Monday, 8 January 2024
John 14:13-14 (NLT)
"You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!"
Is your faith powered up?
A short-term ministry team from Texas visited Fred Amoah-Darko, Ambassador for Christ International's director for Africa and the Middle East, to teach in a 4-year pastor training program near Accra, Ghana. After many years of visiting Ghana, the group was used to the fact that the electricity goes off frequently, closing down PowerPoint presentations and cutting off fans or air conditioning.
During one of the break times, the Texas group visited the dam that forms Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world. Four rivers come together in that area and a great dam harnesses the water to produce enough hydroelectric power for Ghana and surrounding nations.
As the guide at the dam spoke about the great amounts of electricity generated by the machinery, she caught some skeptical looks from Ghanaians in her audience. "Yes, yes, I know we have many power outages," she said somewhat defensively. "But don't blame us, there is plenty of electricity. The problem is the local substations. They need to upgrade their equipment."
Is Jesus' promise ("ask anything in my name") powerful enough to inspire us to present all of our requests to God with thanksgiving? Since Jesus repeats the promise 7 times in his farewell address to his disciples, it sounds like he means for us to believe and practice it.
Many of us are discouraged from asking by thoughts like, I've asked before and he didn't answer, or this isn't important enough to ask for, or he probably doesn't want to hear what I have to say, or he knows what I want but he doesn't want to give it to me.
I wonder if God would answer those excuses by saying what the guide at the dam said: there's plenty of power, the problem is the local substation. James 4 says we don't have because we don't ask. What would the Lord like you to ask for so he can fill you with his joy?
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