John 16:24

Hereby he exhorts the disciples to pray for spiritual graces, and at the same time gives them this encouragement----that what they ask they will not fail to obtain; adding the comforting assurance of the word "verily" to His promise that if they will go to the Father's throne and make any request, they will receive it of Him, He Himself acting as Mediator and leading them into the Father's Presence. For this is the meaning of the words in my Name; for we cannot draw nigh unto God the Father save by the Son alone. For through Him we have obtained access in One Spirit unto the Father, according to the Scripture. Therefore also He saith: I am the Door: I am the Way: no one cometh unto the Father but by Me. For inasmuch as the Son is also God, together with the Father He conveys good gifts to the Saints, and associates Himself with Him in granting us the portion of the blessed. Moreover, the inspired Paul most evidently confirms our belief herein by writing these words: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And in right of His titles, Mediator, High Priest, and Advocate, He conveys to the Father prayers on our behalf, for He gives us all boldness to address the Father. In the Name then of Our Saviour Christ we must make our requests, for so will the Father most readily grant them, and will give to those that ask good gifts, that we may take them and rejoice therein.

(Hom. lxxix) Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

We should give thanks to God for the good things he gives us and not bear it with bad grace because he measures his giving. Should he grant us to be in union with him, this we shall receive as a most perfect and joyful gift. Should he delay this, let us suffer the loss in patience since he disposes of our lives more perfectly than we could ever order them.

For when your prayers shall be fully answered, then will your gladness be greatest.

"Until now you have asked nothing in My name," but from now on "ask, and" you will certainly "receive." Therefore it is more beneficial that I die; for from now on you will have greater boldness before My Father. Although I will be separated from …

Not yet therefore, Lord, have I said or conceived how greatly those Blessed ones of yours shall rejoice. Surely they shall rejoice as much as they shall love; they shall love as much as they shall know. How much shall they know you and how …

Until now you have not asked. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the fitness of time for asking, which hitherto had not been, but henceforth was to be: therefore he says: Until now you have not asked anything in my name, because it …

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"? Did not that most excellent preacher ask in the name of the Son? Why then did he not receive what he asked? How then is it true that whatever we ask the Father in the name of the Son, the Father gives us, if the Apostle asked in the name of the Son that the angel of Satan be removed from him, and yet did not receive what he asked? But since the name of the Son is Jesus, and Jesus means savior, or is also called salvation, 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. Hence the Lord says to those same apostles while they were still weak: "Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name." As if it were openly said: You have not asked in the name of the Savior because you do not know how to seek eternal salvation. Hence it is that Paul also is not heard, because if he were freed from the temptation, it would not profit him unto salvation. Behold, we see, dearest brothers, how many of you have gathered for the feast of the martyr: you bend your knees, you beat your breasts, you utter words of prayer and confession, you wet your faces with tears. But consider, I ask, your petitions; see whether you are asking in the name of Jesus, that is, whether you are seeking the joys of eternal salvation. For in the house of Jesus you do not seek Jesus, if in the temple of eternity you pray inappropriately for temporal things. Behold, one person in prayer seeks a wife, another asks for an estate, another requests clothing, another begs that food be given to him. […]

2143 Now he encourages them to act with the confidence he has given them: first, he reminds them of what they lacked in the past; secondly, he encourages them to advance in the future, ask. 2144 What they lacked in the past was not asking; …

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name,....

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."

Not all Christ's sayings were understood by His disciples. We are told this distinctly in the passage we have now read. "What is this that he says? We cannot tell what he says." None ever spoke so plainly as Jesus. None were so thoroughly accustomed to His style of teaching as the Apostles. Yet even the Apostles did not always take in their Master's meaning. Surely we have no right to be surprised if we cannot interpret Christ's words. There are many depths in those who we have no line to fathom.

Not all Christ's sayings were understood by His disciples. We are told this distinctly in the passage we have now read. "What is this that he says? We cannot tell what he says." None ever spoke so plainly as Jesus. None were so thoroughly accustomed to His style of teaching as the Apostles. Yet even the Apostles did not always take in their Master's meaning. Surely we have no right to be surprised if we cannot interpret Christ's words. There are many depths in those who we have no line to fathom. But let us thank God that there are many sayings of our Lord recorded which no honest mind can fail to understand. Let us use diligently the light that we have, and not doubt that "to him that has, more shall be given." We learn, for one thing, in these verses, that Christ's absence from the earth will be a time of sorrow to believers, but of joy to the world. It is written, "You shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice." To confine these words to the single point of Christ's approaching death and burial, appears a narrow view of their meaning. Like many of our Lord's sayings on the last evening of His earthly ministry, they seem to extend over the whole period of time between His first and second advents. Christ's personal absence must needs be a sorrow to all true-hearted believers. "The children of the bride-chamber cannot but fast when the bridegroom is taken from them." Faith is not sight. Hope is not certainty. Reading and hearing are not the same as beholding. Praying is not the same as speaking face to face. There is something, even in the hearts of the most eminent saints, that will never be fully satisfied as long as they are on earth and Christ is in heaven.

Hitherto - During his ministry, and while he was with them. Have ye asked ... - From the evangelists, as well as from this declaration, it seems that they had presented their requests for instruction and aid to Jesus himself. If they had prayed to God, it is probable that they had not done it in his name 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. It was to be presented at the close of his ministry. Then they were prepared in some degree to understand it; and then, amid trials, and wants, and a sense of their weakness and unworthiness, they would see its preciousness, and rejoice in the privilege of being thus permitted to draw near to God. Though he would be bodily absent, yet their blessings would still be given through the same unchanging Friend. Ask ... - Now they had the assurance that they might approach God in his name; and, amid all their trials, they, as well as all Christians since, might draw near to God, knowing that he would hear and answer their prayers. That your joy ... - See Joh 15:11.