Father in heaven, in the mighty and powerful name of your only beloved Son Jesus Christ, I ask that you give me all the resources I need in order to be made full and complete in every way.
In sales and marketing parlance, there is a saying, "to get the business, it is not what you know but who you know". It is a lot easier to bag a deal if you have the right connections. Connections built out of a relationship that exists.
The biggest bulk of my business transactions come from a single client whose President I consider as a second father. For almost twenty years, he has considered me as his own son and our close relationship extends even to our families. Whenever I am free from work, my family would travel to the far north where he lives and spend time with him and his family. He is one typical father that gives me whatever I want.
In this scripture passage, our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the "go-signal" to use his name in asking for whatever we want from the Father. In doing so, he takes as his own our request and petition because only him knows his own Father well. It is as good as saying, "use me so that my Father will give what you want".
Today, Jesus imparts to us the value of relationship. Relationship is the most important factor in all of life's undertakings. Obligation can never exist without a relationship. No one can be forced to give unless he is obliged to do so. Our covenant with God existed because of His relationship with His Son. He will never say no to one who comes from His own.
Your connection and relationship to the Father comes only through His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As the Lord said, "No one goes to the Father except through Me".
In Christ, you can be sure that you are always On-Line with God!
"And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." (John 11:22)
Martha said these words to Jesus at a time when his brother just died. She believes that if only the Lord came earlier, his brother would not have died. But Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again".
There is no such thing as "late" when it comes to the Lord. God is not bounded by time for time itself is also His creation. He is yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Such an exchange of words bring us to the realization that God can change even things that already happened.
More often, our prayer petitions to the Lord are focused on things that we want to happen. Things that we look forward as forthcoming but still non-existent. We call them our wishes and desires. But when the time comes and we did not receive them, we feel disappointed or at times, we even question God. We fail to understand the power of His particular word "whatever".
21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world."
Published: 5/10/13-8:05AM