John 16:21-24, Full Joy

21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 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. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Jesus speaks a parable with Old Testament allusions of a woman in childbirth whose pain becomes joy in a relatively short period of time to illustrate resurrection joy after crucifixion sorrow. The most likely reference is to Isaiah 26:16-21. I have shortened the reading to pick up the primary ideas: “Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth . . . Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” Jesus is never too far from God’s word or from fulfilling prophecies about him.

The joy of knowing Jesus is rooted in the resurrection, an event that has already happened in history and cannot be undone. It is a completed action, meaning we can never be separated from the love of God in Jesus. This love is so real and so strong that Jesus declares that whatever we ask the Father in his name, meaning according to his will, he will answer. Is prayer a stick that whacks the cosmic piñata so that we get whatever candy we want in this life? No. The model of prayer Jesus gives us is to the Father through the Son in accordance with the will of Jesus. We are to speak to the Father in the name of and in the will of the Son. Of course Jesus has already told his disciples that he only speaks what the Father says and does what the Father wills. Therefore it only makes sense that we ask the Father in the name of Jesus.

Spend time praying to the Father in the name and will of Jesus. This means not having some grocery list to try and get candy out of the cosmic piñata, but deliberately focusing on the heart of Jesus and speaking to the Father from that place. This is not necessarily easy if you are new to it, but take some time, perhaps reading the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) first, and then praying. The Lord’s Prayer is also another good outline for how to pray to the Father.