Jn16

If we could have anything from God if we asked, what would we ask for? The honest answer to this question will reveal much about the reality of our hearts!

Jesus said, "I assure you: Anything you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."

There are a ton of things I have asked the Father for that I have not received! Even today I will ask for things and simply not get them. Why? Do I misunderstand this verse? Am I not asking right? Is there some secret formula to asking that I am simply missing? 

The answer: Jesus in not talking about getting what we want in this world! He is talking about the Holy Spirit and having hope in this world and joy in the next. He concludes this dialogue with these words, "You will have sufferings in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world."

It seems clear that if Jesus was talking about asking for things "in this world" all of us would ask that our lives would be great and that we would not have to suffer! But Jesus cared little about this temporal world! He cared that our asking for the next world would certainly be fulfilled. Anyone who believes and "asks" for eternal life through Jesus will have what they ask for.