John 16:24 NKJV
Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Do you have the assurance that when you pray God hears you and not only does he hear you, he answers prayer? I think if we were to take stock of our prayer life and how much time and effort we put into the exercise of prayer, the results would tell us what we truly believe about prayer.
Jesus tells his disciples that they can now ask the father anything in his name and they will receive that their joy may be made full. To ask in His Name means to ask in His authority and on His merit. Just as the father answered the prayers of Jesus we are assured that he will answer us when we pray in his will and in the name of Jesus because remember no one comes to the father except they come through Jesus.
1 John 5:14-15 NKJV
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Unless you and I have that confidence and assurance that God hears us and that if we ask anything according to his will then he hears and answers us, we will never find the joy in prayer. As Jesus told his disciples, our joy is made complete when our prayers are answered, and it is Gods desire for our joy to be made complete.
Jesus is the key to answered prayer. When we stay in him then we are able to know his will and when we ask in his will then the Father answers.
John 15:7 NKJV
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[a] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
The problem comes in when we don’t stay connected and we ask amiss according to our selfish desires.
James 4:3 NKJV
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Gods desire is that our joy may be made full. He loves it when we pray because his desire has always been to have fellowship with man. Remember in the garden before the fall of man, God would come in in the cool of the day to have fellowship with Adam. That has not changed, God is the same yesterday today and forever, he still wants to have fellowship with you.
Reflections:
If you believe God answers prayers, how much time and energy do you put into the practice of prayer?
Have you ever felt discouraged because of unanswered prayer? What happened?
What is the result of prayer according to Philippians 4:6-7
