In Jesus Name

Prayer is a part of my earliest memories.  It was not just a daily thing, it was something one engaged in multiple times a day.  Every meal began with prayer, every bedtime was sealed with prayer, Sunday services were filled with prayer, Wednesday evening Bible study was began and ended in prayer, every need or concern was surrounded in prayer.  Prayer was a vital part of my daily life.

Although I was not then and am not now an expert on the act of prayer.  There were two things my little mind were certain of on the subject: 1) It began with an address to "Our Father" and 2) it ended with the stamp of "in Jesus' name."  I was certain prayer didn't begin until you got God's attention and could not be fully consumated with the authority of Jesus Christ stamped upon it.

It is the latter, ending a prayer in Jesus' name, that I want to address today.  I was sure that it had to be ended in this manner because my Mother and Grandmother said so.  That was all my young soul needed to know to make it so.  Later I would be introduced to John 14:14, where Jesus tells his disciples, "Ask for anything in my name and I will do it."  Well, there you are.  What else is to be said on the matter?  Quite a bit actually.

While I continue to this day ending my prayer with the words "In Jesus name, amen," I know that is  not what our Lord had in mind.  Neither God the Father nor the Son are moved by word placement or formulations.  While many, especially in the pagan world of mystics and witches, believe incantations have power, Jesus clearly said, "Do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard for their many words" (Matt 6:7).  It is not in the formulation of words but by the authority in which the words are offered.

To make a statement in someone's name means to exercise their authority.  Ambassadors speak in the name of their governments, officers speak in the name of their commanders.  When an embassary says, "I come in the name of the king," that means what he has to say is stamped with the king's authority.  However, it is not in the proclamation, "In the king's name," but in the fact he actually speaks according to what the king wills that makes it so.

To pray "in Jesus name," is not just words to seal a request, it is an acknowledgement that what you are asking is by the power of his name and in accordance with his will.  In his name means in accord with his nature, his desires, his will.  And, when we ask for that which aligns with his will in and around our lives, he will do it.  This is similar to a young child asking his mother for something.  If it is within her will for him (and in her power), she will do it.  But would she give him something she knows is bad or ill-timed?  No.  Neither will the Lord.

How do we know what to ask in his name?  Get to know Jesus.  Study his words, read of his life, spend time with him daily.  Seek out his will in your prayers and quiet time.  For "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer 29:13).  Jus' Say'n.