TEXT: John 16:21-27
21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
We are in a series of messages titled “Praying Through the Bible: A Series on Every Passage and Verse Regarding Prayer in the Bible.” The purpose of this series is to encourage and motivate you to pray to the God of the Bible. We highlighted each of these over 500 verses and passages in the Prayer Motivator Devotional Bible. So far, we have completed 183 messages in this series.
This is message #184 titled, Turning Sorrow Into Joy Through Prayer, Part 5
So far, from this passage, we have seen three great truths that Jesus revealed to His disciples regarding prayer.
First, that they (and all Christians) can pray to God in Jesus’ name and have the guarantee that their prayers will be heard in Heaven.
Second, that we will gain joy from our communication with God and from our prayers being answered by God.
Third, that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, there is no more division between us and God. He speaks to us plainly through the Holy Spirit, and we speak to Him plainly through prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Now, Jesus gives His disciples another great truth regarding prayer in the New Testament age. In verse 26 He says, “At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you.” Jesus tells His disciples that after His resurrection, they will be able to pray to God in Jesus’ name. He will no longer need to pray to the Father on our behalf. This does not negate the fact that He is indeed interceding for us before God’s throne. It simply lets us know that Jesus prays for us out of love, not out of necessity. We can pray to God for ourselves as long as we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Jesus continues, “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” This is yet another great truth regarding prayer. Why can we pray to God as believers? Simply because God Himself loves us. Nothing stands in the way of God’s love for us. For the Bible says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God loves us directly and intimately. William Barclay said, “Here Jesus is saying: ‘You can go to God, because he loves you,’ and he is saying that before the Cross. He did not die to change God into love; he died to tell us that God is love. He came, not because God so hated the world, but because he so loved the world. Jesus brought to men the love of God.”
Why does God love us? Jesus tells us that it is because “ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” Now, this does not mean that God did not love us before we believed in Jesus. It simply means that God loves us in a different way than He loved us before. Before, He loved us as helpless sinners in need of a Saviour. He had pity and compassion on us. Now, He loves us as children, people who are a part of His family. It is this approach that we are privileged to take when we pray to Him.
We do not trade our belief in Jesus for God’s love of us. God does not operate based on bargains. He loves us of His own free will, and He allows us to be a part of His family. As one commentator said, “faith and love is melted together” in a unique bond of blessing and friendship. Jesus really wants His disciples to grasp this truth as they face the dark night of the crucifixion when it seems as though God turns His back on them (which actually happens for Jesus).
Taking all of His words into consideration, Jesus wants His disciples to get this message: Although you are facing a sorrowful situation, you can have joy because you have a connection with the Heavenly Father who loves you. You can pray to Him and He will hear you. He will turn your sorrow into joy. The same thing goes for us today. Jesus wants us to know that our sorrow can be turned into joy if we turn our eyes to God and the relationship that we have with Him through Jesus Christ. That relationship is one we enjoy through the practice of faithful prayer.
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Now, if you are with us today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, your first prayer needs to be what we call the Sinner’s Prayer. First, please understand that you are a sinner, just as I am, and that you have broken God’s laws. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! Congratulations on trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. You have done the most important thing in life. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.
Gospel Light House of Prayer International 