Praying In Yeshua's Name
At church today we heard a message on John 16:16-24. I was encouraged by much of it but I was really struck by the last verse so I wanted to share some of what I learned with my friends on this blog.
"Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." John 16:24
The chapter before Jesus says something similar as well.
" ... Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you." John 15:16
What amazing promises and attestations to the power of prayer. Two things were drawn to my attention as the speaker spoke on this.
1. Notice the emphasis on asking in Yeshua's (Hebrew for Jesus) name. Sometimes I forget why I pray in Jesus' name. At times it feels like something we just say to close out a prayer because we were taught that in Sunday School. Those words are important though. They are powerful according to these verses. We pray that way because that is how the Bible teaches us to pray so use those words with meaning don't leave them off and don't just say them like a programmed robot.
2. We see that prayer is powerful in these verses so the speaker challenged us to ask ourselves why we don't pray. He had some of us in the congregation answer this question. Maybe it is because we lack faith that He will answer. Scripture says otherwise. Maybe it is because we are proud and instead of running to Jesus in prayer, we try to find a solution and strength in ourselves. I find myself in that position far too often. It is sinful. Maybe we are hesitant because we don't know how God will answer that prayer and we are hesitant to trust His goodness and sovereignty in the matter. Ask yourself why you don't pray. The speaker then asked us for examples of times where we had seen God answer our prayers powerfully and make our joy full. I will share some of the answered requests shared today in the comment section. I would love to hear how God has answered a prayer for you either today or a past memorable answer to prayer. Please post a comment.
posted by Jenn @ 9:48 AM
2 Comments:
One man shared how when he was in the midst of war he read this verse and was reminded of the necessity of prayer. He prayed that God would protect his whole paratrooper section of 50 men. He then thought of how he should have more faith and prayed that God would protect the larger division he was a part of, which was around 200 men. Not one man in his whole platoon of around 500 men was killed or seriously injured in the fighting and they were the ones in the midst of the battle.
Another lady spoke of how for years and years her family did not cease to pray for her unbelieving father. She said that at times it was hard to keep praying because of his heart and lifestyle it seemed there was no hope for changed but they continued in faith to take it before the Lord. In his eighties, about one month before her father died, he accepted Christ as his savior.
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