Your Certain Calling

John 14:12-14

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. (John 14:13)

MAYBE YOU’VE ALREADY discovered God’s will for your life and are living it out. Or perhaps you’re still searching for it, wondering where he might be leading you. Wherever you are on that journey, you can be sure that your calling includes interceding for this world. In your position as a priest standing between heaven and earth to present the needs of the world to God and the will of God to the world, you have been urged repeatedly by Jesus and his Word to pray. It’s one of the few callings you can be certain of even when you don’t know what else to do.

Jesus repeated his promises about prayer often in the long discourse of John 13–16 (see 14:13-14; 15:7, 16-17; 16:23-24). In some statements, the purpose is for the Son to glorify the Father. In others, it’s so the disciples can be fruitful. These purposes flow together, giving us a picture of the Father, the Son, and the Son’s followers partnering together to accomplish God’s plans in this world. We’ve seen how the apostolic prayers describe those plans, and they are far reaching—from the redeemed and restored spirits of individual human beings to the big-picture fulfillment of all of God’s purposes coming together in Christ. From the repetition of Jesus’ promises in these chapters—not to mention the many promises about prayer elsewhere in Scripture—we get a clear picture of how God accomplishes his will. It’s through the prayers of his people. The more we pray, the more he accomplishes through us.

That’s worth getting up for every morning. The God of the universe invites us into his throne room to strategize his purposes, notice the places where they most need to be accomplished, and call them forth by faith through prayer. We may not always conceive our prayers perfectly, but even when we don’t, he responds to the heart behind them. Accept that invitation, and step into the opportunity fully. Our prayers further his purposes and implement his will in the world around us.

{Holy Spirit, fuel my prayers, and let my prayers fuel your work in this world. Give me glimpses of their power. Motivate me. May I see your glory and my fruitfulness in your answers. Amen.