“Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'” John 16:23-24
In the gospel of John, he quotes the Lord Jesus as saying: “And He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.” (8:29) Where does true prayer begin, a prayer that God the Father answers? Of course, it begins in the mind and heart of God. However, it is revealed in the communion that the believer, as did the Lord Jesus, has with the Father. It is not a hard thing to know the Father’s will if one walks with God, in the will of God, living to please and honor Him. The problem concerning unanswered prayer has its origin in a walk that is not in the light of Jesus’s life, and truth. Why? Because there is no true communion with God, and a receptivity to the Spirit, by whom alone is the will of God revealed. In Paul’s wonderful letter to the Colossian believers, he prayed and desired, “…that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” (1:9) Why did he pray in this manner? He continues: “…That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (1:10) Here is the key to knowing the will of God, being aligned with His purpose and way. His way is always that of true communion with Him, true “fellowship,” as the Apostle John puts it in his first letter. The worthy walk with God is the testimony of this fellowship. Essential to that walk and communion with God is increasing knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, in every aspect of that walk. The motive in such a walk and communion is the same as that of the Lord Jesus, doing all to please the Father. The outworking of such a walk, and communion, is fruit, even fruitfulness…being filled with the fruits of righteousness by Christ Jesus. It is the revelation of the life of Christ in and through the life. The personal blessing and reward of such a walk in the increasing knowledge of God. This is that same knowledge of Christ of which the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi, “…that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” (3:10) How then must one pray, according to the will of God, in the name of Jesus, by the Spirit, to have one’s voice heard on high? What prayer is there that God will answer without a doubt, being crafted and revealed to the mind and heart by the Spirit, for the glory of Christ?
The first thing in the matter of prayer is God, recognition of Him, and the worship of Him. This is evidenced by the first phrase in what is called “The Lord’s Prayer:” “…Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” We then go to the matter of His kingdom, or reign, the government of our lives being wholly placed on His shoulder, choosing and earnestly desiring that His will be done “…in earth as it is in heaven.”
The second thing is to take the truths of the word of God, and those of the work of Christ, and the knowledge of Christ, as the very basis for praying. Hence, we begin prayer, and continue therein, in the following manner:
- O Father, if Thou has created us in Christ, made us complete in Him, apply the precious, and powerful, blood of the covenant to us, cleansing us thoroughly from all sin.
- O Father, if we are vessels of clay, take them and empty them of sin, self, Satan, and the world, sanctifying them wholly for your purpose and service.
- O Father, if we are utterly dependent upon Thee for all, fill us all to overflowing with the Spirit of God.
We thank Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.