This is part 3 of 3 of Lesson 8: Indestructible Hope. Click here to go back to the introduction to this lesson.
So what about God ‘freely’ giving us ‘all things’ (from the text we discussed in the last section)? How does this work? It is similar to the following quote from Jesus:
‘If you ask anything in My name, I will do it’ John 14:14 (NKJV)
I think the key here is asking anything in ‘My name’. Asking in Jesus’ name is more than just saying ‘in Jesus’ name at the end of your prayer.
When the Bible refers to God’s ‘Name’ it is usually a reference to His character. Praying in Jesus’ name is praying for things according to God’s will, according to what’s in line with His character. As Tim Jennings says in this week’s lesson podcast, it’s not a blank cheque to pray for a new sports car…
Prayer, and how God answers prayer is a whole discussion topic of it’s own that we might get into further in later lessons this quarter.
For now I’d say that God does answer prayer, but there are a lot of times where we have to wait on the Lord – the timing is not us. Other times it’s a clear no, and only in retrospect in heaven will we understand why the ‘no’ was in our best interests.
But for now it’s over to hearing from you in the comments below and we’ll see you next week.
