#167 – Jesus Teaches His Disciples to Pray

Yesterday on The Morning Meditation we meditated on the subject of How to Have a Perfect Heart Toward God. Walking with a perfect heart toward God means relying on His Word in all things.

Today on The Morning Meditation:

JESUS TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAY

John 16:23 "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."

There are many wonderful things Jesus taught His disciples just prior to His death on the cross. They had grown to love Him dearly. The thoughts of losing Him was just too much for them to grasp. Jesus teaches them that He will just be a prayer away. He assures them that the Father will hear them when they pray. So, He teaches them to pray. He says, “ask.” Let’s notice first,

WHO TO ASK?

Jesus says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name . . .” God is our Father. We have a relationship to God as Father. Luke 11:2 says, "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."

Jesus addressed God as His Father in Mark 14:36, "And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." The Greek lexicon says the following: “father, customary title used of God in prayer. Whenever it occurs in the New Testament it has the Greek interpretation joined to it, that is apparently to be explained by the fact that the Chaldee ‘ABBA’ through frequent use in prayer, gradually acquired the nature of a most sacred proper name, to which the Greek speaking Jews added the name from their own tongue.”

Jesus taught that we have the right to be aware of the relationship of a son to the Father when we pray. This will encourage our faith to know that we are not asking a cold calculating God for something. We are asking our Father.

Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans in chapter 1 verse 7: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are to approach God as our Father in the Spirit of worship. Paul brings this out in Romans 8:15, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

Paul states this also in Galatians 4:6, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." This verse reveals that God has given us not only the right to call Him Father but “God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son” into our hearts. This is the enablement of true worship.

We are truly the sons (and daughters) of God, and God has made this possible through creating us anew in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17), and. as seal of that relationship has sent forth the Holy Spirit to indwell us. Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Next,

HOW ARE WE TO ASK?

Jesus taught His disciples in John 14:13 14, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

We are to ask in the name of Christ. When we do this Jesus promises that He Himself will respond to that request. This is the promise: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do . . .”

John Gill has a good comment: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, &c.] Whether it be for assistance in preaching of the Gospel; or for the performance of miraculous operations in confirmation of it; or for success to attend it; or for any blessings whatsoever, whether for themselves or others: that will I do; he does not say, that he would be a Mediator between God, and them, an advocate with the Father for them, and would intercede, and use his interest with him that it might be done,