CHRISTMAS JOY - by James Tharp

Our gracious God made it clear that He wanted the coming of His Son Jesus Christ into the world to bring great joy to everyone. We first hear about the joy that Jesus brings the world in the angel’s announcement to the shepherds in the field watching over their flocks at night: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11, NKJV).

And let us hear Jesus speak of the kind of joy He came to bring those who would place their trust in Him: “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” (John 17:13, NIV). Remember that (in verses 9-19) Jesus is praying to the Heavenly Father for His disciples. Jesus is in a role as an Advocate, a Petitioner, and a Supplicant on behalf of believers. And our Heavenly Father is the Petitioned One. Given this kind of loving concern on the part of both Father and Son, we Christians need not fail.

Christians, let us never forget that Jesus prays for His joy to be fulfilled in us! Jesus tells when, how, and why this great joy will come about. In John 16, verses 22-24 (NIV), He explains his departure from the disciples, but that there will come a time when they will pray differently—with the help of the Holy Spirit who will be given them; by praying in the Spirit, they will be praying the will of God and “my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” And note the final words of this paragraph: “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

Dear Christian readers, I believe it is high time that we all catch onto the glorious economy of prayer that belongs to the Spirit-filled believer. No one can know the joy it brings until they are filled with the Spirit and practice prayer daily with the Spirit’s help.

The apostle Paul spoke for us all when He wrote, “...We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:26-28, NIV).

We are in the Christmas season, and many are striving to be joyful. But every believer needs a relationship with Jesus Christ that is ongoing in times of triumph as well as in times of testing. The believer who is filled with the Spirit and learning how to maintain his or her life in the Spirit knows the results of praying in the Spirit. I want to mention at least three.

The Spirit enlightens our understanding so that we pray according to the will of God. How wonderful it feels when you know you are asking for what God wants to give! What freedom! What faith! What joy! Just knowing, and expecting, and waiting with joy for the answer.

The Spirit energizes our spirit so that we do not faint. We don’t quit, we don’t give up, and we don’t stop, because we know we are asking for what God wants to give. We know this because the Spirit is helping us to know what to pray for, and we are obeying.

The Spirit emboldens our faith so that we refuse to be denied. Of course, we’ll be tempted to give up, to allow doubt to come that we just thought we were praying according to the will of God. But we are to stay with the Spirit’s conviction that we are to pray a certain way and for a certain answer; of course, we are to understand that God’s answer will come to us in His way and at His time through whatever means He chooses. In Isaiah 40:31 we read: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (NKJV). When we know we are praying the will of God, and when we sense the Spirit’s strength to keep at it, our faith should so increase that we know we dare not tire and yield to the temptation to give up. Somehow the Spirit manages to increase the joy of asking and believing, which helps defeat the temptation to quit asking.

Christmas time should be a time of great joy for the Spirit-filled believer—not merely because of the gifts, songs, gatherings, or greetings—but because of our God of love, because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because of our hope of eternal life, because God answers prayer, because we live in America. God is going to hear the prayers of millions of American prayer warriors who believe His promise found in II Chronicles 7:14, NIV: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”