John 14:12 – 14 reads, “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. 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.”
These are Christ’s words. These aren’t the words of one of the disciples. These words have authority and Jesus is telling the disciples that they will be able to do things just as great and greater than what Jesus did. And not only is Jesus telling the disciples that they will be able to do greater things but that, “he who believes in the Me; the works that I will do he will do also.” Jesus is not limiting only the disciples of then to these great works but He is saying that anyone who believes in Him present or future – will be able to do great things.
You may find that hard to believe today. The disciples may have thought that even more. This idea of doing great works because of a relationship with God was radical to the minds of the Jewish people then. Back in Palestine 2,000 only a select few pious, devout religious leaders could claim that they could ask God for anything and receive it. This idea never applied to the majority of believers, that is, until the Son of God, Jesus came along.
(Ask congregation what some of the great things that Jesus did while on earth)—affirm responses. Do you believe that we can do the same today? Jesus was expecting them, as He expects us, to continue these great things for Him today and tomorrow. And the disciples and believers have done and are doing just that.
It was like a time when I was a director for a large camp in Michigan in 1993. Half way during the summer one of my counselors received some terrible news. Her brother was rock climbing in the Northern Peninsula when he had lost his footing and fell sixty feet straight down landing on his head and neck. The doctors had already told her that afternoon he had massive swelling around his spinal column. They told her that he would probably be paralyzed and unable to walk. Jamie asked us to pray for her brother as she took the nearest flight to get to him.
It was a stormy afternoon and it seemed the whole camp was praying for Jamie and her brother. We waited and heard from her about seven o’clock that night. Her brother escaped serious injury after falling so far down and landing so badly. In fact, the doctors said that he had only sustained a concussion from the sixty foot fall and after they had run some tests he would be able to go home in the next few days.
That evening, as the storm left our area, one of the brightest and full rainbows I had seen in my life arched against the black clouds that receded into the east. The rainbow, a symbol of God’s promise reassured us that Jamie’s brother would be alright. And a week later he was able to walk through his front door at home.
We have been promised and guaranteed that we can do great things, even greater than Christ. For example, while Christ’s ministry primarily stayed in Palestine, faithful believers continued to spread the message unto, “the ends of the earth.” Yes, these greater things point to both the miraculous and righteous things that Jesus did. But all is not as it appears. There is something we must remember before we roll up our sleeves and start praying for everything we can think of.
Holiday Inn has been busy the last three years launching its advertising campaign to advertise their new Holiday Inn Express. In their commercials they want you to know that you will be able to sleep in their hotels and feel relaxed, refreshed and ready to go the next morning.
Maybe you remember one of the commercials…..The commercial begins on a skydiving plane. A man that appears to be an instructor at the plane’s open door is guiding the first time jumpers out the door. He yells, “Give me a clean exit and a good arch, go!” The skydiver jumps as others follow out the door. The man again yells, “Pay attention, right, heads up, at 4,500 feet, look, reach, pull. Go, come on you can do it!” The divers jump while listening to his instruction. A woman jumps and stops and asks the man, “How many times have you done this?” He answers, “None, but I just stayed at the Holiday Inn Express last night.” The woman dives out the door.
I am afraid to say that often we approach our prayer life with God just like the so-called “instructor” in the commercial. We may think that because we have the desire, that we are feeling well, that it is by just our sheer will power or knowledge that we can receive the perfect answers to our prayers. We then become hurt, disillusioned and angry with God when our prayers don’t come out exactly as we would like them.
Jesus says in verse 13, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” When Jesus tells His disciples to, “ask in My name,” He’s saying that you must be speaking on My behalf, using My name, being My representative. In the Old Testament the phrase, “in His name,” meant – as his representative acting on his behalf; according to His command; by His help; or using His name in a miraculous act.
And using Jesus’ name is not a magical ritual. It’s not a hocus-pocus or incantation that we can say and then get magical effects. This is clear because Jesus tells us to ask it according to the purposes that He has, not what we have.
It’s like those people you’ve heard called computer hackers, cyberterrorists, hacktivists. For example, a day after China’s human rights agency announced its new web site, the official web site of that nation’s human rights record was replaced with an electronic trespasser’s manifesto saying, “China’s people have no rights at all, never mind human rights.”
The political agenda of these hackers may be noble, and it may not. But it is clear they are causing major security problems across the world. Though they are trying to get their message seen and heard by millions they are probably damaging their cause as well. But can these hackers hack their way into heaven? Jesus tells us, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Access to God is gained through a relationship with Jesus, not by any clever tricks we may try.
Gaining access to God through Jesus carries with it a danger and an opportunity. The danger is that we will come to God in prayer like a hacker or cyberterrorist – with an attitude or an agenda. We may think just because we say the name of Jesus in our prayers God will grant us our desires. It seems only logical then to say, “Jesus, won’t you preserve the local farm economy?” “Jesus, won’t you get me a new job with more power and status?” “Jesus, won’t you immediately heal me?”
The problem is that most often these things are human desires and not necessarily what God intends. When we try to break into heaven we are confronted with whose agenda we are trying to push. Are we really praying, “Thy will be done?” The good news is that when we approach God in prayer we have another opportunity to bring out God’s purposes in the world. We have an opportunity to have His attitude not our own selfish one.
The way our prayers are answered are key in verse 14. Jesus says, “I will do it.” I am not suggesting to take this literally as if Jesus would come down right not in the flesh and answer your prayer. What Jesus is saying is that He will answer it His way. Our ideas of how things should get done are pretty narrow. We often think that what needs to happen has to happen my way or the highway. Looking at Jesus’ ministry we see that was often the case when He had to tell His disciples that they were still children, still learning how to show God’s power in the world.
One thing for sure is that when Jesus says, “I will do it.” He will do it. But we must be prepared for God to do things His way. Too often we try to grab the steering wheel when God is driving just fine. Too often we end up in the ditch instead of on our way to where God wants us.
---There was a man who fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree branch on the way down, just in time. The following conversation went something like this:
“Is anyone up there?”
A still voice answered him in His soul, “I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?”
“Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can’t hang on much longer.”
“That’s all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch.”
A moment of pause passed, then: “Is anyone else up there?”
Sometimes our prayers get answered in very unexpected ways. How exciting that is. Can you remember when you had prayer answered in a way that you never thought of? I would even say that if most of our prayers are answered in a predictable way, we are not praying for the right things with enough faith. Because that is the essence of faith….evidence of that which is unseen, unpredictable.
Much like a time when F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class of a university while crossing the Atlantic on an oceanliner. He was asked to talk about, “answered prayer.” An atheist who was present as the service was asked by his friends, “What did you think of Dr. Meyer’s sermon?” He answered, “I didn’t believe a word of it.” Then Dr. Meyer went to talk to the other passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went to hear him, so did the atheist, who claimed he just wanted to hear, “What the babbler had to say.”
Before heading to the service, the atheist had put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an older lady sitting on the deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the atheist put two oranges on her outstretched hands.
After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of the oranges. “You sure seem to be enjoying that orange,” he slyly remarked. “Yes, sir,” she replied, “My Father is very good to me.”
He was surprised, “Surely your father can’t still be alive!” “Praise God,” she replied, “He is very much alive!” “How can that be possible for someone your age?” pressed the atheist. She explained, “I’ll tell you sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking my heavenly Father if he could send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found he had not only given me one orange but two! The atheist was speechless. Later he came to believe in Christ. Yes, praying sure can give an answer.
What matters is if we are willing to let God be God and let Him work through us as we pray. We can resist, and say no, but what a tragedy. We have so much at our fingertips and yet we often don’t see it. But thanks to God, we can still do awesome things in His name and for His purposes. Are we willing to start praying in faith for Him? Let us begin by letting go of our desires and hold tight to our faith. Let us not worry about our glory but His. Let us get rid of our petty wants and get ready for His great works.
