Jesus Christ · In His Own Words
Jesus on Prayer
Jesus prayed more than He explained prayer. He withdrew before dawn to pray alone, He taught His disciples a form of words, He told them stories about a persistent neighbor and a persistent widow, and on the last night of His life He knelt in a garden and asked His Father for something specific — and did not receive it as asked. This page gathers what He said about prayer that His own life then lived out: who to ask, in whose name to ask, what it means for two to agree, and how “ask, and it shall be given” sits beside “not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
The Pattern
— Matthew 6:9-13, drawn as its own architectureTHE INVOCATION · MATTHEW 6:9
“Our Father in heaven”
THE FOUNDATION — ONE ADDRESS, SIX PETITIONS
Already in His Own Words, Elsewhere on the Site
— this hub cross-links rather than repeatsFour of Jesus's major teachings on prayer already have full treatments elsewhere on the site. This page carries its own original weight on four texts nothing else yet covers — the prayer of agreement, asking in His name, Gethsemane in Matthew's fuller threefold form, and His habit of withdrawal at Mark 1:35 — and sends you to the fuller pages for the rest.
Persistence, in One Frame
— the doorway to Prayer in LukeJesus tells two stories about people who get what they ask for because they keep asking: a man who wakes a sleeping friend at midnight for bread (Luke 11:5–8), and a widow who wears down an unjust judge by refusing to stop (Luke 18:1–8). In both, the argument runs from the lesser figure to the greater — if even a reluctant neighbor or a corrupt judge eventually gives in, how much more will a Father who is neither reluctant nor corrupt. The parables are not a claim that God resembles a sleepy neighbor or a bad judge; they argue from what such a figure will still do, to what a good Father will do far more readily.
His design is solely to show the necessity of being importunate or persevering in prayer to God. At midnight - A time when it would be most inconvenient for his friend to help him; an hour when he would naturally be in bed and his house shut.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, Luke 11:5
The neighbour was without bread, and therefore he knocked; but as soon as the door was opened to him, and he received the bread, he discontinued knocking. The widow kept asking to be heard by the judge, because she was not admitted; but when her suit was heard, thenceforth she was silent.
Tertullian· On Prayer (220), Luke 11:5
The Prayer of Agreement
— Matthew 18:19–20Where it actually sits.These two verses close a longer passage on confronting a sinning brother — go to him alone, then with one or two witnesses, then to the church; if he refuses even the church, treat him as an outsider (Matt 18:15–17); then “whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” (18:18); then the agreement verse; then “where two or three are gathered.” Read in its own paragraph, the passage concerns the church's authority to bind and loose in a discipline case — the “two or three” are, in context, witnesses to that process, and the “asking” in view is a ruling on it, not a blank check for any two Christians agreeing on any request.
Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”Again I say unto you, That if two of you ... - This is connected with the previous verses. The connection is this: The obstinate man is to be excluded from the church, Mat 18:17. The care of the church - the power of admitting or excluding members - of organizing and establishing it - is committed to you, the apostles, Mat 18:18. Yet there is not need of the whole to give validity to the transaction.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, Matt 18:19
(ap. Anselm.) But He holds out a ratification not only of sentences of excommunication, but of every petition which is offered by men holding together in the unity of the Church; for He adds, Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree upon earth, whether in admitting a penitent, or casting out a forward person, touching any thing which they shall ask, any thing, that is, that is not against the unity of the Church, it shall be done for them by my Father which is in heaven.
Glossa Ordinaria· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (1274), Matt 18:19–20
And this also is the reason why our prayers are not granted, because we do not agree together in all things upon earth, neither in doctrine, nor in conversation. For as in music, unless the voices are in time there is no pleasure to the hearer, so in the Church, unless they are united God is not pleased therein, nor does He hear their words.
Origen of Alexandria· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (253), Matt 18:19
Seest thou how by another motive also He puts down our enmities, and takes away our petty dissensions, and draws us one to another, and this not from the punishment only which hath been mentioned, but also from the good things which spring from charity? For having denounced those threats against contentiousness, He putteth here the great rewards of concord, if at least they who are of one accord do even prevail with the Father, as touching the things they ask, and have Christ in the midst of them. "Are there then indeed nowhere two of one accord?" Nay, in many places, perchance even everywhere. "How then do they not obtain all things?" Because many are causes of their failing. For either they often ask things inexpedient. And why marvellest thou, if this is the case with some others, whereas it was so even with Paul, when he heard, "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is perfected in weakness."
John Chrysostom· Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 60 (407), Matt 18:19–20
The traditional devotional reading, held honestly alongside it. The same pool carries readings that generalize the verse to any concordant prayer without narrowing it to discipline.
Again I say unto you - ... If two of you shall agree - ΣυμφωνηϚωσιν, symphonize, or harmonize. It is a metaphor taken from a number of musical instruments set to the same key, and playing the same tune: here, it means a perfect agreement of the hearts, desires, wishes, and voices, of two or more persons praying to God... It shall be done for them - What an encouragement to pray! even to two, if there be no more disposed to join in this heavenly work.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), Matt 18:19
(Verse 19, 20.) Again I say to you: if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. The above discourse has encouraged us towards harmony. Therefore, it promises a reward so that we may hasten eagerly towards peace, as it says that it will be present among two or three.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew (420), Matt 18:19–20
For where two or three are gathered together in my name--or "unto my name." there am I in the midst of them--On this passage--so full of sublime encouragement to Christian union in action and prayer--observe, first, the connection in which it stands.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), Matt 18:20
How this hub holds itboth readings
Per the site's evidence standard, both readings stand — the discipline-context reading first, as what the passage's own paragraph is actually about, then the traditional devotional application named as a widely used, centuries-old reading, not manufactured by MannaFest and not disparaged. The popular use of “where two or three are gathered” as a stand-alone promise about small-group prayer or worship attendance is a reading detached from its paragraph — real, old, and worth naming as such, not condemned.
Chrysostom's own honesty about unanswered agreed prayer.Writing on this exact passage, John Chrysostom raises the hard question against his own text, centuries before it became a modern one — see the last quote above. Why do two of one accord not always obtain what they ask? “Because many are causes of their failing… they often ask things inexpedient.” That question is the bridge into the tension held below.
Asking in His Name
— John 14:13–14; 15:7, 16; 16:23–26What “in my name” means, and does not mean.Augustine makes one correction the site carries clearly: in my name is not a verbal formula appended to a request. “It is not the sound of the letters and syllables… but what is rightly and truly to be understood by that sound” that Christ means. Someone can say the syllables and not ask in His name; someone can ask in His name without ever pronouncing them, if the request accords with who Christ actually is.
And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.Whatsoever ye shall ask - This promise referred particularly to the apostles in their work of spreading the gospel; it is, however, true of all Christians, if what they ask is in faith, and according to the will of God, Jas 1:6; 1Jn 5:14. In my name - This is equivalent to saying on my account, or for my sake. If a man who has money in a bank authorizes us to draw it, we are said to do it in his name.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, John 14:13
Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name - To enable you to perform these miracles, and to convert souls, may be granted you. Besides, by going unto the Father, I shall receive the Holy Spirit, and send down his abundant influences into the hearts of those who believe.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), John 14:13
But if we think it impious to believe that the Father has handed over all judgment to the Son in such a way that he does not have it himself—for he has it and cannot lose what the divine majesty has by its very nature—we ought to consider it equally impious to suppose that the Son cannot give what either men and women can merit or any creature can receive, especially as he himself has said, "I go to my Father, and whatever you shall ask of him in my name, that will I do."
Ambrose of Milan· Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.5.66 (397), John 14:13–14
Undisguisedly now He says that, being Very God, He will accept exceeding readily the prayers of His own people, and will supply right gladly what things soever they desire to receive, meaning of course spiritual gifts and such as are worthy of the heavenly munificence. And not as the minister of another's benevolence, nor yet as subserving another's kindness, does He say such things; but as, with the Father, having all things in His power; and as Himself being the One through Whom are all things, both from us to God-ward, and to us-ward from Him.
Cyril of Alexandria· Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 9 (444), John 14:14
Abiding, and being chosen. John 15 ties the same promise to two conditions: abiding in the Vine (15:7), and having been chosen and appointed to bear fruit, not the other way around (15:16).
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.If ye abide in me, ye shall ask - Prayers themselves are a fruit of faith, and they produce more fruit.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), John 15:7
Note, Those that abide in Christ as their heart's delight shall have, through Christ, their heart's desire. If we have Christ, we shall want nothing that is good for us. Two things are implied in this promise:-- First, That if we abide in Christ, and his word in us, we shall not ask any thing but what is proper to be done for us.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), John 15:7
Let us then with faithful spirit and devout mind call on Jesus our Lord. Let us believe that he is God, to the end that whatever we ask of the Father, we may obtain in his name. For the Father's will is that he be entreated through the Son. The Son's will is that the Father be entreated.
Ambrose of Milan· Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.2.12 (397), John 15:16
"Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you." That is, I ran upon your friendship. And He stayed not here, but, "I set you," He saith, (that is, "I planted you,") "that ye should go," (He still useth the metaphor of the vine,) that is, "that ye should extend yourselves"; "and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." "Now if your fruit remain, much more shall ye. For I have not only loved you," He saith, "but have done you the greatest benefits, by extending your branches through all the world." Seest thou in how many ways He showeth His love? By telling them things secret, by having in the first instance run to meet their friendship, by granting them the greatest blessings, by suffering for them what then He suffered. After this, He showeth that He also remaineth continually with those who shall bring forth fruit; for it is needful to enjoy His aid, and so to bear fruit. "That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you." Yet it is the part of the person asked to do the thing asked; but if the Father is asked, how is it that the Son doeth it? It is that thou mayest learn that the Son is not inferior to the Father.
John Chrysostom· Homily on the Gospel of John 77 (407), John 15:16
A new access, opened at this point in the story.Origen reads “hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name” (John 16:24) as marking a historical first, not a technique that existed all along and was merely relabeled — see the quotes below. Chrysostom ties the promise to a specific answered prayer in Acts; John Wesley reads the verse as close to unconditional (“a charte blanche”); Augustine and Gregory the Great, on the very same verse, weigh it against Paul's unanswered thorn.
In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.We have now to consider these words of the Lord, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye shall ask anything of the Father in my name, He will give it you." ... For it is not the sound of the letters and syllables, but what the sound itself imports, and what is rightly and truly to be understood by that sound, that He is to be regarded as declaring, when He says, "in my name." Hence, he who has such ideas of Christ as ought not to be entertained of the only Son of God, asketh not in His name, even though he may not abstain from the mention of Christ in so many letters and syllables; since it is only in His name he asketh, of whom he is thinking when he asketh. But he who has such ideas of Him as ought to be entertained, asketh in His name, and receiveth what he asketh, if he asketh nothing that is contrary to his own everlasting salvation.
Augustine of Hippo· Tractates on John 102 (430), John 16:23
He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. Up till now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." Now he did not say "ask me" or simply "ask the Father." On the contrary, he said, "If you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name." For until Jesus taught this, no one asked the Father in the name of the Son.
Origen of Alexandria· On Prayer 15.2 (253), John 16:23
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask My Father in My Name." He showeth the power of His Name, if at least being neither seen nor called upon, but only named, He even maketh us approved by the Father. But where hath this taken place? Where they say, "Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto Thy servants that with boldness they may speak Thy word" ... "and work miracles in Thy Name." "And the place was shaken where they were."
John Chrysostom· Homily on the Gospel of John 79 (407), John 16:23
For since He says, that "whatsoever we shall ask of the Father in his name, He will give us," how much more effectually do we obtain what we ask in Christ's name, if we ask for it in His own prayer!
Cyprian· Treatise IV: On the Lord's Prayer (258), John 16:23
Whatsoever ye shall ask - Knowledge, love, or any thing else, he will give it - Our Lord here gives us a charte blanche. Believer, write down what thou wilt. He had said, Chap. xiv, 13, I will do it, where the discourse was of glorifying the Father through the Son.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), John 16:23
So what should we pray for? "Ask in my name." And he did not say what for, but in his words we can understand what we ought to ask for... "Ask, so that your joy may be full," that is, so that you may be permanently satisfied, not just so as to enjoy yourselves for a time. Ask for what can satisfy you.
Augustine of Hippo· Sermon 145.6 (430), John 16:24
If the Father gives us everything we ask in the name of the Son, what then does it mean that Paul asked the Lord three times and did not deserve to be heard, but it was said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness"? ... But since the name of the Son is Jesus, and Jesus means savior... therefore he asks in the name of the Savior who asks for that which pertains to true salvation. For if something that is not expedient is asked for, the Father is not being asked in the name of Jesus.
Gregory the Dialogist (Gregory the Great)· Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 27 (604), John 16:24
This great truth that we must approach God in the name of the Mediator was reserved for the last that the Saviour was to communicate to them.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, John 16:24
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name--for "prayer in the name of Christ, and prayer to Christ, presuppose His glorification" [OLSHAUSEN]. ask--when I am gone, "in My name."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), John 16:24
At that day ye shall ask - For true knowledge begets prayer. And I say not that I will pray - This in nowise implies that he will not: it means only, The Father himself now loves you, not only because of my intercession, but also because of the faith and love which he hath wrought in you.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), John 16:26
I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you - I need not tell you that I will continue your intercessor... the Father himself needs no entreaty to do you good, for he loves you, and is graciously disposed to save you to the uttermost, because ye have loved me and believed in me as coming from God, for the salvation of the world.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), John 16:26
Not a formula that replaces relationshipJohn 16:26
The section closes with Jesus explicitly declining to frame “asking in my name” as intercession-by-mention. He is not telling the disciples He will stop interceding; He is telling them the Father Himself already loves them, directly, because of their own faith and love for Christ — asking in His name reaches a Father who is not reluctant, through a Mediator who is not a magic word.
Gethsemane, Matthew's Fuller Form
— Matthew 26:36–44The text's shape.Luke's account of Gethsemane is already fully treated at Prayer in Luke (Luke 22:41–44), including its textual note on the angel and the sweat like great drops of blood. Matthew alone gives the threefold repetition: Jesus prays the same words three times, returning each time to find Peter, James, and John asleep, praying a second time in a slightly different form before returning a third (Matt 26:39, 42, 44).
At that time Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”Why it belongs here.The man who taught “ask, and it shall be given” (Matt 7:7), “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name” (John 14:13), and “if two agree” (Matt 18:19) is shown, at the point of greatest personal stakes, asking His Father for something specific — and not receiving it as asked. He submits anyway. It is Jesus's own commentary on His own teaching, narrated rather than stated.
Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”And going a little farther - About a stone's cast, Luke xxii, 41 - So that the apostles could both see and hear him still. If it be possible, let this cup pass from me - And it did pass from him quickly. When he cried unto God with strong cries and tears, he was heard in that which he feared.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), Matt 26:39
The disciples were admonished, and the Lord beseeches the Father that they might confront the force of the present temptation with watchful prayer: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will." The first petition arises from weakness, the second from strength: He desired the former based on our nature and chose the latter based on his own. Equal to the Father, the Son knew that all things were possible to God; rather, he descended into this world to take up the cross against his will so that he might suffer through this conflict of emotions with a disquieted mind. But in order to show the distinction between the receiving nature and the received nature, what was proper of humanity desired divine intervention and what was proper of God looked upon the human situation. The lower will yielded to the higher will, and this demonstrated what the fearful person may pray for and what the divine healer should not grant. "For we do not know how to pray as we ought," and it is good for us that what we want, for the most part, is not granted. God, who is good and just, shows mercy toward us by denying us those things we ask for which are harmful.
Leo the Great· Sermon 43.2.26 (461), Matt 26:39
(de Cons. Ev. iii. 4.) And that none might think that He limited His Father's power, He said not, If thou canst do it, but If it may be, or, If it be possible; as much as to say, If thou wilt. For whatever God wills can be done, as Luke expresses more plainly; for he says not, If it be possible, but If thou wilt. (in Ps. 32. enar. 2.) Christ thus as man shows a certain private human will, in which He who is our head figures both His own will and ours when He says, Let it pass from me. For this was His human will choosing something as apart for Himself. But because as man He would be righteous and guide Himself by God's will, He adds, Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt; as much as to say to us, Man, behold thyself in Me, that thou canst will somewhat apart of thyself, and though God's will is other, this is permitted to human frailty. (Quaest. Ev. i. 47.) Nor is that an absurd interpretation which makes Our Lord pray thrice because of the threefold temptation of His Passion. To the temptation of curiosity is opposed the fear of death; for as the one is a yearning for the knowledge of things, so the other is the fear of losing such knowledge. To the desire of honour or applause is opposed the dread of disgrace and insult. To the desire of pleasure is opposed the fear of pain.
Augustine of Hippo· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (430), Matt 26:39
Watch and pray. Between the first and second prayer, Jesus finds the three sleeping and gives His disciples the same instruction He had just modeled Himself.
“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”That ye enter not into temptation - If ye cannot endure a little fatigue when there is no suffering, how will ye do when the temptation, the great trial of your fidelity and courage, cometh? Watch - that ye be not taken unawares; and pray - that when it comes ye may be enabled to bear it. The spirit - is willing, but the flesh is weak - Your inclinations are good - ye are truly sincere; but your good purposes will be overpowered by your timidity.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), Matt 26:41
Not the same prayer twice26:39 vs 26:42
The first prayer asks, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (26:39); the second narrows the condition — “if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (26:42). Read together, the prayer itself moves from asking for release to accepting the necessity, without ever ceasing to be an honest request.
His Habit of Withdrawal
— Mark 1:35Luke's two withdrawal texts are already on Prayer in Luke's rail (Luke 5:16; 6:12), framed there as a stated habit, not a one-off episode. Mark's parallel is the one genuinely open text — set immediately after a night spent healing the whole city at Peter's door (1:32–34), and immediately before the disciples find Him and report “All men seek for thee” (1:37).
Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.Why Mark's version adds something. The withdrawal happens at the height of success, not in retreat from failure — the more the crowds wanted Him, the more He went away to pray before facing them again.
After that the Lord had cured the sick, He retired apart. Wherefore it is said, And rising very early in the morning, he went out and departed into a desert place. By which He taught us not to do any thing for the sake of appearance, but if we do any good, not to publish it openly. It goes on, and there prayed. For He shows to us that we ought to attribute to God whatever we do well, and to say to Him, Every good gift cometh down from above, (James 1:17) from Thee. It continues: And Simon followed him, and they that were with him.
Theophylact of Ohrid· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (1107), Mark 1:35
He prayed, prayed alone; to set us an example of secret prayer. Though as God he was prayed to, as man he prayed. Though he was glorifying God, and doing good, in his public work, yet he found time to be alone with his Father; and thus it became him to fulfil all righteousness.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), Mark 1:35
In the morning a great while before day - By πρωΐ, the morning, is to be understood the whole space of three hours, which finished the fourth watch of the night. And there prayed - Not that he needed any thing, for in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; but that he might be a pattern to us. Every thing that our blessed Lord did he performed either as our pattern, or as our sacrifice.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), Mark 1:35
The Tension, Held Honestly
— “Ask, and it shall be given” and “thy will be done”Both strands are His own words; neither erases the other.The unconditional-sounding promises — “ask, and it shall be given you” (Matt 7:7 // Luke 11:9); “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do” (John 14:13); “if two of you shall agree… it shall be done” (Matt 18:19) — stand beside the submission-bounded prayer of Gethsemane itself: “not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt 26:39), prayed by the same man who gave the “ask and it shall be given” teaching, asking for something specific and not receiving it as asked.
So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.The question is not new. Chrysostom and Gregory the Great both raise “why then are agreed, faith-filled prayers sometimes not answered” directly against their own texts — in the fourth and sixth centuries, not the twentieth.
Two emphases, named, neither adjudicatedthe live conversation
The faith / declaration emphasis— associated with Kenneth Hagin's “say it, believe it, receive it” framework, Derek Prince's teaching on blessing and authority in prayer, and Dutch Sheets's distinction that the believer declares “not what they want but what God has already spoken.”
The sovereignty / submission emphasis— the historic reading running through Augustine (asking rightly requires asking what accords with salvation) and Gregory the Great (Paul's thorn) into the Reformed and much of the older Wesleyan-Pentecostal tradition: prayer is the creature's request laid before a sovereign, all-wise Father, and “thy will be done” is not resignation but the Son's own model.
Held together, not traded off.Gethsemane is not evidence the “ask and it shall be given” texts are overstated; the “charte blanche” texts are not evidence Gethsemane was a moment of weak faith. This is the same shape of tension the site holds elsewhere without a house verdict — Scripture states both strands plainly, honored voices land on different sides, and the page names the positions rather than adjudicating between them.
Closing
Jesus prayed more than He explained prayer, and what He said about it runs the same direction His life did: ask, ask in His name, ask together — and when the answer is no, ask anyway, as He did, until “not as I will” is no less a prayer than “ask, and it shall be given.”