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Welcome to day five of our look together through John chapter 16. We've been
looking together this week at how Jesus deals with our grief, how He brings joy
into our lives, the power of His Spirit. John chapter 16 are Jesus' last words
to His disciples on this night before He died.

In John chapter 17, the whole chapter, He's going to pray for His followers.
That's an incredible chapter. Here in 16, the last two things that He chooses to
talk about, to teach about with His disciples are prayer and peace.

These are things that He's talked about again and again in John 13 to 16. Prayer
and peace. They're at the center of God's resources for the kind of life that He
wants us to live.

You want to live the kind of life that God wants you to live? I do. And if I do,
I've got to learn the rest of my life to practice genuine prayer.

Not some idea of prayer, not some false image of prayer, but genuine prayer.
Jesus says in John 16, 23, and 24, "In that day, the day when the Spirit comes,
the day when we learn to rejoice in Him, 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.

Until now, you've not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive,
and your joy will be complete. " We've talked about joy the last few days.

Notice here that Jesus says that the action of joy is prayer. You talk to God.
In that day, you'll no longer ask Me anything.

He's talking about person to person, face to face, but you will continue to ask
in My name. You'll talk to the Father in My name. The action of joy is prayer.

Joy, in one sense, has two moving parts. Ask and receive. The two moving parts
are ask in Jesus' name and receive the Father's gift.

Ask, part of joy, is the willingness to depend upon God for your needs. You ask
in Jesus' name. Some people think that's just tacked on at the end of the
prayer.

That's the most important phrase in the entire verse. You ask in My name. That
reminds us that prayer is not some magic word that we wave over a situation,
some spiritual abracadabra.

Prayer begins with an attitude of heart that says, "I want what Jesus wants. "
You ask in Jesus' name and then you receive the Father's gift. A simple rule of
building your joy through prayer is don't ask God for things you don't expect
Him to give.

Why would you ask? Sometimes we ask God for things we don't expect Him to give.
Now I don't ask God and demand that He gives.

I realize that His choice is greater than mine, that His wisdom is greater than
mine. I don't demand that God gives, but why wouldn't I expect that He's going
to give what I ask Him to give? You ask and you expect.

And when you do that, when you receive your joy, Jesus says will be made full,
it'll be made complete. It's interesting. Somebody on our research team wrote
about this verse about prayer.

This verse especially speaks to me while I travel. Knowing that I can reach out
to my Lord and Savior for guidance and strength while I'm alone gives me the
courage to face anything, the most difficult things. You ask and you receive and
your joy is made complete.

You practice genuine prayer. In verses 25 to 27, Jesus goes on to talk about
what the disciples are facing in those moments of their life. He says, "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.

In that day, you will ask in my name. I'm not saying I will ask the Father on
your behalf. No, the Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have
believed that I came from God.

" In those last couple of verses, Jesus is reminding us that it's not like we
have to ask Jesus and then Jesus takes the request on to God and has to convince
God to do this thing that He doesn't want to do for your life. No, the Father
Himself loves you. You ask in Jesus' name because you have Jesus' purpose and
promise in your life.

And Jesus as He talks about prayer here reminds us that prayer is a matter of
direct access to God. You'll never have a joy-producing prayer life until you
understand this one thing. You have direct access to God because He loves you.

Now, some people feel uncomfortable with that. Most people feel uncomfortable
with that when they first get a hold of it. There are some people who feel like
they have to have a go-between between them and God.

Some priest, some person, some saint. Or they think even if they're not thinking
in those terms, they think, "If I could just get this more spiritual Christian
that I know to pray for me," and then God would do it because they obviously
have a more direct line to God than I do because of their faithfulness to God.
Jesus says everyone who's a believer in Christ, you have a direct line to God.

You don't have to like go to the support network and then maybe get a line to
the real answer that you need. No, you've got a direct line to the Creator.
You've got a direct line to the one who made you.

Jesus is saying, "Make no mistake, a healthy Christian life requires direct
access to God. " And so you can speak to God directly. The Father Himself loves
you.

You can talk to Him. In verses 28 to 32, Jesus goes on to say this, "I came from
the Father and I entered the world. Now I'm leaving the world and going back to
the Father.

" And then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without
figures of speech. Now we see. We can see that you know all things and that you
don't need to have anyone ask you questions.

This makes us believe that you came from God. You believe at last," Jesus
answered, "for the time is coming and has come when you will be scattered, each
to his own home. You will leave me all alone, yet I'm not alone.

My Father is with me. " That time is going to come very soon in the Garden of
Gethsemane. When they come to arrest Jesus, the disciples will scatter and Jesus
will be alone in the trials.

In verse 28, this is very much Jesus' final farewell to His disciples. And in
some ways, it's the story of His life in one verse. He says, "I came from the
Father and entered the world.

" That's the incarnation. "I'm leaving the world. " That's the resurrection and
the ascension and I'm going back to the Father.

That's the glorification. And in verse 31, Jesus says in response to what they
said about, "We believe you came from God. " "You believe at last.

" This is the night before He dies and He's saying to them, "You believe at
last. You finally get it. You really get it.

" Talk about cutting it close. Even at the end, Jesus is excited about their
belief and even though He knew they'd struggle in their faith, He can see the
depth of their belief. I joked about cutting it close, but the truth of the
matter here is, it's never too late to believe.

These disciples, even this last night with Jesus, they were discovering things,
believing new things. If you think you've learned it all, you haven't, and if
you think it's too late to believe, it isn't. It's never too late to believe.

You focus on belief and trust as you talk to God and trust in Him in daily life.
That's one of the resources that Jesus talks about in these last few moments
with the disciples, the resource of prayer and trust in God. But He also talks
to them about something He's spoken about again and again.

He talks to them about God's peace. In John 16, 33, Jesus says, "I've told you
these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have
trouble, but take heart.

I have overcome the world. " I wonder, let me read two Bible verses for you, and
let me ask you, which of these two verses best describes where your heart is
right now? Does Job 3, 26 best describe your heart?

I have no peace, no quietness, I have no rest, but only turmoil? Or does John
14, 27 better describe where your heart is right now? Jesus said, "I'm leaving
you with a gift, peace of mind and heart, and the peace I give isn't fragile
like the peace the world gives, so don't be troubled or afraid.

" You see, there are times in all of our lives when we feel a loss of peace, and
Jesus says, "I want to come into your life in those moments, and I want to give
you my peace. " And this peace that He gives, remember we talked about this when
we looked at John 14, this peace that He gives is not an absence, it's a
presence. It's not the absence of trouble, it's the presence of peace in the
midst of trouble.

In this world, He says, "You will have trouble. " I love John 16, 33, I think
it's one of the most honest verses in the entire Bible. "You're going to have
trouble in this world, but take heart.

I've overcome the world. " Jesus has overcome the world, He gives us peace in
the midst of trouble. It's interesting that in this chapter, John chapter 16,
where Jesus talks about being kicked out of the synagogue and facing grief and
even about being killed with his followers, He ends by promising peace and joy.

Obviously peace and joy are not dependent on our circumstances. You see, peace
is not in our circumstances, it is in Him. Don't miss this promise.

Peace is inevitable when we are in Him. So what do you do? You place your guilt
and your plans and your dreams and your worries and your fears and your griefs
in Him, in His hands, and you realize that you are in Him and the result will be
peace.

But it's a different kind of peace than the peace of the world. It's not the
peace of escape, it's the peace of overcoming. Oftentimes we think of peace as
escape.

I've escaped to some place where there's no problems, no troubles, I'm on
vacation. Jesus says, "My kind of peace is a different kind of peace. I have
overcome the world, not escaped from the world, I have overcome the world.

" And peace flows from the confidence of the overcoming Christ. Peace flows from
the confidence of the fact that Jesus is resurrected. There's nothing that
anyone can do to change the fact that Jesus Christ has overcome the world.

And so there's nothing that anyone can do to steal peace from every circumstance
of life, even the most difficult circumstances. That peace has to be discovered.
At least I've found that.

I have to discover that peace in the circumstances of life. So how do I discover
it? I discover it by listening to and acting upon what Jesus said.

Jesus said it so clearly, "Listen to me, you'll have peace. I'm talking to you
so that peace can happen in you. " Who are you listening to?

What are you listening to? Are you listening to the inner voice of worry? Are
you listening to the turmoil around you in the world?

Of course you won't have peace. There's no joy because you're spending so much
time listening to the wrong voices. Jesus said, "Listen to my voice.

" In fact, right now, we take a few moments to talk to God in prayer. Listen to
the voice of Jesus Christ. "I've told you these things," Jesus says, "so that in
me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.
" Just say, "Jesus, give me your peace.

Give me your peace in this circumstance I'm facing right now. You are the Prince
of Peace. Give me your peace.

" Lord, I can't ask for peace for next week or next month or next year. I'm not
there yet. But I can ask for it right now, in this hour of my life.

So give me your peace in this hour. I pray it in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, next
week, don't miss next week.

Next week, we're going to be looking together at Jesus' prayer for his
followers. Jesus praying for you. Join us for John chapter 17 next week.