Ask and You shall Receive BY Malusi Skunyana
Read John 14:13, 14 and 16:23, 24
JOHN 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
JOHN 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it].
JOHN 16:23. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.
JOHN 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
God always wants what is best for us, and as our loving Father has opened a way for us to present our requests to Him in the name of His Son with a guarantee that we will never walk away empty-handed. It is in our best interest to trust our heavenly Father to provide for us all our daily necessities, for He cares for us. The greatest lesson we can learn in life is to depend on God in every emergency, because He will surely come through for us in ways that we cannot even imagine.
As Jesus continued with His farewell speech addressed to His disciples, He assured them that His departure would not leave them helpless; He would just be a prayer away from them. Whatever they should ask in His name they would receive. Here Jesus showed that the beneficent Father wanted what was best for His children, and that He would withhold nothing that was good for them. God would be their provider and helper, and they would lack nothing. As Jesus would be going to His Father in heaven, He would always present their requests before the Father, pleading that His disciples be given what they needed. This of course, as Jesus pointed out in John 16:26, did not mean that He would really “pray the Father” for them, for the Father Himself loved them and wanted what was best for them. God loves His children so much that it is His good pleasure to give them what they ask of Him.
The disciples were sorrowful because Jesus was leaving them in the world, and He wanted to assure them that they would not be alone. He would leave them with the Comforter – the Holy Spirit – who would always be with them, helping and guiding them every step of the way, and revealing to them God’s good purposes for them. Through the help of the Holy Spirit, they could ask whatever they needed in the name of Jesus, and the Father would grant their requests and provide what was needful and good for them. This showed that heaven was interested in their wellbeing, as it is still the case with us today. The promise that Jesus made to His disciples is ours to claim today, and we have the assurance that we will never walk away empty-handed.
It is so comforting to know that we are never alone in this world so full of wickedness and suffering, for our God is always with us. Even when friends forsake us, we are never alone, for Jesus has assured us that He is always with us until the end of time. So dear friend we have no cause for concern. A way has been opened for us to go directly to the Father through Jesus and plead our case. We may make our requests to God in the name of Jesus and receive what is best for us. Whatever your need today, present it to the Father, and you will not be disappointed. May the beneficent Father bless you in abundance today! Amen!
