I'm thinking there about verse 13. I'll just take a moment to read these very familiar words to you. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Tremendous word here from the Lord to God's people. The night is before the crucifixion of the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ has his disciples gathered around him. It's a memorable night, and soon he will be facing the cruelties of the cross. And on that occasion, as the disciples gathered around the Savior, he gave to them this wonderful promise in the upper room to encourage them to pray. And that's what I want to try to do tonight. I want to encourage you to pray. We all need encouragement, don't we? And especially when it comes to the matter of prayer, we need encouragement to pray. And there are four very important themes that the Lord deals with in this particular text before us. I want to share those four things with you as briefly as I possibly can. The first theme is the greatness of prayer. Now, where do I find that? Well, look at the text again. Whatsoever ye shall ask. Whatsoever ye shall ask. Now, how often do we limit our prayers to just certain areas of our lives? and focus maybe just on certain things in our lives. We're very limited in the things that we talk to the Lord about. But that word whatsoever that is used here is significant because it includes everything. It includes anything and everything and it excludes nothing. So here we find the Lord Jesus Christ on this deeply significant night for him and for his disciples. He's seeking to teach them how to pray and he's saying whatsoever ye ask in my name I will do. So he's saying you can pray about anything and you can pray about it excludes nothing. You can pray about everything. In other words, he's saying there's nothing too little or too large to bring to the Lord in prayer. Now, just before I left, I thought about this. I was thinking about the little and the large. Andrew is famous in the Bible for bringing people to Christ. He brought a little boy. He's bringing something little to the Savior. And then we're told that he brought the Greeks, I assume that these were adults who came seeking Christ, they were bigger ones. So we can see even in this simple little example that we can bring little things to him, little people, little children, little boys and girls. The brother and sister will soon commence the children's meetings there, next Monday night is it? And little ones will be gathered in. So it's a good opportunity for us here to bring them to the throne of grace and prayer tonight, little ones. And then as God's servant comes on Sunday, there'll be bigger ones gathered here in the house of God as well. So we can pray about that. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name. We use the words of the hymn, I love that hymn. And we think of the words again, oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, listen to it, everything to God in prayer. The man who wrote those tremendous words that have blessed the church for many, many decades now was a man who had a lot of problems, a lot of heartbreak, and a lot of sorrow. Now, I read John Tapp, he's one of the old Puritans, and this is what he said regarding prayer. God never denied that soul anything that went as far as heaven to ask for it. Now, where will our prayers bring us tonight to? If we're praying right and in the Spirit, our prayers are going to bring us right into the throne room of God above. And if the Word of God and the Word of this dear Saint of God who proved God so often over his lifetime, God never denied the soul anything that went as far as heaven to ask for it. There's an old English proverb, maybe some of you have heard it before, but it says many things are lost for want of asking. Now, let me apply that to me and to you. Let me say it again. Many things are lost for want of asking. Blessings are lost. Encouragements are lost. Answers to prayers are lost. Let me say it again, many things are lost for want of asking. Whatsoever ye shall ask, Jesus says. The dying thief, I don't know how old he was, but he had sinned, he lived a sinful life, he was paying for his crimes. But when he got close to Jesus, what did he do? He asked him for something. It's on the cross. He's within speaking distance, hearing distance of the Savior. He asked him something. When we get close to God, we are entitled to ask things from him through Christ. That's what it says. Whatsoever ye shall ask. So he got right up close to Jesus in his agonies and he asked the Lord to do something for him. Did the Lord do something for him? Of course he did. What did he do? He answered his prayer. That's what it's all about. Whatsoever you ask in my name, I'll do it, he says. I also read a lot of E.M. Vines and he has quite a number of little paperbacks on prayer. Maybe five or six, maybe more. You get them all in maybe one volume. It's worthwhile getting it sometime if you can, maybe in a secondhand bookshop. But his little books on prayer are tremendous. And this is what he said. What the church needs today is not more machinery or better. Not new organizations or more novel methods, but men, I suppose, make include women, and rightly so. But men whom the Holy Ghost can use, men or women of prayer, men mighty in prayer. That's the secret. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name. In other words, the things that we bring to him at the throne of grace and prayer. Now, we can pray about a lot of things. In Matthew chapter six, we can pray this. Give us our daily bread. All right. Then we think about the context of what's happening in the Middle East and Psalm 122, I think it is verse 6. We're to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. So these are things we can pray for according to the will of God. These are things we can ask of God. And remember, I was reading 2 Kings 6 this morning, I threw the book of Kings at the minute, and I read there about Elisha. He was surrounded by the enemy who had come to arrest him and his young servant was afraid. And what did Elisha pray for him? I pray they open his eyes that he may see. So we can pray for our daily bread. This is according to the will of God. We can pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This is according to the will of God. And we can pray concerning our loved ones, our family and friends and people who congregate here on the Lord's Day and the services here. We can pray, Oh God, open their eyes and let me see. This is the will of God, that's clear. Are we clear now about what we can do, what we can ask whatsoever? He asked in my name. William Carey was a great missionary. And I'm sure you've heard this in missionary meetings, Dr. Bill Woods would have often used this kind of statement in his ministry, what a powerful man he was. And he's gone on to his eternal reward now, and only eternity will reveal what that man accomplished for him. He accomplished great things. He would have given you the shirt of his back, and he did on occasions. One time he was coming home and he had all his clothes and everything else in the suitcase, but then he came across people who had nothing and they emptied his suitcase, gave away his clothes, his socks and everything else for the benefit of others. We don't read that maybe in records of his testimony, but that's the kind of thing he does, he did. William Carey said, undertake great things for God. And listen to it, he says, expect Great things from God. That's the reason why Abraham stood yet before the Lord. He prayed, he kept on praying and then he stood yet before the Lord. What was he standing there for? I've mentioned this before and I make no apology for mentioning it again. He was waiting to see what God was going to do. And so when we pray, let's be like Abraham. Let's stand and wait to see what God will yet do for his people in answer to our prayers. We're asking, our praying is often too small. Our expectations are always limited. I find that with me anyway. I don't know about you. Maybe I'm assuming wrong, but I think I can speak from my own heart, and I think maybe you can identify with me on this thing. We can pray, believe, and receive, or we can pray, doubt, and do without. It's a catchy little saying, isn't it? But it's true. It's true. We might laugh at ourselves when we think about this. We can pray, believe, and receive, or pray, doubt, and do without. And many of God's people room us out because of the unbelief, but the Bible is encouraging us whatsoever you shall ask in my name, I will do it. That's what he's saying here for the glory of God. Oh, for faith to pray and for confidence to leave what we pray about in higher hands. Take it to the Lord in prayer and leave it there. A rich man, I think he may have been a millionaire. and he was showing compassion to a neighbor child who was very poor. It was Christmas time and that millionaire wanted to take that little girl to the Toyland store, well I'm not sure if it's still there in the States, this has gone back quite a number of years ago, but a place called Toyland to do some Christmas shopping. And he said to the little girl, just you get whatever you want, and I'll pay for it. Boy, I like to hear offers like that. You take something, and I will cover the cost of it. And so the man said, you just take whatever you want. And so the clerk in that great store followed the man and the little girl around for an hour. And he was thinking, boy, if I could only get this man to buy something very expensive, I'll get a good dividend and so on. And so at the end of the hour, The man looked down to the wee girl again and says, well, have you made up your mind? Just you ask for anything. And she says, really? You know what she did? She settled for a little plush squirrel that cost 25 cents. God is a great God. We honor him greatly by asking big things of him. We're going to do that tonight in the prayer meeting. We're going to ask God for big things tonight. The bigger the better. The greatness of prayer. That's what I'm talking about here. Then we've got to think about the ground of prayer. Well, let's continue reading this text. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, in my name. These are the words I want to focus on now. In my name. How important it is when we pray to pray in the name of Jesus. Seven times in the upper room. In John's gospel, as Jesus is speaking to his disciples, seven times he mentions, in my name. He's stressing something. You've got to ask in my name. Now, this is the name that is above every name. It's the name that prevails at the throne of grace. It's the name of Christ, the great Redeemer, the mediator of the covenant, his name. We draw near to God in his name tonight. And some people misapply this verse thinking that saying in Jesus' name at the end of their prayer results in God always granting what they ask for. That's not right at all. Far from the truth. It's not scriptural to begin with. This is essentially treating the words in Jesus' name as a magical form. Abracadabra. That's it. That's not right. It's not scriptural. Praying in the name of Jesus means praying in the authority and with the authority and asking God the Father to act or to answer our prayers because we come to him in the name of his well-beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means. Praying in the authority of Jesus and the authority of his mighty name, that name that is above every other name, Christ the Lord. So praying in Jesus' name means something similar to asking according to the will of God. This is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we desire of Him. That's the teaching of 1 John chapter 5. This is the holy word of God to encourage us. Praying in Jesus' name is praying for things that honor and glorify Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name at the end of the prayer is not some magical formula. And we don't get prayers answered simply because we add that to the end of our prayer at all. If what we ask or say in prayer is not for God's glory and according to his will, saying in Jesus' name is meaningless. And genuinely praying in Jesus' name and for His glory is what is important, not attaching certain words to the end of the prayer. It's not the words in the prayer that really matter after all, but the purpose behind the prayer. Praying for things that are in agreement with God's will is the essence of praying in Jesus' name. Andrew Murray, he was another man who wrote a lot on the subject of prayer, and this is what he said. Some people pray just to pray, and sometimes that's the way it is. We just pray to pray. That's our duty, our responsibility. We just pray to pray. Some pray to know God, that's it. That's why we should pray to know God, to know his power, to know his enabling. Not just to pray, to ease our conscience, to take away the guilt we may feel at times because we don't pray as we ought to pray. Oh, we need to pray to know God, that I may know him positively. that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." So we've looked at two things. There's the greatness of prayer, whatsoever you ask. Then there is the ground of the prayer, in my name, through Christ. And then there's the guarantee of prayer. Well, we like to come to this part as well because it encourages our heart greatly too, because this is what he said, that will I do. This is a promise of God, that will I do. What a glorious promise. David in Psalm 37 verse 5 said, commit thy way unto the Lord and he shall bring it to pass. Well, do we believe that? Do we really believe that? That's the case. Can we count upon God? Can we rely upon him? If we can't rely upon God, we can't rely upon anybody. He is our dearest friend in union with Jesus Christ. He has the storehouses filled like Joseph, and Christ has opened the storehouses to bestow upon us blessing after blessing. And this is what he says. Whatsoever ye ask in my name, that will I do. That's the promise of God. This is what he's promised. There's nothing too hard for the Lord and is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Now go back to 2 Kings chapter 6. The sons of the prophets, they were increasing in number. And they said the place where we dwell in, the school where we go to seminary, it's too straight, it's too small. We need to expand our borders a wee bit. And so they came to Elisha. And Elisha has a wonderful character. His name means God, a savior. And he's Christ-like. He's a type of Christ. And so they come to him and they express their desire, let's go to Jordan, let's cut down timber, and let's build us a place there. And so this is what they plan to do. And in the opening verses of that chapter, it talks about we and us, we and us. They're together in this project, you see. They're seeking to advance the kingdom of God and the growth of the Bible studies and the growth of the seminary. They want to see more prophets raised up on the land. It was a time of dark apostasy. And so they're expanding their way, they're together, united in a common purpose. And so they made this request, let us go on to Jordan, make us a place there. And Elijah said unto them, okay, you go. But they weren't content with that. Now, if we take this man, Elisha, to represent Christ, they wanted Christ with them in the venture. And so they began to pray because they said unto him in the form of a prayer, go with thy servants. So they want to get involved in a greater way and a greater capacity in the work of God. They want to have the man whose name means God, a savior with them, the great prophet, the great miracle worker. And so they say, go with us. And what did he do? He answered. Here's the answer to prayer. He answered their prayer and he said, I will go. And the next verse, verse four of second Kings chapter six says, so he went with them. I must have the savior with me for I dare not walk alone. Wasn't it well that they had the one who represents the savior with them because the next thing they get down to the work, There's one of those children who's busy working away, and he's happy and he's content, he's working for God, he's working with his colleagues, his brethren, he's borrowed an ex-head. He didn't have money to buy an ex, he didn't have money to buy one for himself. So he's working away with the ex, and suddenly it falls into the water. Wasn't it well that they had the one who represents the Savior with them, because he resolved the issue. when they invited him into the situation. So they said, we want you with us. And sure enough, because he went with them, when the crisis arose, then he was there on hand to help. Whatsoever, whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do. And you know what happened to that student? He recovered his cutting power. The axe head was lost and the cutting power, we can apply this spiritually, the cutting power of his ministry was gone. But because of the intervention of the man whose name means God as Savior, then his cutting edge was restored. Maybe some of us tonight in God's house have lost our cutting edge. in the service of God. That's what the Lord was speaking to me about. That's what the Lord was bringing to my attention. Maybe we've lost our cutting edge. What we need to do is take it to the Lord in prayer and ask him to intervene. In the case of Naaman the leper, the man of God under God performed this miracle. You know this story only too well. And what happened as a result of the miracle wrought by God? A new purpose in his life. a new purpose in his life. We've come too close. The fourth theme is the glory of God. So let's just go over the text again. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. The chief reason for praying is to glorify the Father, to glorify God. Now we may have other reasons to pray, but first and foremost, prayer should have a single eye to the glory of God. Often our prayers are not answered because they're not for the glory of God. You ask, and you have not, according to James chapter four, verse 30, because, there's the reason, because ye ask amiss. You're not asking for the glory of God. You're asking for some selfish reason. And because you're asking for some selfish reason, your prayers are not going to be answered. And so James is trying to encourage us to ask for the glory of God. And when we ask for the glory of God, and the mind and will of God, for things that are agreeable to His will, then according to the teaching of God's word, we will have those things. Full stop. Period. That's it. We can leave it there. That's the whole thing. The secret of the whole thing. I read this little quote as well, and I quote to you. When the glory of the Father is the goal of every prayer, when before the throne in heaven our high priest presents it there, when the Spirit prompts the asking, when the waiting heart believes, then we know of each petition everyone who asks receives. There it is. That's the secret. The glory of the Father. And I'm coming to a close. Sir George Adam Smith tells about how he and his guide were climbing high up on the Swiss Alps. It was very stormy and they were making their climb. They were moving on. They were on the sheltered side of the peak. When they reached the summit, they were so thrilled and filled with joy. The man stood up. forgetting about the fierce winds that were experiencing up there on the top of the cliff there. And he leaped up and was almost blown over the edge to the glacier below. The guy grabbed hold of the man and exclaimed, on your knees, sir. You're safe here only on your knees. Oh, this is a wicked world. Many precipice, many pitfalls. We can only be safe in this world on our knees as we get before God. Let us advance on our knees before God. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Pray for the glory of God, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for God to come. Much kneeling keeps us in good standing with God. We cannot stumble when we are on our knees. Sure we can't. You're on your knees, you can't stumble. A Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on his tiptoes. Oh, that we might see him tonight. There's a greatness of prayer, whatsoever you ask. There's the ground of prayer, ask in my name. There is the guarantee of prayer, that will I do. There's the glory of a prayer that the Father may be glorified in the Son. We're coming to pray now. And I am asking you to keep your prayer short to the point. Remember the message. Remember the business to hand, the need of a pastor. This is the most urgent thing. But pray also for the children's meetings to begin. Pray for the work of the Sunday school, the ladies. They open their work, session committee meetings. Pray also for the little churches in the mainland, the little churches here as well, in Northern Ireland. And our brother Johnny will come some of these nights. He's going to give a report of his visit to London. They had a very profitable time, so he's going to share something of his experience there to encourage the congregation here as well. So with all these things to pray about, as many as possible, please enter in and call upon the name of the Lord. Don't sit back and wait for somebody else to pray. Get you in there right away.