On Plain Talk-Lent 30, 2015

John 16:23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

Way back, Pastor Marvin invited me to the church where he preaches.  I was the only white face in the crowd and I loved every minute of the service.  I liked full gospel black church even if it was outside of the box of what I typically experienced on a Sunday morning.  To this day, I remember clapping and singing a Fred McDowell song, Jesus Is On The Mainline (click link to listen, a long version is in the “further thought” section) .

• Jesus is on the mainline. Tell Him what you want.  (3x)
• Call Him up and tell Him what you want
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• Well, the line ain’t never busy, Tell Him what you want (3x)
• Keep on calling Him up And tell Him what you want

And then the lyrics repeated with verses beginning with:

• Well, if you want His kingdom …
• Well, if you’re sick and want to get well …
• And if you’re feeling down and out …

Today’s passage of Scripture With Christ in the Upper Room is kind of like that.  The disciples were worried and confused, thinking (perhaps) more about themselves, painfully ignorant of the future for Jesus that they never could have imagined, though He told them about it on a number of occasions.

Jesus won’t be with them much longer in person.  Even after He rises from the grave, things will be different.  In His Name, the Father will answer us directly.  In His Name, we pray and have a mainline to the Father through Jesus Christ!  We have the privilege of directly entering the throne room of God because of what Jesus did and the love of God flows directly back to us through His Mainline, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  He’s not a middleman.  He’s the Mainline Man.

What we ask—in His Name (in alignment with His will)—will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  It’s not wrong when we’re praying in accordance with His will to tell Him what we want.  Because He wanted it first, before we ever thought of it.  Most of all, God wants people to come to repentance and faith.  He wants us to be truly well, not just in the physical sense of healing, but more than that!  It’s in the spiritual sense first and foremost.

No more figures of speech or spiritual language we cannot understand.  Jesus Is On The Mainline.  We can hear and speak with plain talk and full access.

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Give it Up for Lent: Fear of entering the throne room of God in prayer

Put it On for Lent: Bold humility of asking in Jesus’ Name

For further thought:

• This is the fourth prayer-promise of Christ.  (John 14:13-14, John 15:7, John 15:16, and today’s, John 16:23-26)  What is the condition of the promise?  We must pray in…
• What types of things might be asked in alignment with Jesus’ will?  What does God desire for us?
• How is a sprint different from a relay?  Think of a race in which you run directly from start to finish versus one in which you pass the baton to another.  In Christ, which type do we run?  Why does it help that there is no middleman?  How is Jesus’ being the Way better than His being an intermediary?
• When the Holy Spirit comes and the Spirit of Christ dwells in our hearts, how does that help us to have bold access?
• For a longer version of Jesus Is On the Mainline, click here.

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