What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means the opposite of being rich in pride. And that is where the happiness of the new life begins. It begins, not where we stand before God and throw out our chest and say, “Well, look at what a great guy I am. I am building my life all by myself, and I am doing quite well.” It is not that attitude at all. It is the attitude in which we stand before God in our sin, acknowledge our need, and say as the publican, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

In verses 13 and 14 Jesus talks about prayer, saying that prayer is effective. Notice the way He puts it: “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

In verse 9 Jesus talks about knowing God. He says, “You really can know God, and the way you know God is by knowing me.” It comes out of a question Philip asked. Philip had said, “Lord, show us the father and that will be enough for us” (v. 8). When Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me,” I think Philip got the message of Jesus’ departure. Philip thought, “The Father is in heaven; Jesus is going to heaven; he is going home.” So he said, “Lord, I get what you are saying. You are leaving us. But we have come such a small way in our experience of spiritual things. Before you go there is one thing we really want: we want to see God. That is what we want to see.”