Whatsoever you shall ask

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 anything in my name, I will do it. Jn. 14:13-14

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. Jn. 15:16

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. Jn. 16:23

Do you get it now? Our Lord kept saying the same thing over and over again. Why? Well, he tells us the third time: "in that day ye shall ask me nothing." The promise is great, and yet we are so often neglectful of God's great bounty towards us. Or we take for granted that God will give us what we need, whether we pray for it or not. Or we think that God isn't really in fact interested in what we have to say.

All of these things are wrong. Now, I know that this is not a blank check. But it is a check, from which we may draw upon the riches of God's promises in his Word for us. Yes, this is not a name-it, claim-it passage. But we can go to the other extreme as well. We need to really let these verses land on us. Prayer is effective. God hears the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous man.

Therefore, let us pray! Let us pray and be blessed. Let us pray and glorify the Father. "Call upon me in the day of trouble," God says, "I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me" (Ps. 50:15). Do you believe it? Our Lord wants you to believe it, and to act upon it.