John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
One of the passages of scripture that has troubled me my entire Christian life is this passage in John. These are words from the mouth of Jesus. This is a big invitation to ask. It's haunting in its scope and difficult in reality. I've read many commentaries on this passage and others that speak about prayer, but still these words challenge me. They challenge me in my faith, in my prayers, in my view of God and in my desires personally.
Can I ask for a fancy car? A lot of money? A nice home? Some would tell me yes, that's exactly what these verses talk about, but then I come to the words that follow the invitation by Jesus, "so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." My prayers and God's answers are meant to do one thing- glorify the Father through the Son. Does that limit my prayers? Not really, but it does focus them. Does what I want bring glory to God? Will it make JESUS look good rather than make me comfortable? This is an invitation to big prayers to a big God for a big reason- his glory. Honestly I don't ask for big things. I should...the invitation has been extended. God wants me to ask. He promises to respond. He even tells me why he will answer.
Could it be that my faith is so small, my prayers are so small because my God is too small? I think I need to see God right sized. I know I don't always do that. That's what big prayers and big answers will do....they will help me see God in the right way...so it's time for some big prayers!
1 comment:
Mike, I don't believe it was a coincidence that I read your post...I have struggled with things like that in the bible FOR YEARS. About 15 years ago, a co-worked introduced me to the theory of "Pauline dispensationalism", which at that time sounded dangerously close to heresy to these old Baptist ears. But I never forgot it. I kept going back to it in my mind... Now I am convinced he was right. In a nutshell, ALL scripture is given to us for inspiration and reproof (2 Timothy 3:16), but not all scripture was written specifically TO us. I am sending a link to a sermon that I would love for you to hear. I found a church online (too far for me to drive to, unfortunately, here in Indiana) that preaches the Word FINALLY in a way that explains all my questions.
Here is the link:
http://gracepointministries.net/sermons.html
scroll down (little blue bar over toward the right) and look for this sermon:
"God's Will and God's Move In My Life" (38:13)
Pastor Jim Devney - September 19, 2010
then just click on the "wmv" and it will play in Windows...
Pastor Jim just scratches the surface with this message...it wasn't intended to explain Pauline theory... but it is the one I recommend. I hope you take this with the spirit in which it was intended...that you might find this information to be helpful, or as it was in my case, needful.
God Bless!
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