John 14:13 – And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
We have had other verses this month that discussed the same topic as today’s verse, so we already know that praying in the name of Jesus is not a magic ticket to getting what we want. Let’s take a look at the context of today’s verse to see what we might learn that hasn’t already been covered in previous devotions.
Jesus is telling His disciples that He and the Father are one and that whoever believes in Jesus would do the works He had been doing. Amazingly, He tells them that they will do even greater things than Jesus because He was going to be with His Father (John 14:12). And then we have today’s verse.
Today’s verse reminds us that our prayers should be made in Jesus’s name for the purpose of glorifying the Father. It is not about us. It is all about Him. We ask for things in the name of Jesus, by and under His authority. He has given us His authority to do things for Him with the purpose of glorifying the Father.
Something I read made it all make complete sense to me. A policeman might say, “Stop in the name of the law” and get results. But if the policeman said, “Buy me a donut in the name of the law” it would only result in laughter and no donuts. The same is true for our requests. Asking in Jesus’s name won’t always result in a response if it is not aligned with His will and doesn’t glorify God.
Are your requests done in Jesus’s name, under His authority? And if they are, do they align with the Father’s will and glorify Him? Take some time today to reflect on your recent prayer requests taking these questions into consideration. Praying correctly will always result in favorable responses compared to selfish requests where we beg for what we want.
Be the first to comment