JESUS’ “WHATEVER” PROMISES

 

 

It is easy to misunderstand Jesus’ teachings for a number of reasons:

 

• We might not want to understand them.

• We might not be in tune with the Spirit who guides our understanding.

• Scripture interprets Scripture. Therefore, our understanding of the Bible might not be full enough to accurately interpret a particular verse.

• We might misunderstand the Biblical terminology.

 

Let me give you an example of the final principle:

 

• “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7 ASV)

 

Although some interpret this verse as Jesus offering us a blank check for “whatever” we want, it places upon us several requirements. We must abide in Jesus and His Words must govern our lives. He and His teachings must be #1.

 

When this is so, we have despaired of self and want His will above our own. Consequently, the Lord’s Prayer will govern our will and heart, and we will therefore pray according to His will:

 

• Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)

 

It is only after we get our priorities straight that we should ask for our “daily bread.” Therefore, as His servants, we should first seek to bear fruit for Him:

 

• “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” (John 15:16-17)

 

We are to be bearing fruit for our Lord, loving one another. Therefore, the promise of “whatever you ask” only pertains to those who have put God’s will above their own.

 

To ask in “my name” also pertains to asking according to Jesus’s nature and will. When we do so, we can be sure that we will receive “whatever we ask”:

 

• And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15)

 

Therefore, when I ask Jesus to make me a more loving servant and husband, I am confident that He is doing so, even though this is a slow and often painful process.

 

We cannot have this assurance when we ask for things not according to His will:

 

• You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:3)

 

As a young Christian, I would mine the Scriptures for verses that would make me feel good about myself. By God’s patient mercies, I now read them to understand what is most important—the will and mind of God.

 

This might seem burdensome, but this also will become a delight as you continue to abide in His Word, as it had been for Jesus:

 

• Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (John 4:34)

 

Obedience is nourishing!