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John 16:23-24

(23) and in that day ye will question me nothing; verily, verily, I say to you, as many things as ye may ask of the Father in my name, He will give you; (24) till now ye did ask nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 7:6-8

(6) `Ye may not give that which is `holy' to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, that they may not trample them among their feet, and having turned -- may rend you. (7) `Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you; (8) for every one who is asking doth receive, and he who is seeking doth find, and to him who is knocking it shall be opened.

Matthew 18:19

(19) `Again, I say to you, that, if two of you may agree on the earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask -- it shall be done to them from my Father who is in the heavens,

Matthew 21:22

(22) and all -- as much as ye may ask in the prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'

Luke 11:9-10

(9) and I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you; (10) for every one who is asking doth receive; and he who is seeking doth find; and to him who is knocking it shall be opened.

John 14:13-14

(13) and whatever ye may ask in my name, I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; (14) if ye ask anything in my name I will do `it'.

John 15:7

(7) if ye may remain in me, and my sayings in you may remain, whatever ye may wish ye shall ask, and it shall be done to you.

John 15:16

(16) `Ye did not choose out me, but I chose out you, and did appoint you, that ye might go away, and might bear fruit, and your fruit might remain, that whatever ye may ask of the Father in my name, He may give you.

1 John 3:22

(22) and whatever we may ask, we receive from Him, because His commands we keep, and the things pleasing before Him we do,

1 John 5:14

(14) And this is the boldness that we have toward Him, that if anything we may ask according to his will, He doth hear us,

Is it true that God has given us a blank check to ask anything of Him just as one might ask a genie in a fairy tale? Some may misunderstand this to be the case, but I John 5:14 qualifies what He will grant: "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." Real prayer is communion with God, and what is necessary for communion are common thoughts between His mind and ours.

What we need is for Him to fill our minds and hearts with His thoughts. Then His desires will become our desires flowing back to Him in the form of prayer. James 4:3 confirms this: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." If we ask amiss, we are certainly not asking according to His will, and we will not receive.

But does not Jesus say in John 16:23, "[W]hatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you"? He most assuredly does, but we still do not have a carte blanche. To ask God for anything in the name of Jesus Christ, it must be in keeping with what He is. To ask in Christ's name is to ask as though Christ Himself were asking. Therefore, we can only ask for what Christ Himself would ask. It is therefore necessary to set aside our own will and accept God's. Jesus says in John 8:29: "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." If we do as Jesus did, we are sure to receive answers as He did. He adds in John 11:41-42: "Father, I thank you that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me."

We must come away with the realization that prayer is not dictating to God, but a humble and heartfelt expression of our attitude of dependency and need. Because of this, the one who truly prays is submissive to God's will, content with Him supplying his need according to the dictates of His sovereign pleasure. The result of this, combined with the infusion of God's attitudes and thoughts as we draw near to Him, will work to create us in His image.

— John W. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
The Sovereignty of God: Part Nine

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According to His Will

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