In Jesus Name

Scripture:  John 14:13,14 - And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

When we think about how we pray, is there a true awareness and honesty with ourselves that
our truest desires and motives are for the ultimate glory of God in our requests? When our Lord gave this teaching to His disciples, He did not emphasize if the Father’s answers would glorify Himself -- but if His disciples would understand the proper motivation in using His name in our prayers.  If I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, then my purpose , motivation, and desires are to be consistent with His.  We exist in this world to carry on and reflect His message in our lives as He did with His life.  With His own words, we are reminded what He saw as His ultimate goal in this world as He prayed to the Father -- “Glorify Your  Son, that Your Son may glorify You…I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work You have given me to do” (John 17:1b,4).  It would be noble of us to make requests of God and give God permission to answer in any way He sees fit to glorify Himself, but wouldn’t it be great also if we desired to walk in fellowship with Him so that we would know, or at least have a greater sense that our requests reflect a true desire for His glory in our lives?
     
 Let us make sure in our hearts that we are not of those who misapply this verse -- thinking or even teaching others that saying “in Jesus Name” at the end of a prayer results always in getting what we request from God.  Some treat this as some magical formula that relegates God to some servant or genie to the authority of Jesus Name to do what we want for our own glory and exaltation apart from Him.   God does not honor our requests above His own Word -- filled with promises to us, but He has committed Himself to honor every promise that He makes to us that results in the praise of His glory.  

“For all the promises of God in Him (JESUS CHRIST) are YES, and in Him (JESUS CHRIST) Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

 Praying in Jesus’ name means that we are approaching with His authority to ask God the Father
 to act upon our requests that we believe His Word promises, because we come in the name of His Son, Jesus. Praying in Jesus' name means the same thing as praying according to the will of God. “This is the confidence we have in coming to God in prayer: that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, (What He has spoken), He does hear us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15). When we pray with Jesus’ authority for the things that God wills in His Word, we are asking for those things in our lives so that we can be a part of glorifying Him in this life He has given us to live for Him.  It is not  just words in the prayer that matter, but the purpose and motive behind the prayer.

Prayer:  Father, grant me what pleases Thee.  I know that there are times that my limited vision of my own life makes me pray amiss and with motives that are about me more than Your glory.  Help me Holy Spirit to be more Word and Will of God conscious as I come before Your throne with my requests from You.  I cannot truly live a fulfilled life of obedience to Your Will without Your guidance in my own heart.  Thank You for the confidence that Your Word not only gives us answers for life, but it also is the means to receive answers to prayer, in Jesus Name, Amen.

(by Pastor Wayne Cockrell)