John 16:16-24 (ESV)
The Thing about Timing
16: “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”
17: So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
18: So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.”
The Thing about Joy
19: Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?
20: Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
21: When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
22: So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
The Thing about Asking
23: In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
24: Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.