Demanding as a Covenant Right
David W Palmer
Even before we start today, let’s clarify that this title has nothing to do with making demands of God. He is Lord and King; he can command us if he wants to, but we do not command him. Now, let’s unpack what Jesus meant when he said:
(John 14:13–14 NKJV) “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. {14} If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Initially, this looks like a wonderful prayer promise that says we can ask Jesus for “whatever,” and he will do it. But, before we draw any conclusions about what Jesus said here, we have to consider that at the same supper he also said:
(John 16:23 NKJV) “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”
Praying to the Father in Jesus’s name is very clear here in what the Lord said, and it fits with the other prayer promises he gave. But he also said that “in that day” we will ask him nothing.” That makes it sound like we don’t pray asking him for things. So what did he mean when he said, “Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do”? Let’s investigate:
To begin to understand a passage of Scripture like this, we need to look at the meaning of the original words Jesus used, the context in which the passage is placed, how it blends with the other things Jesus said and the apostle’s doctrine (in other words, what the Holy Spirit says in the rest of the new testament.)
The word, “ask,” that Jesus used in this promise has several shades of meaning: to ask, request; demand; desire (Mounce). Interestingly, Strongs dictionary of NT Greek words contrasts it with the word that simply means, “to ask and enquire”; it explains that the word we are looking at is “strictly a demand of something due.” From this quick study, we see that the word Jesus used for, “ask,” in our opening passage can mean a demand—of something due: a right, a payment, or a privilege, etc. This doesn’t sound at all like a humble request of the Father in prayer. So, what does it mean?
Let’s next look at the context. In John 14, just prior to making this covenant promise, Jesus said:
(John 14:12 NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
When we read, “ask anything in my name, I will do it.” Jesus added it in connection with, and as further explanation of, the promise that those who believe in him will do the “works” that he did and “greater.” So, this is about miracles, dealing with demons, healing, storm stilling, and multiplication, etc.
Then, as we compare what Jesus said here to other passages, we simply don’t find any examples of Jesus commanding his Father or demanding anything of him. Instead, we read that he only did what he saw with his Father, obeyed his commands, and prayed, “Not my will but yours be done” (See: John 5:19–20, 10:18, 12:49, Luke 22:42).
But in other passages, we do read that Jesus told us to make commands and demands in his name:
(Mark 16:17 NKJV) “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons …”
What does Jesus mean when he says, “In my name”? He means that we are to operate as his delegates that he sends with his message. Remember, our Lord said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21 NKJV)—he sent us under the same type of delegation. If Jesus did only what he saw with his Father, said, and did only as his Father commanded him, that’s how we should understand our delegation from Jesus. This is how we get to do the works he did.
In this context, we can see that Jesus’s offer to do what we ask, demand, or require in his name is not talking about us asking him to do it for us. Quite to the contrary, it is about us doing in his name what he is sending and telling us to do and say.
