Skip to main content

Why Must We Ask of Jesus in Prayer? Part I, by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous


Why Must We Ask of Jesus in Prayer? Part I
By Pastor Charlie
In John 15:7-8, Jesus promised, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (emphasis mine). Last week we saw that this promise assumes something very basic but extremely important, namely, that we must spend time with Christ. For the next few weeks we will meditate on another basic but important assumption, namely, that we must ask of Christ in prayer or our prayers cannot be answered.
In Matthew 6:8 Jesus said, “…your Father knows what you need before you ask him,” which begs the question, Why then must we ask of Jesus in prayer? If the Father already knows what we want and if he is disposed to give us what we want when we ask according to his will, why then doesn’t he just give us what we want? I see at least eight reasons, three of which we’ll consider today.
First, we must ask of Jesus in prayer because he commanded us to do so. As those who have become his children by grace through faith, we begin with obedience and not questioning. As we do what he says and learn to walk in his ways, he increases our understanding and joy in him. The flesh must understand in order to obey; the spirit obeys in order to understand.
Second, we must ask of Jesus in prayer because we are in a relationship with him and communication is central to the health and growth of any relationship. Of course, he knows us much better than we know ourselves but the sound of his children’s voices is surely among the greatest delights of his heart. Think about the great lengths to which Jesus went to save us, bring us to himself, and make us children of the Father. Think then of how precious it is to him to see us actually relating with our Father through his blood and by the power of the Holy Spirit. So we ask of Jesus to delight the heart of Jesus because we’re in a blood-bought relationship with Jesus.
Third, we must ask of Jesus in prayer because it teaches us to live in childlike dependence upon him. It teaches us that he is the vine and we are but branches. It teaches us that he is the bread and fountain of life, and that we are but hungry and thirsty souls who need a source from which to eat and drink. And it also teaches us that he is eager to give the food and drink of himself to all who believe and ask in his name. So we ask of Jesus because it helps us to understand and feel our proper relationship to Jesus.

Prayer Focus: Pray that Jesus will persuade us that we must ask of him in prayer, and that he will teach us to actually ask of him in prayer day by day. Pray that he will teach us how to form and articulate our thoughts and affections in such a way that he will be glorified, that he will be pleased to answer our prayers, that others will be blessed, and that our joy in him will be increased.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflective Glory: How the Moon Displays the Mercy of God

By
Our sun is a fitting metaphor for the glory of God. In the context of our solar system, it is massive, bright, beautiful, powerful, self-sufficient, heat-producing, life-giving, and dangerous. It is, by far, the dominant feature of our solar system and without it the system would fling apart and all living things therein would die.  On the other hand, our moon is a fitting metaphor for human beings, especially for those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, compared to the sun, the moon is tiny and dim. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, its mass is 27 million times greater than the mass of the moon, and from our perspective its light shines 450,000 times brighter than that of the moon. The sun is so much greater than the moon that it’s difficult to quantify and express the difference. Likewise, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is so much great than each and all of us that it’s impossible to quantify or express the difference. Indeed, the Lord is very great and greatly...
Post a Comment
Read more

Update on Sarah Fergus

By
Here is an update that we just sent to our church regarding Sarah Fergus who is heading off soon to serve the Lord in Madagascar. If you're interested in helping Sarah, please write me a note and I'll be glad to pass it on to her. One way or the other, please join us in prayer! Dear Glory of Christ Fellowship, Thank you for all your prayers in the last few weeks. I have been very encouraged by many of you on Sunday mornings and after visiting several community groups. This church really is a blessing to me as I am being constantly reminded that I am not alone in this. One huge praise is that in the last week I was pledged about half of what I still needed for monthly support! Reminder of dates: Dec 13th is when I need financial clearance. Jan 8th is my planned departure date. Finance Update: Total amount still needed per month: $279 Breakdown: 6 people at $50 a month 12 people at $25 a month Please continue to keep this in prayer for the next few weeks. I also have a lot to...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Children Say "I'm Bored" By Julie Lowe

By
This Article is written by Julie Lowe and was originally posted on the CCEF blog.  I highlighted the areas of particular interest. I had already prepared a blogpost on dealing with boredom from a Christian worldview and then came across this. There is much overlap between the two, perhaps this one is more concise while my work attempts to explain the connection between the ability to think and the ability to be happy. You can visit the original blogpost in the link provided below.  https://www.ccef.org/resources/blog/children-say-im-bored   We have a common crisis in our home; it is the calamity of boredom. Our children might even consider it a catastrophe. “I’m bored” is repeated so often it would not be an overstatement to say that these words echo continuously throughout our home especially during any break from school. These are children with limited media time but still children with a Wii and Xbox system, a pool outside our door, multiple games, toy...
Post a Comment
Read more