Scripture Daily

Context No. 3401 of 4322 · John

Context · Reflection

John 16:23-28: in context

23“In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. 25“I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you that I will pray to the Father for you, 27for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

Jesus tells his disciples of a new access to God: in that day, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. And then he says something striking about the Father's own heart: I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and believed that I came from God.

Jesus is not a reluctant go-between coaxing a distant, unwilling God to care. The Father himself loves us, directly and already. Because of Christ, we come to a Father whose heart is already turned toward us in love, not one who must be persuaded to notice us. Prayer in Jesus' name is not overcoming God's reluctance but drawing on a love that is already there and welcoming. And the aim of such prayer is joy: ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. We pray to a Father glad to give, whose love was never in doubt.

Do I pray to a Father who already loves me because of Christ, drawing on his welcoming love rather than trying to persuade a reluctant God?

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