10/25/2022
When we pray to God, do we ask of Him in the name of Jesus? So many of us think that this simply means that we are to say the words “In the name of Jesus I pray.” as we conclude our prayers, but it is much more than that… it is praying as if we were Jesus Himself. Do we pray in this way? Do we pray as heirs and joint heirs, with the full righteousness of Christ, and ask only for those things that conform to the will of our Father? Jesus was not born to be a symbolic of God on earth, but to speak with the full authority of His Father… do we pray with the full authority of Jesus Christ when we pray in His name, and what does that mean?
“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
John 16:24 ESV
When a king sends his son as an emissary to a neighboring kingdom to negotiate a treaty, or pursue the terms of a peace accord, the son speaks in the name of the king himself, and what he agrees to is bound not only by the son, but by the father as well. It is the same when we pray in the name of Jesus; our prayer is meant to be prayed pursuant to His commandments, and authority… and thus the extension of God’s.
“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 18:18 ESV
So how do we pray? Do we merely say the name of Jesus, like some usurper, or do we pray as He has directed us, and within the will of God, just as He taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and as He demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane?
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10 ESV
“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.””
Luke 22:41-42 ESV
So often we pray for our own will to be done without consideration for the will of God. Oh, we don’t call it our will, but it is, and then we conclude it by saying “in the name of Jesus” as if to force God into a corner so that our prayer would be done. We lose sight of the fact that Jesus knew the will of God as He prayed in the Garden, and although it was not going to be what He wanted, and that it was going to be horrific in nature, He bowed to His Father’s will, and prayed for the strength to endure the agony that was to come.
“And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Luke 22:43-44 ESV
In the early 1900s, my grandparents lost three of their eight children; two of them to childhood illnesses, and one as a teenager in an automobile accident. I know their prayers were for God to save each of their children. I also know that in the throes of their heartbreak, and suffering, that their will was for them to live, but in each case they accepted God’s will, and as each child was lost they prayed for the strength to endure their loss.
“You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.”
Psalm 71:20-21 ESV
When we pray our own will, but try to force it on God by simply saying “in the name of Jesus I pray”, we are placing our will above God’s, and teetering on the precipice of a spiritual crisis. Too often believers will turn away from God in disappointment after having prayed their own will be done, and being unable to withstand the heartbreak when God’s will is done instead. For us to truly pray in the name of Jesus we need to ask the Lord to show us His will, and then pray, as Jesus did, that it be done. If God’s will proves to be contrary to our own we should pray through the agony as Jesus did, so that we can endure with the help of Angels what lies ahead, and our faith will remain strong.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your perfect will, and the plan you have for our lives. Thank you Lord for revealing your will to our spirits so that we can know how to pray as we should in the name of Jesus Christ. Help us to turn to your Holy Spirit when we are unable, or don’t know how, to pray as we should. Give us strength in this way to resist our own fears, heartbreaks, and agony as we stand strong in your will. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose ways are mysterious, and far beyond our ability to understand. Praised be your name for our answered prayers; those that bring us joy, and those whose pain we must endure, and overcome in you. Merciful are you father for the peace you pour out over us in the times of our sorrow and mourning. Great are you as your grace leads us past our own desires, and roots us in yours. Wash us in the blood of Jesus as you cleanse us of sin, and show us how Jesus yielded to your will, and suffered to make this possible on Calvary. See the heart, and face, of Jesus as we pray to you in His Holy Name, and forgive us when our own misery places our will before yours as we pray from within our human desperation. Let the life of Jesus become our own, and His prayers lead us before you always so that we will be worthy of eternity with you forever, and forevermore.
Rich Forbes