The late great Andrae Crouch sings this beautiful song here.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” – John 14:12-14
On the night of His betrayal, as the disciples were gathered together to celebrate the Passover, Jesus made a promise in regard to prayer. He said that He would answer whatever asked of Him but for this reason, “that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” Their new faith would enable them to do “even greater things” when they asked, but for one purpose and one purpose alone: “that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”
I recently read a story about the custodian of a metropolitan church who noticed scraps of paper in a certain pew in the sanctuary after each Sunday service. One day he decided to examine the crumpled pieces of paper and found such notes as: “Mary-ill; Bob, needs job; her rent due; my needs are,” etc.
After a few weeks of this, the custodian shared his findings with the pastor, who alerted several members who sat in the area where the messages came from to help find out, if possible, the person who was leaving the tidbits of information each Sunday. In due time, a lady was identified and the minister decided to speak with her about her practice of leaving notes addressed about various people in her pew.
Smiling, she gently declared that the bits of paper had deep meaning for her. “You will think it silly, but sometime ago I read, ‘Take your troubles to church with you.’ So I write down my concerns, burdens, and needs on little pieces of paper, take them to church, pray about them, and leave them there. I feel God will take care of them.”
This dear lady had faith in God’s promises to answer her prayers and because she knew by leaving a simple slip of paper, that no one would know who was making the requests, and when the answers came, God would receive all the glory!
My friends, I don’t know about you, but so often when I pray, my focus is usually on my own immediate needs or for those of others I love. But I have to ask, “shouldn’t my primary concern be that when the answers do come, and Jesus promised that they would, that through them, ‘the Son may bring glory to the Father?'” What do you think? Maranatha!
