Every Christian I know finishes every prayer with the words, “in Jesus’ name, Amen.” Sometimes it seems like people think it’s not an “official” prayer if you don’t end that way. But why? Does that phrase actually mean anything?
Those of you who watch old movies have, no doubt, heard somebody shout, “Stop! In the name of the law!” or, “Open up in the name of the king!” To speak in somebody else’s name is to speak as their designated representative or proxy, with their authority. What, then, should we make of the places in Scripture where Jesus says things like:
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)
or,
“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:23-24).
or yet,
“In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” (John 16:26-27)
Three times Christ told his disciples to ask in his name, and in two of those he explicitly promised that they would receive whatever they asked for. That’s a pretty firm statement, and one that I, like most other believers, have been far too willing to try and explain away. If Jesus didn’t really mean what he said, after all, then I’m not as troubled by all my unanswered prayers. But the more deeply I consider these passages, the more convinced I’ve become that he really did mean it. If he truly meant it, however, and I’m not seeing it happen, then either Jesus lied, or I’m doing it wrong. So let’s dig into this and see if we can get it right.
Every reader out there who’s jumping to conclusions right now, relax. I’m not going to start promoting any “word of faith” or “name it, claim it” nonsense. In fact, it’s pretty clear to me that the people following that theology are thinking way too small. I mean, come on! You have the authority to ask for anything in the name of Jesus, and all you can think to ask for is a little temporary wealth?
But I think the truly shocking part of these Scriptures isn’t the phrase “anything you ask,” it’s “in my name.” Jesus actually told his disciples that they could say in prayer, “treat my words as coming from Jesus. Whatever I say, he says.” And he meant that for us, too.
Does that make you a little uncomfortable? It probably should. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are representing God the Son before God the Father. We’re standing before the Father and saying, “this is what Jesus wants you to do.” When I think of how many times I’ve mouthed those words when I was really praying in my own name, for something that I wanted and had no idea whether or not Jesus wanted it too… all I can say is that I’m blown away at how much God has forgiven me. But that issue really is the bottom line. When I pray, am I asking for what Jesus wants, or just for something that I want? Am I praying in his name, or in my own?
I hope you can also see now why Jesus would make such a profound promise; praying in his name is asking for God’s own will to be done. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him.” Even if this verse were not in the Bible, it only makes sense that God will give you what you ask for whenever you ask for something that’s his will. So much sense that I have to wonder why we so often simply tack an “if it’s your will” on to our prayers (which are, of course, in our own names) instead of making an effort to find out what God’s will actually is, and then praying for that.
(As an aside, I just know there’s somebody out there objecting, “if it’s God’s will why do I need to pray for it? Why doesn’t he just do it?” Don’t ask me; I didn’t write the Bible. I just read what it says. It tells me in Matthew 6:10 that we’re supposed to pray for God’s will to be done.)
Discovering God’s will is a topic for a book of its own, and I can’t even begin to fully cover in it an article like this. But I can tell you where to start. It’s the advice everybody already knows, and nobody likes to hear. If you want to know God’s will so that you can pray for it in Jesus’ name, begin with the Bible.
I know what you’re going to say, all the objections. They’re my objections too. I know that the Bible doesn’t reveal whether or not it’s God’s will for you to change jobs, or buy that house, or even whether or not it’s God’s will for that person you love to be healed of cancer. And I know, too, that Peter and John hadn’t read in the Scriptures that it was God’s will to heal the crippled man they met at the temple in Acts 3:1-10. That’s why I didn’t say end with the Bible, I said begin there. We have to walk before we run, and crawl before we walk. If we’re not paying attention to what God has already revealed, why would we expect him to reveal anything else? But if we’re faithful to pray consistently for the things we already know are his will, we can expect to be trusted with more (Matthew 13:11-12). If you want to learn how to really pray in Jesus’ name, get used to praying for things that you know are God’s will. And watch them start to happen. Find out, not just by reading but from your own experience, who God really is and what he really cares about. In other words, develop the heart of a son, or a daughter.
To get us started, here’s a sample of some things that are definitely God’s will. Pray for these:
- That you stay clear of sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
- That, whatever your circumstances, you will have an attitude of thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
- That you will be able to forgive that person who hurt you so terribly (Colossians 3:13).
- That you will respond with kindness to those who are unkind to you (Romans 12:17).
- That you can find a way to serve that coworker you just don’t get along with (Romans 12:18).
- Husbands, ask God to help you sacrifice your own needs for your wife’s (Ephesians 5:25).
- Wives, ask God to increase your respect for your husband (Ephesians 5:23)
- Children, ask God to make you more obedient toward your parents (Ephesians 6:1).
Pray those things for the people around you as well. While you’re at it, pray them for me. And there’s more, much more, including some things that are staggering in their scale. We are told, for example, that it’s Jesus’ will:
- That we might live peacefully under a just government (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
- That the entire church will be one, just as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:20-21).
- That God’s kingdom will be manifested over the entire world (Matthew 6:10).
Pray for these too. Join with other brothers and sisters to pray for them. And expect to see changes in the world around you.
I could add many more, but I think you get the picture. Unfortunately, I’m fully aware that the things I listed aren’t your top priorities. They’re not mine either. That doesn’t matter. I’m not talking about praying in your name, or in mine, but in Jesus’ name. And although I often find that if I seek his priorities in prayer, my own priorities start changing to match, that’s not always the case. There’s even a very small part of me that is thankful it’s not always the case, because it’s only when I do something I don’t really want to do that I actually discover whether I am obeying God or simply pleasing myself. (A little bit of that goes a long way, however.)
Truly praying in Jesus’ name, then, is very often a sacrifice. If I’m faithfully representing Christ before the Father, I’m going to be praying for the things he wants, whether I want them or not. It’s not easy, and it’s not fun, to pray for something I don’t want, but sometimes it’s necessary if I’m going to live out my identity as a son of God – not a son who’s still just an infant, but a son who is being trained for the day when I will come in to my full inheritance (Romans 8:17). And I remember that it wasn’t easy for Jesus either (Hebrews 5:8). It’s not supposed to be easy. The gospel is not that I prayed a prayer so I can go to heaven when I die (with the implication that nothing very important happens in between). The gospel is:
…that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
And the great statement of God’s grace in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” is followed in the very next verse by, “for we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are not saved by any work that we do, or can do. But we are saved so that we can do the work of building God’s kingdom. The very kingdom of which we ourselves are heirs according to Romans 8:17.
So praying in Jesus’ name means representing Jesus before the Father. Serving as his agent. Asking for what he wants, without regard to whether or not it’s what I want. That’s the kind of prayer for which God has promised to give me whatever I ask. It’s not always easy, and it’s certainly not a ticket to worldly success. But it’s part of learning to do the work that you and I were adopted as God’s sons and daughters to do. It’s doing our part in ordering and managing the world; praying to our Father as Jesus’ agents, and in his name.
Now get praying.