If you are just joining me, this is the seventh installment in a series on Praying Effectively. Please see the end for a special note before continuing!
(3) Prayer is offered in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is, the prayer must accord with His character, and must be presented in the same spirit of dependence and submission and faith that He has towards His Father. [We cannot pray ‘any old thing’, tack Jesus’ name to the end of it, and think that it means that we have prayed “in Jesus’ name”. There are some cults and false religions that actually use the expression "in Jesus' name" in their prayers.]
John 14:13
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Luke 22:42
...Saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Matthew 11:25, 26
At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
Praying in the Name of Jesus also reminds us that we approach God the Father with confidence on the sole basis of what Jesus has done, His shed blood, and our unity with Him - as He and His Father are one. It reminds us that we are saved by grace though faith, and walk by faith in Jesus Christ. It proclaims that we believe God will hear and answer us on this basis only and not because of any good work intended to be a substitute for righteousness before Him.
Because praying in Jesus' name is more than just saying those three words, I believe that we can technically be praying in Jesus' name without necessarily using the phrase. However, we must also consider that there is a special spiritual power attached to a declaration, or confession made from the mouth when there is already faith in the heart (e.g. Rom. 10:9; Acts 3:6, Acts 5:40). Furthermore, the sound of Jesus' name is authoritative, mighty, and terrifying in the spiritual (unseen) realm from a person who is in right standing with God, through Christ Jesus (see Matt 28:18; Acts 16:18). For these reasons I personally believe that as long as we have the voice to do it, we should pray in Jesus' name and say so!
[This is the seventh post in a series on the subject of prayer. Last week we looked at the privilege and power of addressing prayers to God the Father, drawing from examples in Scripture as well as what Jesus taught and spoke to His disciples. These posts are interspersed among other blog topics so for the easy identification of related posts, look for the label 'praying effectively - series' in the sidebar. If you are just now joining in I recommend that you read the first post where I shared my reason for doing this series. I hope to share practical keys and insight into praying effectively, in bite-size blog posts which you can easily follow.]
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