Amazedنموونە

The Great Work of Prayer

After Jesus told his followers that they would do greater works, he immediately addressed the issue of prayer. "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:13-14, ESV). Hence, prayer is a crucial ministry of the greater works being done around the world.

In the verses above, Jesus relates asking in his name with the promise of answering our prayers. If you’ve been a believer for any length of time, you may have heard that simply ending a prayer with the words “in Jesus' name” does not guarantee our prayer will be answered. That isn’t shared to minimize or discourage anyone from praying in his name. Many, myself included, do just that. Nor is it designed to cause your faith to wane, leaving you to wonder if your prayers have any chance of being answered. The Bible teaches us to ask and says that we don’t have because we don’t ask (James 4:2). To that end, if we take the above verse with the following verses, we can notice a connection.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15, NIV).

When we ask according to God’s will, he not only hears us, but he also grants us what we ask. It may not happen immediately, but whatever God wills eventually occurs. And since the “greater works” are associated with the advance of the gospel, you and I can pray in faith. Whenever we ask God to be glorified in our lives, ministries, and the spread of the good news of Christ at home and around the world, we are praying in the will of God. The Bible affirms this in the way Jesus prayed (John 17:1, 5) and in what Jesus commanded several times before ascending to heaven (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-47, Acts 1:8).

Since prayer relates to the greater works, prayer is therefore a greater work. Jesus prayed before his activities, and the church was born after the disciples spent ten days in prayer. Thus, when we pray and do not give up, and then learn how God answers our prayers, we're amazed even further.

Reflection: How do the Scriptures below guide us in praying for the spread of the gospel? How does Romans 8:26-28 encourage our prayer life?

Matthew 9:36-38.*
Col. 4:2-6
2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

*To further examine the prayer from Matthew 9, you can access this author's reading plan, "The Prayer Request of Christ, The Impact of Sending Prayers."