Whatsoever Ye Shall Ask

Rolesville Baptist Church Cemetery, Rolesville, North Carolina

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son”
(John 14:13)

The Modern Church, as She is referred to now, blamelessly convicts Christians of the idolatry of self. This is much apparent in the failure to invoke the name of Jesus in prayer. Near to the Passion and Ascent (John 16:16), Jesus instructed His disciples of His prayerful name granting requests. John 14:6 reveals that the Son of God is the Chancellor of Affairs with God. He is the Ambassador of the Almighty, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Resolute, no other name penetrates the heavenly realm. His guardianship of access to God is unmatched: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). Christian supplication has been reduced to the tolerant name of “God,” for many gods are worshiped in America. A non-sectarian prayer does not evoke the harmony of man and God. Neither is it answered with intention. Christian prayer should never resemble the secular corporation of approaching God’s throne (Matthew 5:34).


Perhaps it is humiliation that is a barrier to enacting the name of Jesus Christ at the close of an inquiry. Biblically confused, some congregants may consider it unnecessary to pray altogether, “(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:32). However, Jesus personally taught the disciples the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-15). It was the model of petition, for Jesus declared that anything prayed in His name would be awarded, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). Therefore, it is wise for the Body of Christ to neglect not the Words of our Savior. For God so loved the world, sending forth His Only Begotten (John 3:16), and the Lord of lords requited that love in the glorification of Jehovah: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). Jesus Christ’s name frightens devils (James 2:19), but its’ resonating power and pervasiveness of capability inflicts promise: “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (John 16:23). The Father and His Son are one (John 10:30), indicating prayers from Earth ascend to the Right Hand of God, in Jesus’ imploring of the Father: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). Pray in Jesus’ name. 

Gethsemane

Antioch Baptist Church, Blacksburg, South Carolina

“Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee; And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was”
(John 17:1b,5b)

I bowed my knees proper

And lonely I drained the basin

My sweat beaded hastily

All stress endued by Satan


And the path broken; shattered

No return to the Eden before

Dimness of light on all corners

The perseverance higher; the intensity the storm


My tears as blood dripping

Sorrow in a cup running over

It is but chastening by my Lord

I am brittle; brushed asunder


The dawn of Calvary bled

Minutes, if not hours premature

For the anguish tethered my soul

To the heart did mercilessness incur


Battered by demons; rotted

A carcass no man would touch

I lunged to that cross; fallen

Into the hands of God I submitted my trust


And now glorify Thy Son

With the glory that was revealed