who has graciously invited us to pray and promised to answer those prayers. Christ spoke the truth; the Word of God is infallible, and we may believe every Word and claim every promise given to us.

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“IF YE SHALL ASK ANY THING IN MY NAME, I WILL DO IT.” by Philip Owen

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“IF YE SHALL ASK ANY THING IN MY NAME, I WILL DO IT.”
by Philip Owen