FOR GOD’S GLORY
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, NLT)
We pray in the Name of Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. The chief purpose of prayer is that the Father would be glorified in the Son. It follows then that where there is no prospect of the Father being glorified that particular prayer will not be answered. Jesus says to us, that we can ask for anything in His name, and He will do it, and the chief purpose of the answer to that prayer, is not for our benefit, but for the glory of the Father.
This begs the question, “Why does God need the glory?” Why is it so important that God is glorified? In the answer to this question, we find a secret to unlocking greater authority in our own prayer life.
Every word and every action in our life presents the opportunity for someone to get the glory. We can glorify ourselves in how we talk. We can glorify our neighbors. We can glorify our government, our leaders, our favorite sports team. And, we can take glory away from all of these people if we choose to talk negatively. Every word and every action gives someone glory or takes glory away from someone.
Most often, due to the selfish inclination of our hearts, we desire the glory. Whether we choose to consciously admit it or not, we have a tendency to tell our own stories or act out in such a way that reveals that we are “glory-seekers.” Sometimes that backfires on us because the other people in our lives also want some glory. We build good friendships when we include other people in our stories and give them some glory and praise. When we choose to speak positively about people in our lives we develop healthy relationships because these folks begin to see that we value them and we speak well of them. Like I said, everyone of us wants some glory. And, we know from human history, and from scripture, that when we ONLY glorify ourselves and others this can lead to an increase of selfishness in the world. Self-glorification leads to narcissism. And others-glorification has spawned many of the evils in human history.
To glorify God means to put God above everything. It is the idea of shining a light toward God and highlighting God. God created us to glorify Him. Not because He needs a pat on the back, but because God knows that when humans glorify Him, everything else in our lives comes into its proper place. When we choose to glorify God for all things in our lives it means that we are humbling ourselves and pointing the way to God. When all humans choose to glorify God, it allows us to move forward without the harmful imbalances of narcissism or hero-worship. When God takes his rightful place in the world, the world looks like the place God created it to be.
This is why Jesus speaks so strongly to this point. The Father will only answer the prayer of faith if it will enable the Son to bring glory to the Father. This has major implications for our entire prayer life. It becomes the grid by which we can filter out our selfish prayers, or fine-tune our petitions to God so that the Father will always get the glory as He answers that prayer. As God gets the glory, more people are pointed toward God. As more people are pointed toward God, the entire world becomes a better place to live in. God's Kingdom effectively comes to earth when God gets the glory.
What is God saying to me today?
My Prayer List:
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Personal Prayer:
Father, teach me to pray with a heart that desires nothing but Your glory. Purify my prayer life and remove the selfish prayers that I so often pray. Teach me to not only pray with a desire to glorify You, but also to talk about answers to prayer in a way that glorifies You. In Jesus name, Amen.