Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 14:13-14

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do." — John 14:13-14 (ASV)

And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.

Is that promise true for everyone? Certainly not. It was made by Christ to his own disciples, and not to all of them absolutely, but only to them as they believe in him, as they are filled with his Spirit, and as they keep his commandments.

There are some of God's children who have little power with him in prayer—some who walk so disorderly that, since they do not listen to God's words, he will not listen to theirs.

Yet he will give them necessities, as you give even to your naughty and disobedient children; but he will not give them the luxury of prevailing prayer, and that full fellowship with him which comes through abiding in him. Such luxuries he saves for his obedient children, who are filled with his Spirit.

Even under the old dispensation, David wrote, Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you shall dwell in the land, and truly you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the Lord; and he shall give you the desires of your heart; and in a very special sense, under the new dispensation, that spirituality of mind, which enables us to delight in God, is a necessary antecedent to our obtaining the desires of our heart in the high and spiritual sphere of prayer.

And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

There is the only limit to true believing prayer. There are some things which we could not ask in Christ's name; that is, using his authority in asking for them. There are some wishes and whims that we may cherish, not that we think we may pray about; but we do not have Christ's name or authority to warrant us in expecting that we will realize them, and therefore we cannot ask for them in his name.

To say, "For Christ's sake," is one thing; but to say, "I ask this in Christ's name," is quite another matter. He never authorized you to make use of his name about everything. There are only certain things about which you can pray in his name, such as are the express subject of a divine promise, and when you pray for one of those things, you will prove Christ's words to be true, If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Every word in this address of Christ was full of comfort to his disciples.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

It does not mean that every prayer will be answered. The power to ask a thing in Christ's name is not given to everybody. It is not merely to say at the end of your prayer, "for Christ's sake." It is another thing; it is to be able to feel that, as Christ stood in your place, so you dare stand in Christ's place; and what you have asked, you have asked in his name, feeling that what you have asked is such that Christ would have asked it. Now, when you can feel that, and can feel that Christ puts his seal on what you have asked, then, you ask in his name.

A person cannot always speak in the name of another; cannot do it at all unless he has received an authorization to do so. Then he stands as that person's deputy; stands in his place; speaks in his name. I am sure that nine out of ten of the prayers of Christians are not offered in the name of Christ, and could not be. It would be a sin against Christ for such prayers to be supposed to be the prayers of Christ. But when we talk of the Spirit of God, and we dare ask in the name and use the seal of Christ to set his signature at the bottom of our petition, then, brothers, depend on it Christ will do it.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Observe the breadth of prayer: If ye shall ask any thing. Yet observe also the limit of prayer: If ye shall ask any thing in my name.

There are some things which we should not ask in Christ's name, as we have no promise about them, or because we have indications that they would be contrary to God's usual method of procedure. We must not ask, in the name of Christ, for what would be absurd or outrageous for us to expect God to grant, nor dare we use that sacred name in pleading for things which would only be for the satisfaction of our own will.

We must let the will of God rise above all; but, subject to that will, we may ask anything in Christ's name, and he will do it.