John 13:13-14 only applied to the Disciples. He was having a private conversation with them and prefaced his address to "ye". This means that Jesus does not promise every believer that he will answer their prayers if asked in his name. We see this played out in Acts where Peter and the others did many miracles that we don't see today. Further proof that this verse only applies to the Disciples is the previous verse, John 13:12 "He that believeth on me"... "He" is referencing others not within earshot of the Disciples with him at the last supper. The rest of the world. Therefore, we all can believe and have everlasting life but do not have full access to the power of having our prayers answered when asked in Jesus name.
If I may offer up a different perspective on prayer, I read over the scriptures you gave and the message that Jesus is presenting to His disciples have nothing to do with prayer being answered or not being answered. In John 13:12-20, we are given the purpose of the foot washing. In context, this message was given as an example of service and how His people should serve Him. This would also apply to believers today.
There are several teachings in the bible on prayer, and out of all the teachings, there's one place in the bible that seems to be a summary statement of all the teachings on prayer. It is found in 1 John 5:14-15 which reads, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
The term "we have" in Verse 15 is present, ongoing. When we pray for something for His will to be done, we have our answer already, now and continuing in the future. God answers every prayer when we ask according to His will.
When we ask for the Lord's will to be done, we are expressing our submission to Him with whatever He does. We are to let go of the situation knowing that we have the answer to our prayer. Whatever it is, it's His answer!
I share this not as an argument, but to show that we as believers can know without a doubt that God will answer every prayer that we ask of Him when we ask for His will to be done in whatever it is we are asking.
If I may offer up a different perspective on prayer, I read over the scriptures you gave and the message that Jesus is presenting to His disciples have nothing to do with prayer being answered or not being answered. In John 13:12-20, we are given the purpose of the foot washing. In context, this message was given as an example of service and how His people should serve Him. This would also apply to believers today.
There are several teachings in the bible on prayer, and out of all the teachings, there's one place in the bible that seems to be a summary statement of all the teachings on prayer. It is found in 1 John 5:14-15 which reads, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
The term "we have" in Verse 15 is present, ongoing. When we pray for something for His will to be done, we have our answer already, now and continuing in the future. God answers every prayer when we ask according to His will.
When we ask for the Lord's will to be done, we are expressing our submission to Him with whatever He does. We are to let go of the situation knowing that we have the answer to our prayer. Whatever it is, it's His answer!
I share this not as an argument, but to show that we as believers can know without a doubt that God will answer every prayer that we ask of Him when we ask for His will to be done in whatever it is we are asking.
Blessings to you in Christ!
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