John 16:23-24 – Understanding Prayer: Aligning Our Will with…

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John 16:23-24

(23) 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. (24) Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 7:6-8

(6) Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. (7) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Matthew 18:19

(19) Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 21:22

(22) And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Luke 11:9-10

(9) And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (10) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

John 14:13-14

(13) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

John 15:7

(7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

John 15:16

(16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

1 John 3:22

(22) And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

1 John 5:14

(14) And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
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Is it true that God has given us a blank check to ask anything of Him just as one might ask a genie in a fairy tale? Some may misunderstand this to be the case, but I John 5:14 qualifies what He will grant: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Real prayer is communion with God, and what is necessary for communion are common thoughts between His mind and ours.

What we need is for Him to fill our minds and hearts with His thoughts. Then His desires will become our desires flowing back to Him in the form of prayer. James 4:3confirms this: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” If we ask amiss, we are certainly not asking according to His will, and we will not receive.

But does not Jesus say in John 16:23, “[W]hatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you”? He most assuredly does, but we still do not have a carte blanche. To ask God for anything in the name of Jesus Christ, it must be in keeping with what He is. To ask in Christ’s name is to ask as though Christ Himself were asking. Therefore, we can only ask for what Christ Himself would ask. It is therefore necessary to set aside our own will and accept God’s. Jesus says in John 8:29: “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” If we do as Jesus did, we are sure to receive answers as He did. He adds in John 11:41-42:“Father, I thank you that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me.”

We must come away with the realization that prayer is not dictating to God, but a humble and heartfelt expression of our attitude of dependency and need. Because of this, the one who truly prays is submissive to God’s will, content with Him supplying his need according to the dictates of His sovereign pleasure. The result of this, combined with the infusion of God’s attitudes and thoughts as we draw near to Him, will work to create us in His image.

— John W. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
The Sovereignty of God: Part Nine