“I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:13-14
Lord Jesus, these two little words—“so that”—make all the difference in the world in how we understand this magnificent and magnanimous passage. Though we would love the promise of getting anything we ask for to be a “blank check,” it’s actually something much more glorious.
When our chief aim and most desired gain in life is to bring glory to our Father through you, our prayer requests are radically impacted. We won’t think of you as a “genie in a bottle” catering to our whims and wishes. Rather we will trust you as our reigning King—who does all things well and all things to Abba’s glory.
So on this April Tuesday, our prayer list doesn’t include a magenta Maserati, Swiss chalet, or 100 10lb. gold bars—or even a hassle-free, storm-void, conflict-empty life. But here are three things we cannot do apart from you—3 things that will most definitely bring glory to Abba through you:
(1) Renew and “ramp up” our love for you, Jesus. So much so, we will seek your Kingdom with more passion and joy than we seek to be noticed and appreciated.
(2) Fill our hearts full of your Spirit and grace. So much so, we will effortlessly trust you in our most challenging relationships and hardest stories.
(3) Enable us to see you joyfully on your throne right now, and to hear the worship that’s filling the corridors of heaven, and to smell the grass of the soon-to-arrive new heaven and new earth. (Notice I crammed in 3 requests there?)
Jesus, you are so loving, sovereign, present, worthy, and precious (1Pet.2:4). So Very Amen.