If we have the Spirit—what’s the point of praying?

In v. 23 Jesus says “in that day”… He’s in a the night before he died. And he’s not talking about the day after this conversation, when he will die. “That day” will be after this, when he’s finished his work and sent the Spirit to be with the disciples.

As he said back in chapter 14 vv. 16 and 20:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth… In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

So, if Jesus is talking about the day when he’s already finished his work and given them the Spirit: What’s left to pray for? Why pray at all? What’s the point of prayer?

It connects to bigger problems we often struggle with about prayer: If God’s in charge, what’s the point of praying? God knows everything already. He’s already decided what’s going to happen.

Or, I never seem to get what I ask for, so why bother praying?

Prayer is so boring, it feels like a waste of time. It feels like nothing really happens or matters. So, what’s the point of praying?

Today we’re just going to zoom in on two verses, vv. 23-24. Where Jesus gives two very simple encouragements:

1) Ask God for things he loves to give
2) Because he’d love to give them to you

First, 1) Ask God for what he loves to give

Jesus says in v. 23,

In that day you will ask nothing of me.

Now, the word “ask” that he says here means:
—to ask for information
—to ask to understand

Jesus is saying to the disciples: in the day when you have the Spirit, you won’t need to keep asking me about who I am, because you’ll understand who I am.

And that’s significant because that’s what it means to ask God for things “in Jesus’ name.”

Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

The word Jesus uses for “ask” here is not the same word. It doesn’t mean “Ask for information.” It means “ask to get something.”—so to ask the Father for things means to pray.

And he says the disciples will be given whatever they ask for if they ask “in Jesus’ name.”

He repeats that idea in v. 24:

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

The disciples won’t need to keep asking Jesus questions about his identity and mission, because they’ll have the Spirit, know Jesus, and so be able to ask God for things in Jesus’ name.

At the beginning of the Bible, in the book of Exodus, chapter 34, God “proclaimed his name” to Moses.

Which simply meant: telling Moses what God is truly like, and what he does in the world.

God tells Moses two things, vv. 5-7:

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

God proclaimed his name to Moses and two him these two things: He is a just God: always fair, and righteous according to the Law. And he is a merciful God: always gracious and merciful according to the Gospel.

Now, the night before he dies, in the next chapter in John’s Gospel, 17 verse 6, Jesus is about to say this to the Father:

I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.

Jesus himself is the true, final, ultimate, and perfect revelation of God’s name—of who God is and how he acts.

And so when Jesus says to the disciples now:

…whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you…

Jesus means… Ask God for what he loves to give based on what you know about me, His Son.

And the disciples will know exactly who Jesus is and what he’s like because “in that day” they will have the Spirit.

This is the reason prayer seems hard or pointless or worthless: because we do not talk to God in light of who Jesus is.

We don’t approach God trusting that he’s good. We don’t ask God for things that Jesus shows us he wants to give us. We don’t ask for things that are kind of obviously what God wants to give, in light of who Jesus is.

To ask “in Jesus’ name” doesn’t mean simply to tack that phrase onto the end of a prayer like a magic formula.

To say “…in Jesus’ name. Amen.” on its own means nothing.

No, to pray in Jesus’ name means to pray on the basis of what Jesus has done for us, and what Jesus reveals to us that God is for us.

It means to pray in faith that God is good and that he wants to give us what he promises.

To pray in line with Jesus’ character, work, and mission, just as he has revealed those things to us in his Word.

You can look through John’s Gospel, and see all sorts of things Jesus promises and reveals about who God is and what he’s doing.

Here’s a few examples.

John 6:29:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

This week, when I got the really big discouragement that I mentioned earlier, I cried, I fell into despair, I honestly started feeling everything was pointless.

But, Jesus reveals in his Word that God’s work is to give me faith, assurance, confidence, that he has sent Jesus for my good and has a purpose.

So, instead of despairing, I should have been a better pastor and Asked God for what he loves to give: asked for faith.

Imagine how different my response would have been if I’d done that instead of despairing?

For the last few months, I’ve been dealing with conflict, and almost every decision not known what the best thing to do is. I say that because you all in different ways know that feeling. I know, talking to you all, that you also struggle not knowing which way to turn. We especially feel that in conflict or pressure from others.

Well, John 8:12:

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Instead of feeling sorry for myself that I don’t know what to do: I should have been a better pastor and Asked God for what he loves to give

Jesus reveals that he actually gives us light in our lives: clarity about the best direction to turn, wisdom about what to do.

James 1:5 makes this promise absolutely literal and explicit:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

My problem—just being honest—is that I so often just don’t believe these promises, and don’t believe God is really good and that he really wants to give them to me, So, I don’t even bother asking.

Every Sunday we pray for church growth, but—if I’m honest—what I don’t do is pray for it in the way Jesus promises it.

Multiple times in John’s Gospel, Jesus promises to strengthen us to talk about the Gospel, so that we will bear fruit:

John 4:35:

lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

John 15:16:

I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 17:20-21:

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

If I were a better pastor, I wouldn’t just keep praying for “church growth” in the vague, half-hearted way that I usually do, but I would ask God for what he loves to give …that the Spirit would give me power to consistently talk boldly about Christ and through that the Gospel would bear fruit.

Jesus wants me to ask for God things in this way: “in his name”: with faith in God’s goodness he shows to me in Jesus and specifically to ask God for what he loves to give which he reveals to us in Jesus,

Because as this happens I build a genuine and real relationship with Him, and so, v. 24:

Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Now, are you anything like me? Do you basically struggle to think of God as good and generous, and so don’t ask him for things confident he want to give? Do you basically approach him with your own thoughts and agenda and so are not really asking him for things “in Jesus’ name”?

These things are why I either pray badly, or simply don’t pray at all. Ask God for what he loves to give

And why? 2) Because he’d love to give it to you

Genuinely, this is what he wants to do. God relates to us in this way: making us promises in His Word, that we trust in and so ask for in prayer, so that we will have a real and actual relationship with Him.

And exercising that relationship will bring us joy.

The Father wants to hear from you and wants to give you this stuff, because, vv. 26-27:

In that day you will ask in my name… for the Father himself loves you,

How do you know the Father would love to give you these things? How do you know He is on your side and loves you and is generous? Well… as Jesus prays in John 17:6:

I have manifested your name

How can you be sure God really wants to give you faith that is assurance, confidence, that he loves you and you’re cared for?

Well… he gave his Son to die so you could have faith. If His Son died so you could have faith, he’s pretty committed already to giving it to you.

When you lack wisdom and walk darkness, in the middle of stressful situations that feel overwhelming: how do you know that God wants to give you wisdom?

Jesus literally descended to Hell, to spit in Satan’s face and pull you up from darkness, as a captive set free.

Why would God defeat death itself, only to leave you groping in the dark, trapped and captive by people or structures with murky motives?

If Jesus went all the way down there to set you free from Satan to walk in the light, of course God wants to give you wisdom to walk in the light through whatever situation you’re facing.

When you’re discouraged at the size of our church, how do you know that God wants to give you boldness to talk about Jesus and see the church bear fruit?

Because Jesus was literally dead, and he sat up in that tomb, walked to the doorway, and pushed the stone out the way, so he could go and breath his Spirit onto the disciples.

Why would Jesus bother doing all that, if he didn’t want to give you His Spirit today to share the Gospel boldly and effectively in Manchester?

And do you think God wants you to be miserable? v. 24:

Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

God wants to give you all these things that align with Jesus’ work and mission, and he wants to give them to you in response to prayer, so that you’ll experience joy.

How serious is God about that? Just look at what Jesus did to enable you to ask: He stood there silent while the crowd shamed Him. He winced in pain while the soldier flogged Him. He stumbled walking while the cross weighed on Him. He hung there lonely while his life and friends abandoned Him.

Would God love to give you these things? Of course—because it’s cost Him so much already.

If we have the Spirit—what’s the point of praying?

We all have hang ups and problems about prayer: If God’s in charge, what’s the point? If I have the Spirit already, why should I? I’ve tried it before, it seems to do nothing.

Well, Jesus commands and encourages you to ask the Father for things “in his name”

That means:

1) Ask God for things he loves to give

And, you know Jesus. You know the sorts of things he cares about. We’ve listed a few today: Faith, assurance God loves you. Light, wisdom in difficult things. Fruit, in our lives and the church as we share the Gospel. Joy, as we trust God’s Word, and so ask and receive.

2) Because he’d love to give them to you

How do you know that? Look at Jesus. Look at what he’s done. Look at what he reveals about the Father’s attitude. God would not go to all that trouble, if he did not want to give you what you ask for.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you… Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.