“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14)
I am going to allow you to look at the faith you claim to have in the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps in a way you have not done yet. It is not meant to cause you to doubt, but to show to yourself where you truly stand, if your feet are honestly planted on the Rock of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those caveats, those stipulations in the Scriptures must be made aware of to you and taken in great consideration here first before you begin to contemplate our opening verse, that of asking anything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving it. Are you asking to consume it on your own lust? Are you wavering in your belief that what you have asked for you will recieve, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:6)
Is there a known unrepented of sin in your life? If not, and you rest in the assurance of the truth that opens this short, very poorly written letter, then ask yourself this question, why has your prayer not been answered?
Was it asked in accordance with the will of God? If it has not been granted to you, then the obvious answer would be no, would it not? How many prayer requests have you offered up to the Lord knowing as best to your knowledge that all the previous requirements for prayer have been met, and yet the Lord does not answer that prayer, that anything you ask in His name you will receive? If He does not grant your request, then His obvious answer is “no,” is it not?
Every condition met, to the best of your knowledge, you have even asked in a strong faith, an unwavering belief, no less than the woman’s faith that had an issue of blood or the centurion with the sick daughter, yet that request is denied.
How do you explain your continued service to One who has promised if you ask anything in my name it will be done to you and it is not done?
Why would you continue to follow when the promise is not kept?
I know the verse you are thinking about right now, the one spoken by the same one who spoke our opening verse. “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Resigning yourself to the will of God even when He denies the request of your heart, even when your prayers are brought before Him in tears and great supplication, continuing to follow even after He says no. The pain is going to continue until the day of your death, the trials and tribulations are not going to abate, the suffering is not going to end until you take your last breath here, your prayer is not going to be answered by the One who said if you ask anything in my name.
Where will your faith rest when the truth of those words enter into your mind, and all you have left is “Thy will be done?” Can you continue to follow in love when the promise seems to be broken? Is thy will be done going to be enough for you to continue serving, when your prayers in faith are not answered?
Can you continue standing on the Rock when all the answers to your requests are “No.”
