Jesus' Prayer-answering Ministry
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 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 we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:13-15, NIV.
Jesus in His heavenly high priestly ministry not only functions as one who can save to the uttermost as our advocate and intercessor, but He also has a ministry of answering the prayers of His followers still on earth.
During His days of walking with the disciples He had repeatedly told them that their prayers would be answered. And now that He is in heaven John reveals a few more of the details of how prayer works. At the center, as we might expect, is Jesus Himself. Because of His earthly work for us we can come confidently before the Father in His name, knowing "that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us," we have assurance that God the Father and God the Son will respond to our prayers through the activity of God the Holy Spirit and the angels who do His bidding. Such is Christ's heavenly ministry of answering prayer. We have a Friend in heaven who became one of us and knows our needs through firsthand experience and is more than willing to facilitate the answering of the prayers of His saints. The ministry of prayer is a central function in His priestly activity in our day.
As we think about the verses for today's reading we see that John has the interesting habit of stating the purpose of his writing near the end of the document rather than at the beginning. Thus toward the conclusion of the fourth Gospel he tells his readers that these things "are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that in believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31, RSV).
He does the same thing in quite similar words in 1 John 5:13, but with a major difference. He composed the Gospel so that the readers might come to a belief in Jesus and so have life. The letter, however, he penned to those who were already believers but had had their faith shaken by internal conflict in their congregations. They had become unsettled about their standing before God and needed to regain confidence.
Some of us are in that latter category. We have accepted Jesus but have been battered by our own shortcomings and perhaps hurt by members of the church who in their carelessness have rattled our faith. John wants us to know that in spite of all the challenges we face and all the roadblocks life has thrown in our path, we can have confidence that we have a Friend in heaven intent in answering all prayers asked according to God's will.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 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 we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:13-15, NIV.
Jesus in His heavenly high priestly ministry not only functions as one who can save to the uttermost as our advocate and intercessor, but He also has a ministry of answering the prayers of His followers still on earth.
During His days of walking with the disciples He had repeatedly told them that their prayers would be answered. And now that He is in heaven John reveals a few more of the details of how prayer works. At the center, as we might expect, is Jesus Himself. Because of His earthly work for us we can come confidently before the Father in His name, knowing "that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us," we have assurance that God the Father and God the Son will respond to our prayers through the activity of God the Holy Spirit and the angels who do His bidding. Such is Christ's heavenly ministry of answering prayer. We have a Friend in heaven who became one of us and knows our needs through firsthand experience and is more than willing to facilitate the answering of the prayers of His saints. The ministry of prayer is a central function in His priestly activity in our day.
As we think about the verses for today's reading we see that John has the interesting habit of stating the purpose of his writing near the end of the document rather than at the beginning. Thus toward the conclusion of the fourth Gospel he tells his readers that these things "are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that in believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31, RSV).
He does the same thing in quite similar words in 1 John 5:13, but with a major difference. He composed the Gospel so that the readers might come to a belief in Jesus and so have life. The letter, however, he penned to those who were already believers but had had their faith shaken by internal conflict in their congregations. They had become unsettled about their standing before God and needed to regain confidence.
Some of us are in that latter category. We have accepted Jesus but have been battered by our own shortcomings and perhaps hurt by members of the church who in their carelessness have rattled our faith. John wants us to know that in spite of all the challenges we face and all the roadblocks life has thrown in our path, we can have confidence that we have a Friend in heaven intent in answering all prayers asked according to God's will.
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