Friday, 1 December 2023

The Upper Room Discourse 52

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John 16:23-24 In that day, you will ask Me nothing. Amen, amen I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Up to now, you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be full.

I'm reading these two verses very deliberately. These words seem overwhelming. What did Yeshua mean? Why did He say this at this moment? Many other questions, each of which will take much prayer to answer.

Immediately, Yeshua is taking the focus off of Himself. "You will ask me nothing." Why not? Yeshua, Himself, answers the question, "... you ask the Father in My name." To properly understand the fullness of Yeshua's meaning, we have to understand what He means by "in My name."

Most of us easily end every prayer by saying, "In Yeshua's name, amen." We think that is the formula to "asking in Yeshua's name." Well, it isn't! A "name" is more than a label of identification. A "name" is a reputation. A good name (and Yeshua has the only good name) is both faithful and true.

Hebrews 6:18b ... it is impossible for God to lie ...

God cannot lie because God cannot make a mistake. There is nothing He doesn't know. All of Satan's craftiness is his vain attempt to make God a liar. Psalm 145:17-18 Adonai is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. Adonai is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.

Yeshua identified Himself with the truth ... John 14:6 Yeshua said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me." To ask in Yeshua's name means to pray in agreement with His reputation. He promises He will give you "whatever you ask." But that's not the whole verse. We have to ask "in My name" which means in accordance with Yeshua's reputation.

Praying in Yeshua's name is not like playing "go fish," where you reach for the next card and exclaim, "Got what I wanted." If that were so, every time, it wouldn't be long before we would believe in ourselves. But God's perspective is eternal. We have to trust His judgment.

More on this next time.