Praying in Jesus' name

John 16:24 (NIV)

“Until now you have not asked for anything in My name.  Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” 

Right after rededicating my life to Christ was I was 28, I joined a church and then was asked to lead a college and young adult Bible study.  I didn’t even own a Bible, but readily agreed to do so.  It had to have been the Holy Spirit in me speaking because I had no idea was I was getting into.  These students plus some young post college adults had a huge influence on my spiritual growth.  I was their “project” because it was quickly obvious that I knew nothing about the Bible.  Rather than resent my ignorance, they collectively decided to help me learn and apply Biblical knowledge.  They were very successful.  I owe them eternally for what they did for me.  

One of my first learning points from them was how to pray.  It was this verse that they used to teach me that whenever or whatever I pray, I should close in the name of Jesus.  I have to admit that I cringe a little when I hear a public prayer and the prayer ends without using the phrase “in Jesus’ name” or something similar.  The prayer seems incomplete without closing in Jesus’ name. So, hopefully, from now on, if you haven’t already been closing your prayers this way, you will start doing so. 

Jesus says “ask”.  What are you to ask?  Well, other parts of the Bible give good clues.  One of the best references is I John 5:14-15 that makes it clear that if you ask anything according to His will, He hears these requests and you will have them.  Of course, the next question is, “what is His will?”  There’s insufficient space in this brief devotional to answer that question other than to affirm that the best, actually only, way to know God’s will is to study your Bible where His will is revealed consistently throughout the Scriptures. 

Asking in Jesus’ name means to ask whatever you are asking on behalf of Him.  This really helps to keep you from asking for prayers with wrong motives (James 4:3).. 

There’s no question that joy results from prayer(s) being answered.  Keep in mind that answered prayer does not always mean that it was answered the way you desire, but there will be an answer.  Can you reflect on the times when God has answered your prayers?  Can you recall the deep feeling of joy you felt when you knew He answered your prayer?

Rather than being a complainer about what’s going on in your life, be a prayer warrior and activate the power of God through Christ to deal with your life situations.  In his May 26 devotional Oswald Chambers wrote the following:

“…….think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues ‘without ceasing’; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. ‘Pray without ceasing’— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.   Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered.  .Jesus said, ‘. . . everyone who asks receives . . .’ (Matthew 7:8 ). Yet we say, ‘But . . , but . . ’.  God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?”