The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.”

Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock,

and it shall be opened to you.”

Luke 11:9, “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you

shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.”

The Gospel of Matthew was written to the Jews. The Gospel of Luke was written to the Greeks. I quoted both above so you could see there was no difference. The LORD Jesus Christ died for all, so He reaches out to everyone with His Word of salvation.

The Greeks were far more explicit with language than we are with ours. They had four possible responses to their “if” questions. The “ifs” introduce what are called “conditional sentences.” The first-class is if, and it is so; the second-class is if, but it is not so; the third-class reads, if, maybe it is and maybe it’s not; and the fourth-class, if, and I wish it were so, but it is not. Differentiating these “ifs,” is accomplished from within the language; yet in the John 15:7 verse each if reveals a third-class conditional sentence: If you abide in Me (maybe you will, maybe you won’t)… If My words abide in you (maybe they will, maybe they won’t).

The second significant verb, ask (????? (aiteo), is a Greek aorist, middle, imperative. (Don’t give up on me here!) The aorist tense denotes action occurring in a point of time, decisively and with finality. The middle voice here carries the idea of personal involvement. And the imperative mood connotes a command. Thus, His Holy Spirit commandingly initiates prayer through those who are consistently living in the Lord.

What remains to be said in the verse is logically axiomatic. Still, we must never allow that truth will be automatically understood. Jesus is saying that when we abide in Him, we are in the right position for the Holy Spirit to use us as a corridor through which He communicates with the Father. Now, how is it possible for the Holy Spirit to request from the Father something that the Father cannot allow? Or, how can the Father reply negatively to what the Spirit Himself asks? The answer to both questions is the same: He cannot! To allow either would be to place the unity of the Godhead in opposition. Such is a theological and practical impossibility. “…He cannot deny Himself” (II Timothy 2:13).

The key to answered prayer, therefore, is for us to abide in Christ, moment-by-moment, that we might be obediently useful to the Spirit when He desires to address the Father through the medium of our mortal spirits. Further, it is for us to live in His Word (the Bible) daily, and soak up its treasures in our hearts. It’s not the words we use in praying, not the physical position we assume, not even how much time we take; it’s whether we are living daily in a moment-by-moment yieldedness to Christ. I cannot help but wonder whether Wesley knew this when he said, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.”

I apologize for the technical aspect of this letter. But it is vitally necessary that we understand our LORD’s requirement of yieldedness to Him before He moves to answer our prayers. Sometimes it even takes a tragedy for us to learn this vital point. Learn it quickly!

My prayers continue for you; and I trust that yours continue for me.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”