John 16:26,27
In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.
Do we realize the fullness of the statement made by our Savior above? I wish every child of God would embrace it wholeheartedly! When Jesus says, “I do not say…I shall pray the Father for you,” He’s not refusing to pray for us, but He wants us to grasp the reality of our sonship! Concerning prayer, we have been placed on equal footing with Christ and don’t have to ask Him to pray to the Father for us! It’s our right and our privilege go to God directly!!! Do you realize that every believer is just as much a child of God as Jesus Christ is? Just listen to Rom 8:15-17:
“…you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…”
We are “joint heirs with Christ,” co-inheritors! The Lord Jesus has done such a good work in our salvation, His blood cleansing us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7), that we can now approach the Father boldly in prayer just as He does (Heb 4:16)! I’ve heard people say that they would rather ask another person to pray for them because that person was closer to God, as if his or her prayer would carry more weight with the Father. If Christ Himself said that we didn’t have to ask Him to pray to the Father for us but that we had the privilege to go to the Father directly, do you think we need to ask anyone else? I’m not saying we shouldn’t ask others to pray for us. Asking others to pray for us is biblical (Col 4:3), but we do it that they might strive together with us (Rom 15:30), helping us to bear our burdens, not because they are more important to the Father.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He didn’t say, “You’d better let me handle that for you; after all, I am the only begotten of the Father!” Nope, He said that when we pray, we should say, “Our Father….” He welcomes and enjoys our direct communication with Him. We insult the Father’s love for us if we approach prayer any other way!
Jamie