There is a promise to trust (John 16:23-28)

There is a promise to trust (16:23-28)

The main idea of this paragraph is prayer: “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). It is important to observe that the text uses two different words for "ask," but they can be used interchangeably.  The word used in John 16:19, 23a, and 26 means “to question” or “to make a request.” It is used when one asks a favor from one equal. The word translated “ask” in John 16:23b, 24, and 26b (“pray”) means “to request something of a superior.” Jesus never used this latter word in His prayer life because He is the same as the Father. We come as inferiors to God, asking His blessing, but He came as the very Son of God, equal with the Father.

What time did Jesus mean by “in that day” in John 16:23? I think He meant after the coming of the Spirit. He promised them in John 16:22 that He would see them again, and He did keep that promise. He was with them forty days after His resurrection, teaching them plainly the things they needed to know to take His place and minister on earth (Acts 1:3ff.). That day, when He comes again for His church, cannot be "that day," for there is no suggestion in Scripture that after we are in heaven we shall pray to Him.

Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him something (John 16:19). He promised them that the day would come soon when they would not have to ask Him questions. They’d rather pray to the Father, and He’d provide their needs. This was the promise they had to believe: the Father loved them, heard their requests, and met their needs. In His earthly ministry, Jesus met every need of His disciples. Now He would return to the Father, but the Father would meet their needs. This is the glorious privilege and promise of prayer.

Our Lord had spoken many times about prayer in His ministry and had given the example of prayer in His own life. He was, indeed, a praying man. In His Upper Room message Jesus stressed the importance of prayer (John 14:12–14; 15:7, 16; 16:23–26). He made it plain that prayer is one of the secrets of a fruitful Christian life.

In John 16:25–27, Jesus told his disciples there would be a new situation because of His resurrection and ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. He would not talk to them in words that required spiritual insight to be understood. He would speak to them plainly and show them the Father. There in the Upper Room He used several symbolic images to communicate His message. The washing of their feet, the “Father’s house,” the vine and branches, and the birth of a baby. In the days that followed, these images would be made clearer to the disciples as they would be taught by the Spirit of God.

The purpose of Bible study is not only to learn deep truths but also to know the Father better. “I will show you plainly of the Father” (John 16:25). If our reading and Bible study does not measure up to these standards, it does more harm than good.

There would be a new situation in teaching and a new situation in their praying. He had alluded to this before in John 16:23. Jesus would go back to heaven to be with the Father, where He would serve as our High Priest, interceding for us (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). He would also serve as our Advocate (1 John 2:1). Jesus, our High Priest, gives us grace that keeps us from sinning. When we confess our sins, He restores us as our Advocate. His ministry in heaven makes our ministry of witness on earth possible by the power of the Spirit.

If you read the book of Acts, you will find that the early church depended on prayer. They believed the promises of God and asked God for their needs.

All of God's people would be helped by a regular review of what Jesus taught about prayer in this Upper Room Discourse. There is joy indeed in prayer and in answers to prayer. There is a joy in meeting the conditions that Jesus has laid down for successful praying. I think George Müller said that the real prayer was not overcoming God's reluctance but overcoming God's willingness.
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There is joy in prayer, and there is joy in the realization of the principle of transformation. Jesus had a third kind of joy, too, the joy of sharing His victory over the world.