Prayers For Glory

Prayers for Glory

Read: John 14:8-14

“I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”

John 14:13

“The chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.”

—R. A. Torrey

IN WORD We often read Jesus’ sweeping promises about prayer suspicious of what’s really in the fine print. If we’re looking for a catch, here’s one in this verse: The point of our prayers is to bring glory to the Father. We just knew the promise was too good to be true, right? We knew that Jesus would never promise us carte blanche to ask what we want in prayer, no strings attached. This surely excludes all prayers for those “unspiritual” aspects of our lives, doesn’t it? Does this mean that we can only pray the really holy prayers, or that we must become so absorbed in heavenly things that earthly things just don’t matter anymore? In other words, do we have to walk on water first before God honors His promise?

No. This “glory clause” is not a burdensome condition on our prayers, and here’s why: Once we’ve been adopted into God’s family, He is glorified by His provision for even our very basic needs. Why? Because He links His glory on earth to our welfare (see Exodus 4:31; Deuteronomy 4:35; Psalm 79:9; John 11:4). We should, in fact, seek to tie every prayer request to some aspect of His glory and always pray with a view toward honoring Him. But if we think this means He only answers the spiritually impressive prayers of spiritually impressive saints and missionaries, we have not understood Jesus at all. His promise, as unimaginable as it is, really does apply to all of us who sometimes ask Him to intervene in our mundane affairs. It is for both the grand vision of the kingdom and for the nuts and bolts of everyday life.

IN DEED Do you want to see this promise realized as a pattern in your prayer life? Here’s the condition: When He answers, give Him glory. That’s it. That’s what answered prayer is all about—God receiving glory and honor. That’s why He promises. Yes, our prayers must be in line with His purposes, but His purposes are broad, and our benefit is integral to His glory on earth. Don’t be afraid to ask. Then, when He answers, give Him the glory.