Prayer Series 10: In Jesus Name

At the end of so many prayers, we hear and say: “in Jesus' name we pray, amen.”  Why?  Well, it’s not just a traditional, canned ending to prayers.  In the book of John, Jesus Himself emphasized the importance of praying in His name when teaching the disciples how to pray.

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” John 15:16

These are promises straight from Jesus Himself!  “Whatever” we ask.  “Anything” we ask.  Wow!  There is power when we pray in the name of Jesus.

So what’s in a name?

It’s because of Jesus that we even have the opportunity to pray in the first place.  When He gave His life for us on the cross and rose from the dead three days later, He restored His original design for humankind – that we can have a direct relationship with Him.  We are no longer under the law and separated from Him by sin, but through His free gift of salvation we are forgiven of our sin when we believe He is God.  We can now commune directly with God Himself, and that means we can talk directly to Him through prayer, just like a relationship with a close friend.  It’s because of Jesus’ precious blood that we even have the privilege to call upon the Father, anytime, anywhere.

“For through Him (Jesus) we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” Ephesians 2:18

His Spirit lives in us.

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He makes His home in us.  His Spirit dwells in us.  We are no longer ourselves, but Christ who lives within us (Galatians 2:20).  It’s the Helper or the Holy Spirit who God the Father sent in Jesus’ name that teaches us all things and is always with us.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7

Jesus was comforting His disciples with accepting His coming earthly departure in this verse as the Spirit would later come to allow each and every person direct access to God all of the time, above and beyond what Jesus could do as one man, in one place, at any given time.

"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:23-24

As a new creation in Christ, we now have His Spirit in us.  Just like a woman who takes her husband’s name in marriage, we now take on the name of Christ when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior.  We pray in His name as His humble and obedient children because we love Him.  Andrew Murray says it beautifully in his book “Teach Me to Pray”: “To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray in unity and in sympathy with Him.  Such prayer has power.  If with Jesus you glorify the Father, the Father will glorify Jesus by doing what you ask in His name.”

The Spirit in us prays on our behalf, and Jesus intercedes and advocates for us with God the Father.

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He (Jesus) makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

He rose from the dead, is alive, and lives to forever intercede for us at the right hand of the Father.  It’s Him that is really doing the asking and taking our requests to the Father when we pray, receiving those requests from the Spirit who lives in us.

How amazing is it that we have the power of Jesus in us?  Before Jesus promised that the Father will give us “whatever” and “anything”, He said:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” John 14:12

Our strength and power IS Jesus.  He alone is the power of prayer.  It’s in His name prayer is powerful.  It’s nothing we’ve done or earned, it’s all Him.  What a privilege it is to pray!

So, is it about ending each prayer with the memorized phrase of: “in Jesus name, amen?” just to sound all churchy?  No!  Like anything concerning our relationship with God, it’s not about checking the box, but rather your heart’s motivation.  When you pray, acknowledge from the depths of your heart and mind that it’s through Jesus that you can even pray in the first place.  Picture Jesus sitting at the right hand of God praying on your behalf.  Have confidence that when you are praying God’s will (His Word), in unity with Jesus, that you will receive what you ask.  Allow these truths to sink into your heart and change your heart’s approach to praying, and come to your Lord in gratitude and adoration.  The next time you say, “in Jesus name,” your heart will be outpouring praise versus it just being the typical ending to your prayers. 

“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25

“It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Romans 8:34

Prayer Series 9: Yielding

God really laid this blog post on my heart in a roundabout way.  Over the past month, every time I saw or heard the words “according to” in the Bible, the Holy Spirit would just poke me.  When I looked up the meaning of the word κατά in the Greek, it’s simply a preposition that occurs 482 times in the Bible.  No wonder I was seeing it a lot – it’s all over the place!  Then I finally realized it was God simply giving me the prayer topic on which I was supposed to write next.  Praying according to God's will and not our own.  Thank you Lord!

Last time, we discussed our heart’s motivation behind what we are asking for during prayer, and we’ve started focusing our prayers so God may be glorified and honored instead of wanting our own selves to be glorified, comfortable, or our desires fulfilled.  Now, to take that a step further, after we ask God for help and bring our petitions to Him, we then must yield to God with the confidence that He will answer our prayers according to His will and not our will.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14-15

Did you hear that?  God hears us when we ask ANYTHING according to His will – big or small – ANYTHING – as long as we ask according to His will.  We have total confidence that, if our prayer is according to His will, then what we asked for will be done!  But what about our prayers we consider unanswered?

First of all, are you sure it’s not answered?  Maybe God has answered it…according to His will and not yours.  Maybe He is answering it in His perfect timing, and His timing hasn’t come yet.  Or, finally, maybe your prayer request was not in His will.  Are you ok with it going unanswered?  Is the Garth Brook’s voice singing “sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers” twanging in your head yet? 

In a conversation about prayer with my beautiful Aunt Sue last week, she said something so profound, and I’ve just been chewing on it all week.  She said that so many times she catches herself giving God her problems AND a solution versus just the problem.  I mean, think about that – does God need our solutions?  No way.  His perspective is so much greater than ours. 

Of course, we can look to Jesus as our primary example.  He Himself prayed when His soul was extremely sorrowful in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion.  Both Matthew and Mark recall that Jesus said the following prayer three times.  In fact, the gospel of Luke says Jesus, being in agony, prayed more earnestly, and then His sweat became like great drops of blood.  Here was Jesus’s prayer:

“Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” Mark 14:36

From Jesus’s mouth and a promise to us in His word – for God, all things are possible.  He could answer your prayer according to your will right now if He wanted to…He is absolutely capable.  Sit for a minute, and think about this prayer.  Jesus, God’s own son, dripping drops of blood, in agony, extremely sorrowful, and praying earnestly asked for the pain of crucifixion to be taken from Him, and God could have said “ok.”  Thank God, Jesus yielded to His Father’s will and said: “nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”  God’s plan was accomplished, and our salvation was made possible through the painful, horrific sacrifice that was ahead of Jesus in that very moment.  Wow!  And we are so quick to give God our solutions!  Shouldn’t we all add: “nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” to each one of our prayers?

Secondly, Jesus taught His disciples to yield to God’s will when He showed them how to pray by example in The Model Prayer (remember, it isn’t The Lord’s Prayer, it’s Jesus’s example of how we should pray):

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

I love the way Chuck Smith put it: “Prayer was never intended as a vehicle by which I can get my will done on the earth.  Prayer is the vehicle by which I cooperate with God in order to get His will done.”

Rejoice in the confidence you have that when you pray God’s will, HE HEARS YOU, and your prayers WILL BE ANSWERED.  When we pray with this confidence, it gives us rest and turns our eyes back on Him and His eternal purpose and sovereignty and away from ourselves and our circumstances.  It's how  we live by faith - trusting that His will is what's best and giving Him the reigns.  Don't forget to give yourselves some grace too...you may have to pray the same prayer many more times than Jesus’s three times as our eyes so easily turn back to our own selves and away from God. 

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

“Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.” Psalm 147:5

"Look among the nations and watch--Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you." Habakkuk 1:5