John 14:13

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And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:13 (NKJV)

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:13 (NIV)

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:13 (KJV)

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.

John 14:13 (NLT)

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:13 (ESV)

Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:13 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

And I will do whatever you ask in My name [as My representative], so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son.

John 14:13 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I Am], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son.

John 14:13 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

You can ask me for anything and I'll do it because a Son's work reveals the Father at his best.

John 14:13 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

"In My Name": More Than a Closing Formula

Praying "in the name of Jesus" is often treated as a closing phrase appended to prayer, a Christian convention. But "in My name" in John 14:13 means asking as His authorized representative, in alignment with His character, will, and purposes. A person who acts "in the name of" someone in the ancient world was acting under their authority and on their behalf, as a legal agent. To ask in Jesus's name is to ask what He would ask, for what He is after, aligned with His interests and the Father's glory. The name is not a magic formula. It is a description of a relationship and an alignment: you are asking from within the purposes of the one whose name you invoke.

"That the Father May Be Glorified in the Son": The Purpose of Prayer

Jesus gives the reason He will do what His disciples ask: so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. This is the orienting purpose of New Covenant prayer. Prayer is not primarily about personal need fulfillment, though God cares for personal needs (Matthew 6:31-33). It is about the glorification of the Father through the activity of the Son on behalf of His people. When a request is aligned with that purpose, it is a request Jesus does. The Father is glorified when the Son acts powerfully through the prayers of His people. This understanding transforms prayer from petition into partnership: you are participating with Christ in His purposes, and He acts in response.

John 14:13 is part of a cluster of prayer promises in John 14-16: 14:13-14, 15:7, 15:16, 16:23-24. Together, they establish a comprehensive picture of New Covenant prayer. The common thread is relationship: abiding in Christ (15:7), being chosen and appointed by Christ (15:16), asking the Father in Christ's name (16:23). None of the promises are blank checks for any request. They are promises operating within the context of a life in close relationship with Christ, aligned with His purposes, and directed toward the Father's glory. In that context, the asking is remarkably open: "whatever you ask."

Application for Your Life

Asking in His Name Is an Act of Alignment

To pray in Jesus's name is to ask the question: would Jesus ask for this? Is this what He is after? Does this prayer advance the purposes of the Father's glory in the world? This is not a narrow question that eliminates personal needs from prayer. Jesus told His disciples to ask for daily bread (Matthew 6:11). He told them to bring their anxieties to God (Philippians 4:6). But the frame for all of these is the alignment of personal request with the larger purposes of the One in whose name you pray. When your desires are shaped by His, asking becomes natural and answering becomes expected.

The Promise Is Remarkably Open Within That Frame

Within the frame of "in My name" and "for the Father's glory," the promise is genuinely open: "whatever you ask." Jesus does not narrow it to specific categories of spiritual need. He does not say "prayer requests within certain limits." He says "whatever." The invitation is to bring the full range of your life and your need to God, trusting that a life aligned with Christ will naturally be asking things that fit within "whatever," because the alignment shapes the asking.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Lord Jesus, I bring my requests to You in Your name. Not as a formula, but as an act of alignment. I am asking as Your representative, in Your authority, for what aligns with Your character and Your purposes. I want the Father to be glorified in the Son through the answers to my prayers. Shape my asking by Your priorities. Let what I want be shaped increasingly by what You want, so that my prayers are the kind that You say "yes" to because they are already the kind of prayer You would pray. I bring everything to You. You are listening. You are acting. To the glory of the Father. In Your name. Amen.