In Jesus Name

Introduction- John 14:13-14

This verse is a powerful verse regarding prayer and is a part of the scriptural record of a conversation that Jesus had with His disciples just before He was betrayed and ultimately crucified.

At first glance many of us would maybe think to ourselves “I know what those verses say but surely that is not what they actually mean.” “What’s the catch?”

Maybe we could just dismiss it were it not for the fact that Jesus makes similar statements twice more before the conversation concludes.

John 15:16 KJV 1900

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

John 16:23–24 KJV 1900

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Today I merely want to ask a few questions regarding this passage that may provoke thought among us with regard to our praying.

It is likely that the vast majority of us close our prayers with some form of the phrase “in Jesus name” and yet I wonder do we really understand the significance of what it means to pray in Jesus name.

Jesus seems to say here that anything that we ask for “in His name” He will do it.

My first question for us is this:

Should this be our experience or was it only for these early disciples?

These disciples were no different than you and I and the relationship they had with Jesus (particularly after the Spirit of God came to indwell them) is the same relationship that we enjoy today.

Has this been our experience in our own prayer lives?

If you are like me I would have to honestly say that far more often than I would like to admit I have prayed “in Jesus name” and I have not received the thing that I have asked for or I have not seen God do what I asked Him to do.

Why is this so often not our experience?

To understand why we must consider what it actually means to pray in Jesus name.

For most of us by mere habit we close our prayers with these words without any consideration of their significance.

Praying in Jesus name literally invovles praying first according to His character and nature and then second of all praying according to His will.

What we are essentially saying when we pray “in Jesus name” is “Lord Jesus if you were here right now I believe that this is what you would ask for.”

We often pray instead for what we want with little consideration for what Jesus wants.

James 4:3 KJV 1900

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

One important test for all our praying is our motivation. Jesus was constantly motivated by a desire to glorify the Father (Vs. 13) and this should be the primary motive for all our praying.

The final question is this:

How can this be our ordinary expreience in praying?

There is but one simple solution, we must deepen and strengthen our relationship with Jesus, for only when our relationship with Him is what it should be shall we truly know how to pray.

The closer we get to Jesus the more His heart will influence our heart and the more His desires will become our desires.

Psalm 37:4 KJV 1900

Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

When we pray truly asking “in Jesus name” we can expect that God will give us what we ask and will do what we ask Him to do for Jesus sake.