by Mike James

Many times scriptures about prayer are used in such a way as to lead people to think all we need to do is have faith and believe, and our prayers will be answered. For example, take a look at this scripture in John 14:13-14: "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (NIV).

Some think this scripture means just praying to Jesus will get you the results you desire. But it is saying much more than that.

The key word in the above scripture is "name." My NIV Study Bible says of this phrase "in my name" the following: "Not simply prayer that mentions Jesus' name but prayer in accordance with all that the person who bears the name is." In other words, the character and substance of who is being named.

With that understanding, it makes more sense that God will answer the prayer if it is in accordance with who and what Christ represents. In other words, Christ is not going to give you what you want if it does not comply with God's will and purpose.

Now let's look at another scripture on the power of prayer. In Matthew 21:18-22, we read the story about the withered fig tree. Jesus tells his disciples if they have faith and don't doubt, they can do greater miracles than what He did to the fig tree. He tells them they can receive whatever they ask for in prayer if they believe.

Once again, if you read this verse alone without looking at other scriptures on prayer, you may get the idea that prayer will get you whatever you want. But that would be incorrect. We have all prayed for some situation that was not resolved to our satisfaction. Understanding the first scripture, we looked at above can help us better understand this second scripture.

But if you're not convinced, let me provide further proof. Turn now to Matthew 6:8-10 and note what is said in the famous "Our Father" prayer outline. There is nothing wrong with saying this prayer as it is written, but some think Jesus was also giving us general categories of things to address in prayer.

In verses 8-10 we read about God's will being done in the context of this prayer. This is a significant point to keep in mind with prayer. Does it make sense God would answer prayer that went against His will? Not likely.

But there is more. Notice that in Romans 8:26-27 the context once again is prayer. Here we read about how the Spirit in God in us can help us communicate to God in a way we, of ourselves, cannot. But notice it concludes with the point that the Spirit can intercede for us as long as it is in accordance with God's will!

Once again, in 1 John 5:14-15, we get the same idea. If we ask something in accordance with God's will He will hear us. If this is what is going on, THEN He will answer our prayer.

Finally, notice what Christ says on the night before He died. In Luke 22:40-46 Jesus prayed not for His will to be done but for His Father's will to be done. There are other scriptures we could address in this discussion, but I will go to one more to close this out.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul talks about praying to God for the removal of a "thorn in the flesh." We are not sure what this problem was, but the point is Paul was looking for this issue to depart from him. Obviously, Paul was obedient to God and following God. But Paul also realized after asking for the departure of his issue, it did not go away. Despite this, Paul realized that the problem may have been used by God for some greater purpose. Paul was satisfied to bear with the issue because he came to realize it was God's will that the issue persisted.

We need to continue to pray to God with faith and obedience. We may not always have our prayers answered in the way we think is best. But let's not forget, Father knows best.