Where’s the Missing Link So Jesus’ll Answer?

Since the red-letter words of Jesus found in the Bible declare that I should pray in Jesus’ name, why aren’t all prayers answered as prayed? The formula seems easy enough to me. I don’t get it. Where’s the missing link so Jesus’ll answer?

Childhood Prayer

My Sunday School teacher showed me those highlighted words in her bible as she read to us. I did exactly what she’d said. I knew I hadn’t misunderstood but—still no new two-wheel bike by the backyard tree.

Jesus said, “Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!“? (Jn 14:14 NLT)

Even the following year as a third grader, reading the verse for myself from my brand-new Bible, I didn’t see any hidden meaning. Seemed crystal clear to me. So, why didn’t the Lord answer every time? I always end my prayer “in Jesus’ name. Amen,” so that wasn’t it.

Adolescent Search

Still befuddled about John 14:14’s apparent inconsistency, I began searching for the missing link, certain I’d skipped over a condition somewhere.

Backing up only one verse I found it!

“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (Jn 14:13-14 NLT)

Where’s the missing link so Jesus’ll answer? The little phrase, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father is that link. I can, and should, ask for anything in Jesus’ name, but an understanding of what it means to ask in Jesus’ name helps clarify what it is that the Lord has promised.

Clarifying phrase Explained

When I pray in the name of Jesus, the expectation is that:

• Jesus, Himself, would have put forth such a petition to the father, and
• what has been requested will bring glory and honor to the father.

The Lord spoke these words of instruction during His final meal with His disciples. Jesus emphasized His unity with the Father included His obedience to the commands of the Father. Much of the discourse surrounding answered prayer centered on the need for the disciples to obey the commands of Jesus, emphasizing the Lord had only spoken those words given to Him by the Father.

Jesus said He would do whatever the disciples asked of Him. Not so that they could have every material possession their little hearts might desire, but so that the Father would be glorified through the granting of the petition by the Son.

Hence, if I’m to use John 14:14 as a part of my thinking towards prayer, I might also check my request against this standard. Will my petition bring glory to the father if Jesus grants it?

God understands

The more desperate the need, the stronger the temptation to pull one verse out of the paragraph and hold it up to God, defiantly insisting Jesus respond. The good news is that God understands. He’s aware I’m trying to learn to know His thoughts and His ways.

In all situations, God looks at the heart above the grumbling. There’s no magic in simply using the words in Jesus’ name at the end of every prayer. Regardless of the age of the petitioner, God is drawn to his heart.

Toddler’s prayer

Decades ago now, my dear friend sat on her sofa, rubbing her temples. Seventeen-month-old Chip stood before his mommy, head tilted and his tiny brow furrowed.

His mother answered the question the toddler’s face asked. “It’s okay, Honey. Mommy just has a bad headache.”

Scrambling up to stand on the sofa next to Carroll, Chip put both of his little boy hands atop his mommy’s head. Carroll listened as her son prayed, “Jesus. Jesus. Jesus,”

Then, the diaper-clad youngster patted his mother’s back and smiled wide. “Better?”

Not only was Chips’ mommy better, her headache had completely left her at the moment the tiny lad prayed.

Conclusion

Be encouraged! God’s sees our hearts as we pray. I’m learning to understand the Scriptures and how each command and promise of Jesus relates to my life. I find it’s a life-long journey but well worth the effort.

Where’s the missing link so Jesus’ll answer? If you’re thinking of Jesus’ promise to give us everything we ask in His name, recorded in John 14:14, the link is in the verse right before that one. When I let Google find a specific verse I’m searching for, I need to remember to read what’s around it to put it into context.

As I study how to find answers to my prayers, whether it’s related to concluding with the words, in Jesus’ name, or in learning to abide in Him as John 15:7 suggests, the same two themes jump out at me:

• Know the Lord Jesus, so I’ll know if my prayer is one that He would bring before the Father, and
• Obey everything that I know God has commanded me in the Bible, believing that the words of Jesus are the words of the Father.

In so doing, I will develop a heart that will present prayers in line with God’s will and His ways, i.e. prayers that are always answered just as prayed.

Do you have any tips from your study on prayer to pass along? Feel free to share.