We are not to treat God as though he is a man. We are to pray to him with the knowledge that he is the transcendent God capable of miraculous works and to have faith that he can accomplish anything. God loves to answer the believer’s prayers so that we can continue to do his work. In John 14, we read of a promise regarding prayer that Jesus declares to his disciples: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do…” To rightly understand this, however, we must comprehend three implied conditions.

 

The first condition is that the one asking is a believer. He explains that Christians will naturally do Jesus’ works of ministry. This is the context of his statement to “ask for anything.” We are to trust that God will accomplish all that is needed and asked for in the ministry of God to the lost. Furthermore, when he says that believers will do “greater works than these,” he is not meaning greater in power, but greater in number. The church can do greater works because we have been given the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’ works until his second coming. God accepts the prayers of his people because they come to him through Christ. 

 

The second condition is that we ask in the name of Christ (v. 3). To ask in Christ’s name means three things. First, it means we are approaching the Father and asking for a need to be met in Jesus’ place. Secondly, it means we are approaching the Father according to Jesus’ merit: We are asking on the basis of Christ’s righteousness and for the purposes of his redemptive work on earth. Third, it is always asked for the purposes of Jesus’ glory so that the world sees God’s divinity, love, compassion, purity, and salvific power. 

 

How do we apply this to our lives? Have a plan to meet with God in prayer: set a time and place. Know how to pray: come to him through the name of Jesus through his work and trusting his righteousness. Finally, choose a biblical text to pray through. In doing so, you will see God working more powerfully through your life and experience his joy.