“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:13,14
Anything? Really? OK Lord, how about giving me a mansion on the beach? How about a new car? Lord, I’d like to ask you to make me a millionaire so I can pay off my debt, bless my family and friends, and have a secure future? I think we can all see the utter nonsense and selfishness of such requests. So the question remains: What does “anything” mean? Are there any qualifiers?
If you take a peek at verse twelve you might see a connection with the word “anything”. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” What was Jesus doing? He did whatever the Father was doing and he spoke what he heard the Father saying. In other words, he did not act independently, but in cooperation with his Father. Jesus is our example of how to live life, not independently, but in submission to and in unity with the purpose of God. If we live that way “anything” would include only what pleases God and what is in accordance with His will.
Secondly, Jesus says that our asking must be in his name. What does that mean? When I was a kid sometimes mom or dad would relay a message to my brothers or sister through me. For example: “Go tell your brothers and sister it’s time to come to dinner and wash their hands.” So I would go and say: “Mom says it time for dinner and to wash our hands.” I was speaking in the “name” i.e. the authority of my mother. If my siblings ignored me then they were actually ignoring mom. Now, take that simple example and apply it to asking in the name of Jesus. When we ask for something “in the name of Jesus” we are asking for something based upon his authority. We are not asking selfishly, or independently of God’s will.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us —whatever we ask— we know that we have what we asked of him”. I John 5:14,15
The key to understanding “anything” is that it must only be everything which is in accordance to the will of God. When we know that we know we are asking in line with God’s will, we will have confidence (faith) that He will give it to us. So how do I know that I am asking according to God’s will? How do I know that I am asking in the “name of Jesus”?
One more qualifier, besides being in accordance with God’s will, is that it must “bring glory to the Father”. Look at verse thirteen again. Jesus says I will do what you ask “in my name, SO THAT the Son may bring glory to the Father.” Is your request something that will bring glory to God?
Lastly, and there is limited space here to go into detail, we must be led by the Holy Spirit (our Counselor) and walking in loving obedience to teaching of Scripture. For more on that read John 14:15-27. If we do these simple things we will know what to ask for in prayer and we will be confident because we have asked in the name/authority of Jesus. Prayer for anything must be in accordance to, and in agreement with, the will, the plan, the purposes of God. Based on those qualifiers, “Anything” is possible!
