For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favour upon favour, and gift heaped upon gift].

John 1:16 (Amplified Bible)

How we pray to and receive from Jesus will depend on how we view Him.

The Apostle John testified that Jesus is the personified fullness of grace and truth. This means Jesus is more than enough to meet our every need. When we pray in accordance with who He is and who we are to Him, we shouldn't be afraid to ask boldly and expect fully.

Sometimes we think there is a limit to the number of prayerful requests we can make to God. Or God can only do so much for us. When we assume such thoughts, our concept of God is too small and falls short of what the gospel says about Him.

We must learn to pray from our completeness in Christ since we are in Christ and joined to Him by faith.

The Greek word translated as "complete" is pleeroo which means "fullness, super-abundance, in full measure". You can’t be more complete in Christ than you are right now. If you find it difficult to recognise and embrace your fullness in Christ, the gospel has no effect on you. Instead of resting in Christ to provide for your needs according to His overflowing riches in glory, you are "cutting off" from Him by not walking in the reality of your identity.

Having a healthy awareness of your identity in Christ is the key to receiving from Him. Then how your prayers are answered is not based on your performance but on His grace working in and through us.

Knowing who you are and what you have in Him makes your prayers more effective and powerful. This is because once you are firmly established in your true identity as a rightful son or daughter of a most loving and forgiving Father, it will silence the critical voice of a wounded orphan soul.