What Jesus Said About Prayer - Part 4

Disclaimer: Please note this is not a review of the Hagin Ministry Series. This post was made to share with you the journey I am going on while reading this book and studying Gods word. It is here posetd in my own words, while sharing some quotes of the book and for encouragement purposes only!

Brief  Recap:

•  Pray, Believe, Recieve
• The Word of Faith
• The Light of The Word

Bible Texts: John 14:10-14; 16:7-14, 23-24

Thought To Ponder: Whatever our need may be, it is our privilege in Christ to demand that this need be met.

John 14:10-14 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Again taking a look at the Gospel of John about prayer. We know that John did not record anything the other Gospel writers did in regard to prayer. We also know that the other writers did not note anything that John wrote about.
John notes, "if everything Jesus said and did was written, the world itself could not contain the books." John also said, He wrote that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God." So again we see that not all of the Gospel writers wrote on the same things.

Mr. Hagin notes, in this lesson that many believe John 14:10-14 refers to prayer. But in fact it does not. He then moves on to break and compare this chapter up with John 16:23-24, which is noted below:

John 16:23-24 At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

(scripture ref is in NLT)
In chapter 16 of John, Jesus was talking about something different then in chapter 14. In chapter 16, Jesus said in verse 23, "At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name." But in John 14:13 Jesus says, "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father." So we see He is talking about two different things.

• To Demand As Our Right

Mr. Hagin goes on to say, lets examine these scriptures in the Greek New Testament. The Greek word here translated "ask" means "demand". Or, "You can "demand" for anything in my name, and I will do it" We are not demanding it of God. When we pray, we ask of God in Jesus Name. But we are demanding this of the devil. If we look at the Greek translation it would say, (KJV)"Whatsoever ye shall demand as your right...." (not ask as a favor).

Whatever we ask or demand as our right, Jesus said, "I will do it." We have the right to demand that satan take his hands off our finances if we are having dificulty making ends meed. Whatever our need may be, it is our privelege, our right, in Christ to ask, to demand, that this need be met.

• Greater Works

Not only did Jesus say that we would do the same works that He did; He also said, ".... and GREATER works that these shall he do..." (John 14:12) The He continues on to tell us why we would do greater works:  ".... because I go unto my Father." The great works that the Chruch can do and is doing today are due to the fact that Jesus has gone to the Father.

John 16:7-11 ⁷ But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate^[a] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. ⁹ The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. ¹⁰ Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. ¹¹ Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

What are these greater works? We show men and women how to become born again. Someone might ask, Weren't people saved, or born again? They were saved in the same sense that people in the Old Testament were saved, but they were not "born again." The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary in the New Birth, and while Jesus was on earth the Holy Spirit had not yet been given. This is why Jesus said in verse 7 of John 16, "⁷ But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate^[a] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you."

Some may ask, Didn't Jesus forgive people's sin while He was here on earth?" Yes, but there is a difference between having one's sin forgiven and being born again. After a person is born again, If he sins, he can get forgiveness, but he is not born again a second time. (If that were true we would be born again a thousand times) The New Birth is a greater work that a healing or a miracle. So people were not born again while Jesus was on earth. The next thing to note is, we never read in the four Gospels, "and the Lord added daily to the Chruch such as should be saved." However, we do see this repeatedly in the Book of Acts. This is because there wasn't any Church in Jesus' day in the sense that we think of the New Testament Church. So the only body of Christ that was here on earth was Jesus physical body.

• Praying in Jesus' Name

(NLT)In John 16:23 ²³ At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.     When He said, "at that time you won't need to ask me for anything," He was referring to the day in which we now live      the day of the New Covenant, the day of the New Testament. One translation notes, "In that day ye shall not pray to me."  He told us not to pray to Him but to pray to the Father in Jesus' Name. John 16:23 "At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name" verse 24 reads, "You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy."

He was telling His disciples that while He was on the earth with them, they did not pray to the Father in Jesus' Name; However, "in that day," when He would no longer be on earth, they would ask the Father in the Name of Jesus, "and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." 

In closing Mr. Hagin reminds us that, "Our Heavenly Father long to meet our every need      if only we would ask Him       so our joy may be full.

Memory Text:  Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!     John 14:14 NLT 

To get a copy of this book please visit:

http://www.rhema.org/store/the-will-of-god-in-prayer-book.html  


To read post number 2 and lesson 2 please click the link below:
http://hissevencones.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-jesus-said-about-prayer-lesson-3.html