Whatever, part 1
And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. (1John 3:22)
(This is the first in a short series of reflections on prayer.)
Every once in a while, in our Bible reading, we run across a verse on the subject of praying that strike us as odd. Like the verse in 1John 3 quoted above, these verses seem to suggest that we should be getting way more positive-answers to our prayers than we seem to be getting.
My inner Prosperity-Gospel preacher says, “Amen! Name it and Claim it! Believe it and you shall Receive it!”
And My inner Skeptic says, “I think the word ‘whatever’ here must be the same word that can also be translated as ‘nothing,’ because I feel like I barely see any of my prayers answered.”
Here is the full list of those verses:
Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
John 11:22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.
John 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
John 16:23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
1 John 5:15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
How are we to think about this?
(First, let’s consider what this is. Next week, we’ll reflect on what this isn’t. And then, finally—with a week or two side-trails in between—we’ll wonder what it could be.)
So, what is this, when Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in prayer…”
At the very least it is a wide-open invitation to bring everything in our lives—“Whatever”—to God in prayer.
If it’s happening in your head, bring it to the Lord. If it’s happening in your heart, same. In your body, pray. If it’s someone you love or something you hate or something that happened or that might occur—“Whatever”—ask in prayer.
Whatever “whatever” means finally, we can say initially that it means, ask away!
Pagan prayer—if it’s directed toward any deity at all—is the quest to find those particular words or feelings that will get us what we want from our gods. Don’t say that, say this. Say it twenty times. Say it three times a day. Say it on your knees, your face, standing on one leg. Say it in a strange language.
Christian prayer is the quest to… it’s not a quest. It’s God’s invitation to open our lives to Him, to come to Him, as we are, with what we’ve got.
We might not be our best or favorite self, and our requests might not be things we’re super proud of. Okay.
Whatever.
Christian prayer is the opening of my heart to God and my entering of the heart of God. So what’s there, what is, is welcome.
No asterisks. No special postures required. No special words. No proscribed repetitions or durations or occasions. Nothing fancy.
Whatever.
What a gift prayer is. “Whatever… ask.”
What a God our God is.
Prayer
Lord God, we give You thanks for this inconceivably wide invitation to come to You in Jesus’ Name, in what we call “praying.” We know You always hear us. We know You always care for us. We know You always love us. We know that whatever we’ve got, we can ask You about, and You will hear us, care about our request, and love us in the asking. You don’t think we’re dumb. You don’t think we’re weak. You know our frame—You love us steadfastly. What a God you are, O Lord. Draw us to Your heart. Help us to remember this gift. Help us to remember You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash