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Thread: Asking the Father in Jesus' name

  1. #1
    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
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    Asking the Father in Jesus' name

    Jesus instituted that during his passover speech :

    John 14:13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
    14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

    James elaborates on it by adding the component of asking in faith :

    James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
    6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
    7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
    8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

    But if we return to Jesus' speech then he himself expounds on it in different directions :

    John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

    Abiding in the word produces faith so those two naturally go hand in hand. But this statement takes the theme in an entirely new direction :

    John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

    Here being given what one asks is tied to bearing fruit that remains. Is that works religion ? I don't think it has anything to do with that, rather it has to do with seeking and walking in holiness giving more access into the riches of the kingdom. Not in a reward sense but in a sow and reap sense. Opening one's heart makes more room for everything that is of God.

    1 Tim 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
    18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
    19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

    "laying hold on eternal life" cannot mean salvation but it can mean better access to the riches of the kingdom, that which belongs to eternal life in the here and now. Same here :

    2 Peter 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
    6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
    7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
    8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
    10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
    11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    Here a pursuit of holiness is tied to bearing fruit (verse 8) and then to an abundant entrance into the kingdom (verse 11). Which again has to refer to the here and now and not to salvation as such. Things like receiving answer to prayers and also faith for those prayers to be answered.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Smitty's Avatar
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    Believers can ask whatever they wish and their prayer is answered because they will be praying according to God's will (1Jn 5:14-15). You will find His will in His word. The promise I will do it must be examined so the prayer will not go unanswered because of one's hidden sin (Ps 66:180, asking with wrong motives (James 4:3), or spousal abuse (1Pet 3:7).

    True riches are eternal, and are the rewards that come with eternal life.
    While salvation is never obtained by good works, the believer who pursues the course outlined in 2 Peter 1:5-7, will anticipate a glorious encounter with his/her Savior in heaven.
    If you put God First, you have Him at Last.

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