Fulfilled

January 8

John 16:23, 24 extends a powerful promise to the people of God from the lips of the Lord Jesus Himself. Here He says, “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 full.”

Could Jesus have made a more expansive promise than that? Could any promise given to us fulfill the longing of our hearts and souls to the degree that this one does? “…My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name…” Oh, what love the Father has for us! Oh, what power is in the name of Jesus!

Combine the fact of the Father’s love with the power of the Son’s name and heaven and earth open before the supplicant! We may achieve the goals we yearn to attain and we may possess the things we long to own—it seems the promise is without reservation! It seems the ticket to ‘Easy Street,’ the way to lifelong self-indulgence and aggrandizement.

Yet, the reality is that if a man truly loves Jesus with all his heart, soul, mind, and spirit, his supplication before the Father will reflect that love. He will not ask for the trappings of power and wealth, for those things will have no allure for him. The man after Christ’s heart will ask for the treasures of the Kingdom, for souls won to the Lord—and his longing will be fulfilled.

When we are one with Christ as Christ is one with the Father, when our spirits are united with the Holy Spirit of the Living and True God, our desire will be toward Him. As I John 5:14 tells us, we will approach Him with boldness because as James 4:8 assures, "When you draw near to God, He draws near to you."

We have no doubt in our mind or reservation in our spirit, for we have been promised by the Christ Himself that as we boldly surrender our hearts, our lips, our prayers to Him, He will be near us; He will be our "Advocate with the Father," I John 2:1. He not only washes us clean of sin, but invests His power in the behalf of the prayers He lays upon our hearts.

When we have given our lives to Him for time and for eternity, He will invest Himself in us. He will plead our case before the Father, and He will send His Holy Spirit to "teach us all things," John 14:26. With His guidance, we will know "how to pray as we ought," Romans 8:26. When we are praying His own prayers, we can be assured that the longing of our heart will be fulfilled.