Rogate (Easter 6), 2025

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

St. John 16:23b-30

Rogate

May 25, 2025

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“Rogate” means “pray” or “ask.” It comes from our Lord’s words in John 16, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

When we ask God the Father for things in the name of the Son, we are praying. And that’s generally how we pray. We pray to the Father in the name of the Son. So, for example, the Collect for the Day: “ O God,” that’s God the Father, “O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.” That’s just one example. Because often, when the pastor prays the Collect of the Day on behalf of the congregation, we are first addressing the Father. But we also pray through Jesus Christ—the Son—and in His name, and by the Holy Spirit.

To be sure, we can also pray directly to the Son and even directly to the Holy Spirit. We have the hymn in our hymnal “To God the Holy Spirit, Let Us Pray” (LSB 768). We can pray to the Father because the Father is God. We can pray directly to the Son, because the Son is God. And the same with the Holy Spirit. They are the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. Three Persons, one God.

Jesus teaches the disciples about prayer in the upper room. He says, “In that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Here, Jesus is speaking of the unconditional nature of God to hear and answer our prayers. But the next verse in the Gospel reading puts it into perspective. He then tells the disciples, “These things I have spoken to you in figures of speech; but the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.” So when He says things like, “Ask whatever you want in My name and the Father will give it to you,” and the like, that’s figurative language. It should be pretty obvious to us, when we tie all this together. Because if we were to ask for evil, we know that He will not give it. If we ask apart from faith, He will not hear us.

If we do not rightly understand our Lord’s words prayer, even this gift can be abused. About 20 years ago, there was a pretty blasphemous episode of a show called The Simpsons where the main character, Homer Simpson, “discovers the power of prayer.” In my mind, this episode was written and played out because of a misunderstanding of the words of our Lord in the Gospel reading, “Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” And that’s what Homer does. He “discovers” that if he prays to God, God will give Him anything he asks for. He can’t find the TV remote, so he prays to God and lo and behold, he finds it. He prays to God for a new snack, and then he discovers fudge-covered bacon. He wants a better house, he gets it. He wants all of these material goods because he sees everyone around him is well off, so he prays to God and God gives him whatever he asks. Well, that’s obviously not how prayer works. This, of course, is a fictional TV show but it shows how many can be led astray if they do not rightly understand the Scriptures.

Jesus Himself says that He is using figurative language here when He says, “Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you. These things I have spoken to you in figures of speech; but the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.” So its figurative here, not literal. But there is still literal truth to it. When He tells us to ask for whatever we want in His name and He will give it, He is teaching us about the eternal goodness of the Father, who alone is the giver of everything we have: clothing, shoes, house, spouse, land, animals, and the like. And He promises always to hear our prayers. And He does always give an answer, even if that answer is no. I would assume most of what we as Christians ask of God are good. Yet, sometimes, He does not give. All of us have prayed to God for whatever it may be, and sometimes our prayers have not been answered. We have prayed, “Heal Grandma; let my sports team win; my family is going through this difficult time and situation, relieve us of this cross.” And sometimes the answer is “no.” When pastors are called to the deathbed of a hospice patient, we always pray for deliverance and healing. In a sense, we are asking God for a miracle. I’ve prayed for a lot of miracles. I haven’t seen anything that I would count as a miracle. I’ve seen God’s providence, to be sure. But so far in those cases, I’ve only ever been told “no.” Id like a miracle. Like someone raised from the dead besides Jesus, like someone I love. But we still keep praying. God commands it. He has promised to hear our prayers. He desires to be in conversation with us.

He hears our prayers and answers them because His hour has come. He tells the disciples, “The time,” or “The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.” That hour is the our when He is lifted up from the earth on the cross to offer Himself as the atoning sacrifice for all mankind. He died and yet He lives. He died and now lives and thereby, we are justified, reconciled to the Father. He is able and willing to hear our prayers because we have been declared righteous by His blood, which is poured out on us. If we were not forgiven and our sins were still held against us, He would not hear our prayers. But our sins are forgiven. So He does hear our prayers and answers them according to His will. His will is always done.

Thus, we pray. Our Lord prayed in Gethsemene, “Remove this cup from me. Not My will, but Yours be done.” If He can pray to His Father in that way and ask for that, then we can pray for anything in His name and according to His will: heal Grandma, remove this cross from me; give me a better job, help my children, and the like. Prayer is commanded. We ought to pray. This is what Christians do. So let us pray. Let us pray without ceasing.

To that end, just an aside, when we tell someone, “You’re in my prayers,” I hope we mean it. Telling someone that he or she is in your prayers isn’t just a nice sentimental statement. We should actually be praying for people. I’m sure most of us are. But we should actually do what we say. We shouldn’t lie to people. “You’re in my prayers,” even though in reality, I’m not actually taking up the task of interceding for you in prayer is lying to that person. I just said that to make you feel good. We ought to be doers of the word. Not hearers only. Again, I don’t think this is really that big of a problem, but at least, I hope it’s not. If someone asks if you would pray for them, do it. It’s really easy. Once you get home, you can simply pray a quick prayer: “God be with___.” “Dear Father in heaven, please bless___.” You can do it even before bed before you go to sleep.

Here at church, we pray for all people during the Prayer of the Church. If someone comes to me and asks to be included, that’s not a problem. I’d be happy to include you. Just know that I will keep you in the prayers until you tell me to take you off. Because we should be offering up to God supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

In +Jesus’ name.