Sunday, March 01, 2009
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The Power of Prayer
Dr. Frederick K.C. Price
If the only way we can pray is in the name of Jesus, then we need to know, "How
did Jesus pray?" I know many of you will almost immediately think of the
Lord's Prayer. However, I do not consider that to be the model prayer for a
Christian.
What instructions did Jesus give us--the Believers--for the time after He had
ascended? You will find that in John 16:23, where Jesus, speaking to His
disciples, says, "And in that day..." Right there we have to stop and ask, what
"day" does He mean?
It is obvious that if He said, "in that day" then He did not mean "in this day"
(the day in which He was living). Put another way, He was contrasting the
future (from the time He was speaking) to the present in which He spoke.
Another way of putting this would be to say, "In the future..."
01
This is a little-discussed point, but note that in the three and a half years
we have any record of, the disciples never one time prayed to the Father for
anything. Whenever they needed something, they asked Jesus for it. I mean, why
would you drive a hundred miles to the company warehouse to buy some shaving
cream when the local store owned by that company has it a half mile down the
block?
Jesus was right there with them. Anything they needed, He supplied it. When the
waves crashed in on their boat, they awoke Him and said, "Save us, Lord!"
When someone was sick, they said. "Lord, this person is ill. Please heal him."
Whatever it was, they asked it of Him directly, not of God the Father.
So it is significant that when we read John 16:23, we find Jesus after
explaining to them He was going to the Father soon, saying, "And in that day you
will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father
in My name He will give you." Remember, just a little earlier in John 14:14
we read: "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it [for you]." Yet here He
says, "Don't ask Me anything, but instead ask the Father in My name."
He elaborates on this in verse 24: "Until now you have asked nothing in My
name. Ask [or a better transition is, "Ask now," or "Ask, after this point,
in My name"], and you will receive, that your joy may be full." Do you see the
difference? While Jesus was with them physically, they asked Him.
But soon after Jesus said those words, He would not be with them anymore, and
they would have to ask the Father in His name. Why couldn't they ask the
Father in His name while Jesus still walked with them? Jesus had not delegated
that name to them yet. He hadn't died and risen from the dead.
Notice also that Jesus said, "You will receive, that [or, "in order that"] your
joy may be full." God wants us to have full joy. Not just tolerable joy
or partial joy, but full joy. Full joy is when your pantry is well stocked and
you aren't hungry every night. Full joy is when your car works and can take
you to your job without breaking down.
Full joy is when your body is whole and you aren't battling sickness and
disease every day. That does not mean that you should not be joyful when
circumstances
are not perfect, but that is not God's best for you.
In these verses we have the "how to pray" from Jesus: "And in that day you will
ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father
in My name..." tells us everything we need to know about how to pray. That is
the key that starts the car of faith, if you will.
You need to know what to do with the car once it's running, and you need to
know what to pray for after you begin your prayer, but this is the formula
for an answered prayer. You are to "ask the Father in My name." Do not ask
Jesus. Unless you are engaging in praise and worship ("Thank You, Jesus, for
Your sacrifice," or "Praise You, Jesus, that You are King of kings and Lord or
lords"), you do not pray to Jesus. He said so.
Instead, you are to direct your requests to the Father in Jesus' name. It's
like a letter. "Heavenly Father" is the introduction, the "Dear So-and-So,"
and "In the name of Jesus" is your signature line. You sign your prayer in His
name, not your own. Your name doesn't carry any weight in the spirit world.
Just try healing the sick in the name of Tom, or in the name of Cheryl, or in
the name of Buddha, and see who gets healed! Those names do not have the
authority to heal anyone.
What you put in between the "introduction" and the "signature" is all you.
Dr. Frederick K.C. Price
O. Addison Gethers
e-mail address : [email protected] or [email protected]
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