John 16:23-24 says "In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."
As I consider these verses there is great hope and promise, yet there is also sorrow. The sorrow is there because we tend to try to live this promise backwards. We want to be satisfied, with much joy and then we will be willing go to God. Even when we eventually go and ask, it isn’t really with much faith because we are asking for what we want. But the truth is, most of the time we don’t even bother to ask for anything.
Look at how this promise is given to us. Jesus says, God will give us whatever we ask for in His name. Now to understand this promise we must understand what ‘in His name’ means. This means that we know God and His Word well enough that we know what will bring Him the most glory and that is what we are asking for. It also means we are asking in His authority and power. So how is your relationship with God? Now, if we are praying according to this, then we know God will give us anything we ask for. This automatically leads to complete joy. Look at your joy level. Remember, happiness is a response to outward stimulus and joy is an expression of an inward condition. The condition of being in right relationship with God. Do you have joy? Is it just a bit of joy or is it complete joy? If we are lacking in joy then it indicates that we have been lacking in relationship and asking. If we have been lacking in asking this might indicate that our motives have been wrong. The bottom line is that God wants to do so much more for us in answer to our prayers. We just need to start praying they way He has said. May your days be filled with many answered prayers and complete joy.
