John 16:23-33; James 1:22-27; Numbers 21:4-9
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today is Rogate Sunday. Today is also Mother's Day. It is fitting that these two commemorations should coincide, for Rogate means “to ask,” and what mother has not prayed and asked the Lord for strength and faith and for all things needful in the care of their child? Mothers know prayer not as a theory but as a necessity, as natural as breathing. And so today, on this Rogate Sunday, we honor them, give thanks to God for them, and together hear our Lord's own teaching on what it means to pray.
“In that day,” Jesus says, “you will ask nothing of Me.” What could He possibly mean? He means this: because of His death and resurrection in your place and for your sake, He has literally given Himself to you. You are in Him, and He is in you, flesh of His flesh, bone of His bones. He is your holy Bridegroom; you, the Church, are His holy Bride. Therefore, all that belongs to Jesus belongs also to you, for you are His body and He is your head. Remember the words from last Sunday's Gospel? “All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that the Holy Spirit will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” There is nothing you could possibly ask the Father to give you that is not already yours in Jesus Christ. And so, Jesus says: don't ask Me, rather, “Whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you.”
“In My Name” is the key. The Name of Jesus is not a magical incantation to tack onto the end of a prayer like a coin dropped in a divine vending machine – insert coin, pull lever, receive gift, thank you Jesus. No. The Name of Jesus is Jesus Himself, indeed, the entire Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As St. James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” To pray in Jesus' Name is to pray in accordance with who He is, everything that is godly and good, everything consistent with His Word, His will, and His commands. Healings, recoveries, and protections from evil are certainly in Jesus' Name, though they are not always granted on our timeline or in our way. New cars and winning lottery tickets? Perhaps, but not likely. What “in Jesus’ Name” most certainly means is that whatever you ask of the Father that is truly in Jesus, He will give you, in His time, in His way, according to His perfect knowledge of what is good.
So, what should we pray for? Our Lord has already answered that question. We should pray that God’s Name would be hallowed among us in our lives, words, and deeds. We should pray that His kingdom would come, that we would desire its coming and live to His glory in the vocations He has given us. We should pray that His will be done, not our own; as we prayed in today's Collect, that we would “think those things that are right” and “by His merciful guiding accomplish them.” We should pray for daily bread, everything we need for body and soul. We should pray for forgiveness, and for grace to forgive others. We should pray for deliverance from temptation and from the evil one. Do you see how every one of these petitions is, by its very nature, a prayer in Jesus’ Name?
Now, prayer is not an option. You are commanded to pray, and to pray is to obey. This is nothing more or less than obedience to the First Commandment, for when you pray, you acknowledge God to be God and confess that you are not. This is the proper order of things, the realignment of Creator and creature. Prayer is a return to your Father, much as the prodigal son returned to his gracious, forgiving father, who was already watching, already waiting, already running down the road to meet him. God is there for you always, no matter how long or how far you have strayed. Pray to Him simply because He is good and because He is God, regardless of what you expect in return. That is not the point. Just pray. It is good for you, it glorifies God, and He has promised to hear and answer in Jesus' Name.
St. Paul says to pray without ceasing. Oh, the confusion those three words have caused! We want to ask, “When, exactly? How often? For how long?” Our sin-corrupted reason hates open-ended commands. “When must I forgive?” “When is it permissible to stop giving?” “When have I prayed enough?” The Lord’s answer is always the same: Always. There is no limit. Think of breathing. You do not decide to breathe, the atmosphere exerts its pressure, and your lungs respond. When we are born into the family of God, we enter a spiritual atmosphere where God's presence and grace press in upon our lives constantly. Prayer is the natural response to that pressure. It is the breath of the new life in Christ. Many believers hold their spiritual breath for long stretches, as if brief moments with God are sufficient, but this starves the soul. We must be continually in the presence of God, breathing in His truth, to be fully alive in Him. Breathe, pray, live.
Your life, in fact, is a prayer to God. As the food and air you take in nourish your body and enable you to live, so prayer nourishes and enlivens you both spiritually and physically. St. James puts it plainly: be “doers of the Word, and not hearers only.” Bridle your tongue. Keep yourself unstained from the world. Visit the orphan and the widow in their affliction. These are not merely acts of charity, they are the outpouring of a life lived in prayer, a life breathed in and breathed out in the presence of God.
And here, once again, we think of mothers. A mother’s love, at its best, is a living image of exactly this. What is a mother’s life but a long act of self-giving, of intercession, of watching over and caring for those entrusted to her? The mother who prays for her child through the night, who speaks God’s Name over a sick or straying son or daughter, who keeps on praying long after it seems anyone is listening, she embodies what Rogate means. She asks. She does not stop asking. And in doing so, she reflects the love of the God who never stops watching, never stops calling, never stops giving.
“I have said these things to you,” Jesus says, “that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” And so, whatever today brings you, whether you are celebrating a beloved mother, or grieving one who has gone ahead to glory, or aching for a relationship that is broken, or longing for the child you never had, take heart. Jesus has overcome. And in Him, in His Name, you already have everything: righteousness, holiness, sonship with the Father, victory over sin and death, and everlasting life.
You do not have to ask of Jesus, all of it is already yours. But whatever you ask in His Name, His Father will give you, that your joy may be full. And lest you doubt it, your Lord Jesus has left you this Sacrament, something physical, visible, tasteable, to remind you that you are in communion with Him, that you are truly His body and He is your head. He gives you His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins, the strengthening of your faith, and your protection from the assaults of the evil one.
Rogate. Ask. Pray. In Jesus’ Name. That you may have peace, and that your joy may be full.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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