Have you ever had trouble understanding the verse John 14:14? “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
This verse sounded great to me as a kid. It felt wonderful knowing God had my back. Yet, I had also read the verse about not putting the Lord our God to the test, so at first, I was scared to ask anything in His name because I didn’t know if I believed that verse.
The more I was discipled in my young faith, the more I understood God’s Word and His promises. As my faith grew stronger, so did the enemy’s attempts to make me doubt my Father.
When we believe God at His Word, trusting Him to do what He says, I think the enemy uses this verse to single us out, making us feel as if we aren’t who the verse was meant.
“Ohhhh…’ the enemy will taunt, “God didn’t mean YOU when He said that.”
We struggle, we trust, we struggle, we trust… it feels like a tennis match, until that pivotal encounter with Jesus, where we are so tired of the back and forth, of our wishy-washy faith, and how we messed things up, that we “give up” – and that is right where God wants us. Full surrender.
Many of us have accepted the free gift of Salvation, and then still try to live in this world by our own abilities. We might pray, leave something at the Lord’s feet, and then pick it back up again carrying it on our shoulders. The weight becomes so heavy.
We also tend to have an instantaneous timeline. As we mature in our faith, we tell ourselves we ARE patient, and we WILL wait on the Lord. Yet, when we do not see Him answering what we asked, especially if we tagged our prayer, “…in Jesus’ name, Amen,” we tend to hear the lies of the enemy over the gentle whispers of the Holy Spirit.
“If God were going to give you what you asked, He would have done it by now.” Crafty little devil.
This is why we can’t wait for “time to read our Bible.” We can’t give God excuses. We have to make reading His word a priority. We need the strength that comes from it daily.
I have been reading my Bible since age 11, and I know much of what God’s word says. When my preacher reads a verse, sometimes I quote it in my mind as he reads, just to make sure I don’t forget. But…
We can’t rely on our knowledge of the Bible or what we remember that it says. The Bible comes alive for us when we don’t just read what “it” says, but we hear what God says. We listen, in an intimate relationship with Him, as we read His Word.
Have I ever claimed John 14:14 as I prayed, and then did not see God’s answer? Oh, of course! But that doesn’t mean He didn’t answer. It just means the answer – HIS answer, was not revealed to me yet.
Oh, how many times have I prayed and did not see an answer, and then sometimes years later, I saw why! God protected me from something, or He removed something from my life, or He used the very thing I prayed about, in a totally different way!
My faith is seasoned now at 55, and He and I have come a long way. I still hear the enemy taunting me with lies, but now God’s voice is heard over the enemy. My mind is set on the Kingdom. Not this world.
Sure, I am in the world and living just like everyone else with wanting to see my kids and grandkids flourish, but instead of trying to control things, thinking about leaving them a legacy, or instead of checking off a bucket list of things I want to do before I leave this world; my first thoughts are on the Kingdom and how my life here on earth is purposed.
That changes my perspective when I pray. It is much easier now to say, “Not my will, Lord, but Yours,” and to not be scared to death when I pray those words.
When you have lived ‘against the faith’ and responded to trouble the way the world teaches, and then learned to LIVE your faith trusting God with every outcome; you see His Hand, (and when you don’t, you take Him at His Word). What peace that brings!
So yes! Ask in His name, and He WILL do it.
He will answer our prayers from our heart – our heart for HIM, not from our heart in the flesh. And as we believe and trust Him, He will answer it in ways we cannot even comprehend. He is GOD. Our Creator. He knows what a life is worth, and He cares. Trust Him with the answer and look toward the Kingdom.
This verse sounded great to me as a kid. It felt wonderful knowing God had my back. Yet, I had also read the verse about not putting the Lord our God to the test, so at first, I was scared to ask anything in His name because I didn’t know if I believed that verse.
The more I was discipled in my young faith, the more I understood God’s Word and His promises. As my faith grew stronger, so did the enemy’s attempts to make me doubt my Father.
When we believe God at His Word, trusting Him to do what He says, I think the enemy uses this verse to single us out, making us feel as if we aren’t who the verse was meant.
“Ohhhh…’ the enemy will taunt, “God didn’t mean YOU when He said that.”
We struggle, we trust, we struggle, we trust… it feels like a tennis match, until that pivotal encounter with Jesus, where we are so tired of the back and forth, of our wishy-washy faith, and how we messed things up, that we “give up” – and that is right where God wants us. Full surrender.
Many of us have accepted the free gift of Salvation, and then still try to live in this world by our own abilities. We might pray, leave something at the Lord’s feet, and then pick it back up again carrying it on our shoulders. The weight becomes so heavy.
We also tend to have an instantaneous timeline. As we mature in our faith, we tell ourselves we ARE patient, and we WILL wait on the Lord. Yet, when we do not see Him answering what we asked, especially if we tagged our prayer, “…in Jesus’ name, Amen,” we tend to hear the lies of the enemy over the gentle whispers of the Holy Spirit.
“If God were going to give you what you asked, He would have done it by now.” Crafty little devil.
This is why we can’t wait for “time to read our Bible.” We can’t give God excuses. We have to make reading His word a priority. We need the strength that comes from it daily.
I have been reading my Bible since age 11, and I know much of what God’s word says. When my preacher reads a verse, sometimes I quote it in my mind as he reads, just to make sure I don’t forget. But…
We can’t rely on our knowledge of the Bible or what we remember that it says. The Bible comes alive for us when we don’t just read what “it” says, but we hear what God says. We listen, in an intimate relationship with Him, as we read His Word.
Have I ever claimed John 14:14 as I prayed, and then did not see God’s answer? Oh, of course! But that doesn’t mean He didn’t answer. It just means the answer – HIS answer, was not revealed to me yet.
Oh, how many times have I prayed and did not see an answer, and then sometimes years later, I saw why! God protected me from something, or He removed something from my life, or He used the very thing I prayed about, in a totally different way!
My faith is seasoned now at 55, and He and I have come a long way. I still hear the enemy taunting me with lies, but now God’s voice is heard over the enemy. My mind is set on the Kingdom. Not this world.
Sure, I am in the world and living just like everyone else with wanting to see my kids and grandkids flourish, but instead of trying to control things, thinking about leaving them a legacy, or instead of checking off a bucket list of things I want to do before I leave this world; my first thoughts are on the Kingdom and how my life here on earth is purposed.
That changes my perspective when I pray. It is much easier now to say, “Not my will, Lord, but Yours,” and to not be scared to death when I pray those words.
When you have lived ‘against the faith’ and responded to trouble the way the world teaches, and then learned to LIVE your faith trusting God with every outcome; you see His Hand, (and when you don’t, you take Him at His Word). What peace that brings!
So yes! Ask in His name, and He WILL do it.
He will answer our prayers from our heart – our heart for HIM, not from our heart in the flesh. And as we believe and trust Him, He will answer it in ways we cannot even comprehend. He is GOD. Our Creator. He knows what a life is worth, and He cares. Trust Him with the answer and look toward the Kingdom.