“Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (v. 13)

Pray bigger prayers.

Jesus has told us—repeatedly—that He will do what we ask, when we ask in His name.

That’s not to say that every single thing will be answered according to our desires. What we want is so often shaded by selfishness and greed, not to mention our own shortsightedness compared to God’s sovereign will. Jesus is not merely our wish-fulfiller.

Yet He tells us to ask. And the asking certainly goes beyond our day-to-day hope for day-to-day blessings. Jesus frames the whole conversation with His departure, with the giving of the Holy Spirit, and with the radical notion that greater works than everything we’ve seen thus far are still coming—and coming by prayer!

So pray bigger prayers!

And pray them like this: Pray that, by healing and helping and blessing and rescuing and providing and redeeming, the name of Jesus will receive glory. Pray in His name, for the sake of His name. Those prayers are ultimately about worship, not just what you want. Pray in such a way that the answer magnifies His glory on the earth—specifically through your testimony.

Pray bigger prayers, friends, in His name and for His name.

— Tyler