Whatever You Ask in My Name
First B Jackson
2026-05-31

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Teresa of Calcutta, also known as Mother Teresa was interviewed by Dan Rather quite some time before podcasts. And at one point in the interview, Rather asked Mother Teresa about her prayer life. And he says, well, when you pray, what do you say to God? And she says, I don't say anything. I listen.

And he says, the obvious follow-up. He goes, well, when God speaks to you, what does he say? And she says to him, he doesn't say anything. He listens. Then seeing the obvious confusion on Rather's face, she goes, and if you don't understand that, I can't really explain it to you.

What's the point of prayer? I mean if God's already going to do whatever it is that he's going to do, why should we bother? I think most of us have struggled with this in some aspect of our lives before. And I'll be upfront with you. If you are looking for a clear cut answer that benefits you materially, I'm going to horribly disappoint you today.

Because there is no magic formula to get God to do what we want Him to do on our timeline. But my hope with the rest of today's message is to show you the beauty of what is available to you each and every day in prayer. Because the point of prayer is not to get God to do what you want him to do. The point of prayer is to get more of God and to fix our eyes on him. So let's look at our text for today.

We'll key in as usual on one primary verse and then we'll get to work. We're going from John 14 the NASB. Believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in me, the works that I, Jesus, do, he, that's you, will also do.

And greater works than these will he do because I am going to the father. And whatever you ask in my name, this I will do so that the father may be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. So our key verse for today is gonna be verse 13 if you're taking notes. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do so that the father may be glorified in the son.

We'll break that up into three parts as usual, three point outline from Brad. Power of prayer, this is whatever you ask. The premise of prayer in my name is what Jesus says. The purpose of prayer that the father may be glorified in the son. Then we'll take a quick look at the practice of prayer which is our application for the day and then we'll move on.

So first point, the power of prayer. Whatever you ask. Church, the power of prayer. Right up front, I'm giving you everything I got right here at the beginning. The power of prayer is that God gives us himself And it's the greatest thing he can give us.

Not health, not money, not comfort, not power or control, himself. The trick is for each and every one of us to actually believe and live that out. Now by way of example, I coach third and fourth grade boys lacrosse here. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of other things as well.

And we've got a great group of parents and kids and all of that sort of thing. But let's say we have an away game schedule. We're going on to Salt Lake City. What's the greatest thing that I can send with them? It's myself.

Because as great as those kids are, if myself or another coach doesn't go down with them, they could maybe make their way onto the field. Right? But if I go with them, I can help them get organized. Right? And again, that's not because I'm some brilliant coach.

It's because I'm 40 and they're 10. Now I could also make the opposite mistake of not going and I could step out on that field and could I win that game single handedly for my team? Absolutely! I don't want to brag but I am way better at lacrosse than any 10 year old you've ever seen. But that wouldn't be the point, would it?

Because the point of the whole thing is yes for them to have fun but it's also for them to develop as men and for them to learn the game that we're working towards. And I rob them of that opportunity if I just step out there and do that. So it would rob them of an opportunity and probably get me arrested for child abuse. But similarly, Jesus is going to send his disciples out into the world to do greater works than he did. But they aren't just accomplishing a task.

They're also continuing to be developed to be the people that God would have them to be. Jesus is leaving their his disciples and they are not ready. And yet he says to them, hey, I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit. I'm gonna give you the gift of prayer. And with those two things, you're gonna do greater things than anything you've seen me do.

Church, Jesus raised people from the dead. He gave sight to the blind. He fed the 5,000 and he says to his disciples, you ain't seen nothing yet. Do you guys feel that? We can dwell on that.

Because Jesus did all these miracles and the night before he leaves he huddles up the boys and he says, Hey, I'm going to give myself to you in a way that you can't possibly understand yet and it's actually going to be better. And you are going to do greater works than anything you've seen me do. And history has shown that through the disciples and through the continuing faithful legacy of the church, that has absolutely been the case. Church, God doesn't have to use us, but He chooses to. That humbles me because I know my own heart.

Frail and broken vessel that I am, God still chooses to use me and He can choose to use each and every one of us in our faith. Prayer then, relating it back to our topic today, at its core is an admittance of your lack of self sufficiency. Prayer at its core is admitting your dependence on God. Prayer is saying, God, I can't but you can. And church, if dependence is the goal, then weakness is an advantage.

It's a strategy. That's second Corinthians twelve:nine from Paul writing to that church. Boast in our weaknesses. How un American does that feel? This is the exact opposite of that old saying that we've probably all heard where God helps those who help themselves.

There is zero biblical basis for that church. Dependence is the goal than weakness is an advantage. But God wants us to realize our dependence on him And the most mature Christians that I've ever done life with, that this is the thing that they are all acutely aware of. And I have, in my own slow learning sort of way, finally started to understand this. Because in our culture, we have this obsession with self dependence.

Independence we might call it. We use an unholy trinity of time, talent and money to be self dependent, To achieve things. And some of the time we do that to achieve things for God. But God wants us to realize our dependence on Him. We can and are expected to do things for the kingdom of God but we recognize in our work that God is sovereign and not us.

In the same way the power of prayer is the power of the God whom we pray to. James five is a great chapter on this. But it actually points back to first Kings 17 when Elijah prays to God to shut up the heavens for rain for three and a half years. But the point is, it's not Elijah that turned off the rain in Israel for three and a half years. It's God.

And it's the same with any of the sign gifts. It's never about the prophet, it's about the provider. So when we pray to God, we are expectantly saying, God, I can't but you can. And I think most of us underestimate prayer because we forget who we are praying to and why. In our mind we build up that idea of the sky man that needs to be placated through a daily routine and we rob ourselves of the opportunity to interact in relationship with our Father, our Creator, our Redeemer and Lord.

For most of us, if we struggle in prayer, we need to refocus on the relationship Which leads us to our second point that we'll look at today which is the premise of prayer. Jesus says, In my name. What does it mean to pray in Jesus name? Is that just a tagline that we throw on? Is it the Christian asterisk at the end of every prayer?

Because it's not wrong to close a prayer that way or to open it that way. But I think sometimes we forget what is fully implied by saying, In Jesus' name. By way of counterexample, there's a famous prayer by the modern prophet, Janis Joplin. Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches.

I must make amends. If you've never heard of Janis Joplin, she's not a prophet. Was not a prophet. Look it up. It'll benefit you anyway.

But even if even if Janice were to were to tack on in Jesus name to the end of that prayer, it's obviously not what Jesus is talking about here. Right? Similar to the song that we sang today and thank you Florine for that one. It was awesome. When we when we sing about we love to shout the name of God, we've lost concept of this in our modern in our modern times.

In ancient times, the name, it was so much more than what we think about. So, when we're shouting the name of Yahweh, when we're praying in the name of Jesus, it's to encompass the totality of who He is. So is it wrong to ask for a nice car or a new job or if you can't get pregnant for a child or if you don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend for one of those or if you deeply desire to want to get married? It's not wrong to ask for those things in Jesus name. But when we do so we can have some awareness of what's going on in our hearts and we give the underlying motivations of our hearts up to God as well.

And then we keep an eye on how he answers that prayer. Because to do something in Jesus name, that meant to do it with their authority in the way that they would do it and on their behalf. If somebody showed up and said that they were doing something in Caesar's name, that meant that they were doing it the way that Caesar would by his purposes and in his benefit. And it's the same way when we pray in Jesus' name. And church, this is a big deal.

Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the instrument of all creation. And we as His disciples, were given the opportunity to live life as He lived and to pray as He prayed. I think we forget that. So when we pray in Jesus name, we're doing so in according to Him as a whole person. And what did Jesus come to do?

He came to display the manifold wisdom and goodness and love of God. He came to reconcile sinners to him and to each other. And he came to restore the kingdom. And he came to die on a cross. And he called each and every one of us to do it after him.

I need that reminder all the time that Jesus didn't come for my comfort or my happiness or my reputation. Jesus came to restore me and all to the glory of God. Now Jesus himself, he also talked more about prayer than about any other specific spiritual discipline. And he modeled it for us not just in the Lord's prayer which is in Luke 11 and in Matthew six, but in the way that he often went alone to be with the father. And yet how many of us that are his disciples have extended moments of solitude like that?

If you're anything like me, the habit that I develop is kind of this like rushed morning prayer time where I ask God to do a bunch of things that I think are good things. And then I go on about my day. Because in my mind, I'm so busy and important that I buy into the lie that anything else I do could actually be more impactful than prayer. And it's hard. It's hard to not buy that lie.

But when I take an honest look at how I actually spend my time, there is no excuse. I was convicted by this John Piper quote, so you get to be as well, which is that one of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the last day that prayerlessness was not from a lack of time. You can get as uncomfortable as you want. It's going to stay on the screen. I would add Netflix or shopping or the news or whatever relevant blogs or podcasts.

It's the same idea that our prayerlessness is not from a lack of time. It's for lack of conviction that I don't spend more time with the Lord. So that's the that's kind of the long, quiet time and we'll come back to this a little bit. But then also throughout the day, I do what I kind of call walkie talkie prayers. I'm sure you guys do this as well, especially as summertime tourist traffic gets here.

Welcome if you're from out of town. Please don't look at your phone. But I can go through my day and Okay God, I'm thinking of this person, God would you protect this person? Would you lift this person up? God would you bless this person in their California plates?

God would you help me be the man that you want me to be? But it's almost always perfunctory and rushed. Sometimes it's more inspired. And those those walkie talkie prayers, those are a good thing. That show that is expressing dependence upon God.

That is praying without ceasing. But it can turn out to be a little bit more like the neighbor who never really wants to develop time with you or develop a relationship, but they just want to borrow your tools or help you load something into the truck. It just stays a shallow relationship. Instead, prayer is like eating and a dedicated quiet time. That's like the big meal of the day.

And these walkie talkie prayers, they're like little snacks. Now when you get busy, you can survive on snacks and fast food. But I think most of us have discovered at some point that's how you survive but that's not how you thrive. And it's the same thing with our prayer life. A good meal, a truly good meal is a feast.

And we have a feast made available to us each and every day in the opportunity to spend time with our Creator. And yet we walk past this beautiful Thanksgiving feast And all we have to do is sit down and eat. But what about unanswered prayer? As the teacher up here, I made you guys uncomfortable with this quote. But nope.

I guess we're leaving it. What about unanswered prayer? As a teacher it would be easier for me to ignore this and move on. Let you guys just deal with it later. Go to gotquestions.org or something about it.

But I think the answer for this, because I, because we've all done this. Right? We've all fervently asked God to do something in our lives and then we've not seen the results or the timeline that we would expect him to do even if it's something good. But I think the answer is right here in our key text for today. And we'll look at it again.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. So when we make these requests and God doesn't do anything, does it mean the requests were wrong? Does it mean Jesus is a liar or that we didn't get the formula right? I hope by now you're seeing that that's not the case.

But here's a helpful way to reframe that same question. Because this is based on the totality of scripture but you can even focus in on like Romans eight twenty eight or Genesis 50. And if I've lost you, this is a great time to refocus back in because this is really great personal application. It's that God always gives us what we would ask for if we knew what he knows and had his perspective. I'm gonna say it again because there's a lot there.

God always gives us what we would ask for if we knew everything he knows and had his perspective. Tim Keller, always more eloquent than Brad, puts it this way. The purpose of prayer is not to get God to satisfy your desires immediately but to set your heart on the things that will satisfy your desires ultimately. Which is to know him, to please him, to promote his glory, to serve him, to become the person he wants you to be, which in the end will make you glorious and happy. The problem for so many of us, myself included, is that we are so short term oriented.

Oriented. But not God. God's eternal. And the crazy part is actually in ultimate reality, so are we. But we forget it because we are bombarded with messages constantly trying to trying to stimulate our short term desires.

And then we freak out when we don't get that thing. How different would our prayer life be if we knew that this world would one day end and that everything will be subject to God's judgment be made right in his holy and perfect ways? Because that is our ultimate reality. But it's not our immediate reality. That's not the waters that we swim in every day when we walk outside these church doors.

So we have to use prayer to push back that darkness. Now maybe like me, you've heard some of this before. Great. You say, what's the point? If God is already going to do whatever it is He's going to do, why should I bother?

Three points. Refer back to the first point. It's the for the relationship. Second, God tells us to and we are called to be obedient. So first John two four, if you love me, you will keep my or no, that's anyway.

If we love him, we will keep his commandments. But God tells us to pray. So it's an act of obedience in developing that relationship. Here's the crazy thing is God knows what we need before we even ask according to Matthew six:eight. But he delights in us asking.

And then third, there's this pattern in Scripture and throughout history where God responds to prayer more directly than He does to non prayer. Now how prayer and human free will and God's sovereignty interact, that is the subject of great debate and we're not going to know it perfectly this side of eternity. Church, if God is the size of the Pacific Ocean and our brain is slightly bigger than a Coke can, there's just going to be stuff that doesn't fit. And some of that's the beauty of God is recognizing that He is infinite and we are incredibly finite. So we pray because God tells us to and we pray because He wants us to.

And if you don't feel like praying in that moment, you can just remind yourself of who you are and who God is, that you were a sinner destined for righteous judgement and so was I. But now through Jesus, you are a child of God. So even when we pray for things that we assume have to be in God's will, we can do it with humility and keeping an eye on our heart that underlies the desire. So that's praying in Jesus name. That's praying in the way that Christ himself did with that level of awareness.

And that leads us to our last point which is the purpose of prayer. That the father may be glorified in the son. How does the father get glory in the son when we pray and he grants whatever we ask in Jesus name? It's in love, church. God loves you.

He loves the people around you. He loved you so much that he sent his son to die for you. And he will not withhold or delay anything that is for your good and for his glory. One of my mentors, Todd Wagner, used to always say, you need to know that God is not looking to rip you off. He is looking to set you free.

He will not withhold anything good from you. So when we pray, we're doing this amazing thing because of the nature of God that is like part warfare and part relationship. Now it's warfare in that each and every one of us are taking ground for the kingdom of God. Every single one of us that are committed to Christ, we are soldiers in a spiritual battle. God is waging a war to reunite his heavenly family and his earthly family.

And he will destroy all those that stand opposed to him. And we are soldiers in that battle. But right now, though the battle is actually already won, there is still an enemy. Do you know that thirty years after World War two ended, there were still a few Japanese soldiers hiding out in the jungle waging war? The most famous example is a guy by the name of Hiro Enoda.

Hiro was a young intelligence officer sent to The Philippines in 1944. Only a year later, as the history buffs will remember, August '45, Japanese surrender. But Hiro and he had two other guys that were with him that actually died shortly thereafter. They didn't believe the pamphlets that were being dropped into the jungle saying the war is over, you can surrender, it's all safe to come out. Because they thought it was enemy American propaganda.

Hero continued to fight for thirty years scavenging, getting in battles with the local police, with civilians, killed over 30 civilians. And it wasn't until thirty years later they got his former commanding officer to put on the old uniform and go to where Hero was and say, Hero, you have to surrender, that he finally did. Now why do I tell you that? One, I think it's a really interesting story. And two, to illustrate that the war for heaven has already been won.

Death was defeated at the cross and the empty tomb. But we still have an enemy that fights even though he has lost. And so when we pray, we're communing with the victorious conquering king but we're also we're calling in airstrikes. Right? And so when we fight in the trenches and this is so that's the warfare side.

The relationship side and this is why it's prayer is so unique. The relationship side is we are also affirming our special access to the king. So yeah, we're calling in airstrikes but we're also calling in airstrikes as children. For example, let's say that I want to have a conversation with the president right now. Hop on a plane.

Go to DC. Figure out where Trump's going to be. Start running. President Trump, President Trump. Running at him.

What's going to happen to me? Best case scenario, I get tackled and have sore ribs. Worst case scenario, I'm shot. And probably next Sunday, there's going to be guys in suits asking funny questions of all of you. But who can break in on the President without an appointment?

Who can kick in the door in the middle of the night and ask for a cold glass of water? It's their children. You've probably seen this famous picture of JFK with JFK Jr. Working at the door of the Resolute desk. What if JFK's Secretary of State had done that during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Right? There is special access in being a child of the president and certainly of the king. When that kid is sick, in the middle of the night, no matter what's going on, he's coming in. And it's the same for us with God. Now I'm never going be a president or a cabinet member or anything that elevated, but I love it when my kids rightly ask me for good things.

And it's the same with God because we are his children. Jesus tells a story to that end during the sermon on the mount in Matthew seven nine through 11. He says, which of you if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

God knows what we need before we even ask him. My kids love Shake Shack. Love it. And Shake Shack is fine. But anytime we're on the road, we go to an airport or we're driving by one, I can see it coming, you know, because thankfully I have slightly better awareness than my eight and nine year old.

And I can see it coming. I know what they're going to ask me for. They are going Dad, dad, dad, dad. It's like, yes, I see it. We're going.

Because I love to give my kids the things they ask for. Because I love for them to ask their father for good things. How much more, even though I'm evil, how much more our heavenly father? So we're encouraged to bring God our short term needs but we also we need to invest in the whole relationship because the whole thing can't be about short term needs. A lot of you know my wife, Natalie.

We're in a time of life that is full. I don't like to use the word busy. But we can get by most of the time coordinating with text messages, with shared calendars, AI assistance, and quick phone calls. But if Natalie and I don't sit down and spend time together without an agenda just talking and listening to each other, then we're not in a marriage, we're in a cooperative partnership. And it's the same with God.

If I only ever ask Him for stuff and direct Him to things, even good things that I'd like to see Him do, I'm treating Him like a genie in a lamp or like a manager or an employee. Because we get to know God more when we don't just study him but when we contemplate him and through prayer invite him into our lives. And paradoxically, and this is the tip for you type aers, you will actually achieve more when you spend more of your time with God. Because what can we work on that actually lasts eternity? It's the kingdom of God.

Jesus referred to this in John 15 when he said, if you abide in me. When we abide in Christ, we will actually accomplish more of the things that matter because what two things are actually eternal? God and people. The irony is when we pray more, abide more, we actually achieve more of the things that matter just like Jesus said. I've developed this axiom over the last couple of years that's been really helpful in my life which is that I am no longer trying to just be clever and productive.

And here's where the axiom starts. I just want to be faithful with the inputs and trust God with the outcomes. If the outcomes are up to me, I get stressful, I get anxious, and I'm not a lot of fun to be around. But I can trust God with the outcomes to work for the kingdom. And that's why Jesus came.

That's why you are still here. Each and every one of us to run a rescue mission, to run a hospital, to commune with our savior and introduce others to him. So those are our three points for today. Power of prayer, whatever you ask. Premise of prayer, in my name.

Purpose of prayer, that the father may be glorified in the son. Now the practice of prayer. How do we put this into practice? Key takeaway from all this is that if you're feeling convicted right now, if you're like, oh I really should be doing that. Don't get caught up in the shoulds.

I don't want you to try harder. If you try harder, God will honor that. It'll grow something out of it. But the Christian way is not moralism. The Christian way, the way that we grow is we fall more in love with Christ.

And then out of that love, we become more like him. So engage in prayer, absolutely. But the better way is to want to pray more. We have to get our hearts to that desire. I had a lot of best practices and tips and tricks and techniques around prayer written out.

But I scrapped all of it because the the core goal for today is not information, it's transformation. Not behavioral modification. We are looking for heart transformation. So what do you do? If you don't know how to pray, if you're somebody that this has never been a part of your life, just start.

I promise you three weeks use a little bit of discipline but set your heart on Christ. Start every day thinking about who he is and who you are and your need for him. Pray every day for twenty one days. I guarantee it'll change your life. Just start.

Just talk to God. Some things to keep in mind though as we talk to him is that he is king and yet he is your father. So we can be reverent and yet honest. That means we don't have to pray in the formality of the King James. Right?

We don't have to thee, thou, and thy. Right? Talk to God. Be like a child as Jesus exhorted us to over and over again. A good child is respectful and yet honest, has no guile, has no hidden agenda, Calls it like it is but does so respectfully.

Then if we're looking to add structure to our prayer, we want to add balance, acts, cats, model is the classic. Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, ACTS. Adoration. This is you telling yourself and telling God who God is to you. God is awesome and it's our job to say it.

Pretty straightforward. Confession. Who you are. Telling the truth about yourself and to God. Said it right.

About who you are. It's admitting your need for a savior. But all the same time recognizing that abundant grace and mercy has flowed out for you. First John one nine, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will purify us from all unrighteousness. So good.

T Thanksgiving, gratitude. Just thank God for things. It's a lot of this doesn't have to be hard. It'll develop over time. And I think I've mentioned this before but did you know that neuropsychology has proven that you cannot be both grateful and anxious at the same time?

What a cure for our anxious generation. If you are battling anxiety, start in that moment by thinking of three to five things that you are grateful for and thank God for them. And they don't have to be crazy big idea holy stuff. So yes, thank you God for the rain. Thank you for the rain on the land.

Thank you that like modern clothes are really comfortable compared to what you see in ancient times. Thank you for air conditioning. You ever thanked God for air conditioning? It's awesome and it gets rid of your anxiety in multiple ways. Then supplication.

Notice this is last on the list. This is petitioning and asking God for stuff. This is where we tend to run to and it's not wrong. It just can't be the whole thing as I think I've said over and over again. So ask God.

Be aware of what's on your heart. Ask God to do things in your life. Don't shy away from it. Just be aware that He is sovereign and we are not. Last, I have a really detailed prompt prayer prompt sheet.

You purposely can't read that. Okay? When when I John, when I'm struggling with what to pray, I have this sheet. It redirects my heart towards God and also helps me work through the things in supplication that I want to be covering on a regular basis. Email me.

I'll cross off some names and send it to you so you can just use the template, use it as a format template. You don't all need to know John Hammond's personal sin struggles. See? But I want to be careful about stuff like this because discipline for the sake of discipline is how we end up being Pharisees. Don't do that.

We don't do anything for our self righteousness. We don't do anything to be seen in righteousness by others. We do it to develop our heart and our love and our relationship with God. And then we live out of that righteousness. Last and and we'll close with this.

Is it the the Lord's prayer in your own words? I love this one. So you pop open Luke 11 or Matthew six. Read the Lord's prayer out route out loud and then say it back to God again in your own words. Here's mine that I wrote when prepping for this.

Takes two minutes. Now I'll invite Lisa and to come up and play a little bit and the band and then I'm going to close with a quick comment. So bow with me in prayer here. God you are amazing. All things shout your glory and I should praise you with everything that I have because you have a good plan for all things to be according to your will and subject to you and I want to be a part of that happening on both heaven and earth.

But I need your provision, Lord. My job, my family, this church, none of this works if you don't make it work. Would you take care of what I need, and I'll just try to work faithfully. Father, forgive me. I fall short of your perfect standard, and I have a heart that is an idle factory and makes my desires supreme and not yours.

Make me sensitive to the impressions of the Holy Spirit. Help me show the same grace and mercy to those around me. And Lord protect me from the enemy. Help me recognize his lies. I want to be on mission for you.

Help me God. Thank you for what you've done and what you're already going to do through Jesus. Thank you that you are working in ways that I cannot even begin to comprehend or see. But I trust you in Jesus name. Now, because it's me and we're running a little bit late, I do want to give you an opportunity.

It's raining. You don't have anywhere to go. I want to give you a couple of minutes to practice this right now. So Lisa's gonna continue to play for a couple of minutes and I want each and every one of you to do business with God for the next two minutes. I want you if you have never prayed with him, want you to pray with him.

If you don't have a relationship with him, I want you to ask for one. If you want to build your prayer life, I want you to ask him right now for help in this. Then the band is gonna start to play us out. And if you're done, rise and sing. But if you're doing business with God, if you are having that encounter with God that you've never had before, stay in your seat and pray.

Keep praying through fellowship hour. Keep praying till the 11:00. You can hear me do it again. And then together church, we'll go out and we'll have a great week of worship. Let's all now talk to our God individually in prayer for just a couple of minutes.