A note on the Scripture in this study: every verse is printed WHOLE. The words set in ordinary type are the ones this lesson leans on and emphasizes . . . the words in italics are the rest of the verse, printed so that nothing is ever handed to you as a fragment with the remainder missing.
Nearly every prayer any of us has ever prayed out loud ended the same way. In Jesus' name, amen.
And I would guess that most of us have never really stopped to ask what this actually means... It has become the way we signal that we are finished – sort of like hanging up the phone.
But the Lord did not give us those words as a sign-off… He gave them as the whole ground of the asking . . . and if a man gets this one right – then it will CHANGE the way he comes to God for the rest of his life.
WHERE THE PROMISE COMES FROM
He said it in the upper room – the night before He died – and He said it more than once:
John 14:13 — “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 14:14 — “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
John 16:23 — “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”
John 16:24 — “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. Understand what He is telling them . . . those men had been praying their WHOLE lives – they were Jews – they knew the psalms – they prayed at set hours and had ever since they were old enough to know what prayer was… And Jesus says – up to right now – you have never asked anything IN MY NAME...
So – something new was about to open up... Something was about to open up – that was not available to Moses or David or any prophet who ever lived . . . and it opened AT THE CROSS...
FIRST — WHAT IT IS NOT
Let us clear the road – because there is a bad use of this concept – that has hurt a lot of people.
Praying in Jesus’ name – is not “a formula”. Those words are not a code that unlocks the vault . . . if they were – then the promise would be running on the words themselves – and a man could get anything he wanted by remembering to say the magic at the end . . . nobody who has prayed for ten years believes that . . . because we have all said the words over things we did not get.
And it is not a blank check. Whatsoever ye shall ask does SOUND like a blank check – right up until you read the rest of the sentence that He put it in – and we are going to do exactly that when we get to Part Seven . . . because that is going to be the whole subject in that part…
And notice – what we see in John 14:13 – He tells us what the asking IS FOR – that the Father may be glorified in the Son… That is not a blank check . . . that is a check with a purpose written on the memo line.
SECOND — WHAT A NAME MEANT
In the Bible – a name is not a label . . . a name is the man – it referred to his character – his authority – everything he is – and everything he is good for.
So – to arrive ‘in a man's name’ – is to come to that place with HIS standing instead of your own . . . a deputy comes in the name of the county . . . a boy sent to the store in his daddy's name – can charge it to his daddy's account – and the store is not looking at the boy at all… The store is looking at whose name is on the account.
And that is exactly what we are talking about… The name signed on the check decides ‘which account’ it draws on.
Now think about what that means when we pray… I am not asking God to look at me and decide whether I have been good enough this week… I am asking on another Man's account . . . and that account has never been overdrawn… Not I my own name -but in Jesus’ name I pray…
✍️ AUTHOR'S NOTE
This concept is actually an EYE OPENER… The idea is that if we sign a check for everything we buy – it is not going to be very long – before we run out of money and have to start doing without until we work for some more… but if a rich man signs the check – we will never run out of money – we will never have to do without… The idea here about prayer – is that when we get past the mistaken notion – that our prayers depend upon US – and finally realize that God is the rich man signing the check – it is then that we can stop trying to work and earn more ‘prayer credits’ – and simply depend upon Jesus… — C.T.
THIRD — THIS IS WHY WE CAN COME AT ALL
Now put it together with what the writer of Hebrews says – because he is talking about the same thing from the other side.
Hebrews 4:14 — “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”
Hebrews 4:15 — “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 4:16 — “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Let us therefore come boldly. Therefore – on account of the High Priest just named . . . the boldness is not ours and it never was . . . it is borrowed, and it is borrowed from Him.
And He is not a High Priest who cannot understand... BUT He was tempted in all points like we are… He knows what it is to be tired . . . He knows what is like to be hungry… He knows what is like to be lied about… He knows what it is like to have His friends go to sleep on Him – the one night He needed them to stay awake.
Now here is the part that ought to steady a man when he does not feel like praying:
Hebrews 7:25 — “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
Romans 8:34 — “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
He ever liveth to make intercession. Right now, while you are reading this, He is praying . . . that is what He is doing . . . and when we pray in His name – we are not starting something up – we are joining something that has been going on without a break since He sat down.
And Paul settles the traffic pattern in one verse:
1 Timothy 2:5 — “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
There is ONE. Not one among several . . . BUT one mediator – and this ONE MEDIATOR has a name – and that is the name in which we come to God in prayer...
📖 FROM THE PULPIT
I am sorry sir – I can’t let you in the room – only family can visit… but I am his pastor – and I am allowed to enter – not because I am a good person – but because of who I represent… As an Engineer – I worked at many factories – and I always had a badge which allowed me to get into the plant… When I walked up to the gate – it was not my education that allowed me to enter – it was the badge…
Likewise – when I offer a prayer to God – He does not hear that prayer because of how good I am – or because of how long I have been saved – or because I am a preacher – the only reason He hears it – is because of whose name it is attached to…
In the name of Jesus – says that I am depending upon a Man who raised HIMSELF from the dead – literally the sinless Son of God – who took my place in death… We pray in the name of a Man – who died over 2000 years ago – but that same Man claimed victory over death – and those who believe IN HIM – will one day experience that same victory over death… — C.T.
SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PRAY IN HIS NAME?
Three things . . . and not one of them has to do with the last four words we say before amen.
One . . . it means I am not asking God to look at ME.
He is not going back over my week to see whether I did good enough to deserve an answer… If that were the deal – not a single one of us would ever get a thing... I am asking on somebody else's good name . . . and His name has never one time been turned down.
Two . . . it means I have to ask for the kind of thing HE would ask for.
Suppose a mother sends her son to the store and tells him – you tell the man at the store that your mother sent you for a loaf of bread... And when the boy gets to the store – he asks for a candy bar instead of a loaf of bread . . . and says that his mother has sent him.
Now he DID use her name . . . but he did not use it for what she sent him after... That is not asking in his mother's name – that is using his mother's name to get what HE wanted.
Three . . . it means I quit trying to get in some other way.
There is one door, and Jesus said so Himself:
John 10:9 — “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
A man does not need a second door – when the first one is standing wide open.
Simple truth: In Jesus' name is not how a prayer ends . . . it is WHY a prayer gets heard to begin with...
NOW LET ME GUARD THIS
I am not saying that we should quit saying the words . . . we SHOULD say them… They are a good thing to say out loud every time – and they remind us who we are counting on.
What I am saying is this – do not lean on the saying of them.
Think about it this way. Two men pray.
The first man never says the words at the end . . . but the whole time he is praying – he knows ‘good and well’ that he has no business being there at all – except that Jesus died for him.
The second man says the words just right . . . but down underneath – he is really figuring that God ought to hear him – because he has been pretty good lately.
The first man prayed in Jesus' name. The second man did not . . . and saying the words did not make it so.
The name – is not a stamp that we put on the bottom of the letter . . . it is the ground we were standing on the whole time we were talking.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name . . . that door had never been open before, and it cost Him His life to open it.
So - when you arrive tonight in prayer – at God’s throne of grace… come boldly – not because of anything about you – but because there is a Man at the right hand of God who ever liveth to make intercession – and He told you to use His name.
The mail is in the box, the rope is on the rock, and the name on the account is His.
TRY IT THIS WEEK
Say “in the name of Jesus” at the front of our prayer this week instead of the end...
Start our prayer with it – Father, I am coming to you in the name of Jesus Christ – and then ask _____. . . see if putting Jesus’ name first might change what we find ourselves asking for.
And when we ask for something, hold it up beside that name for a second and see whether it fits . . . that is not a test to make us scared to ask . . . it is the very question which Part Seven that comes next is built on.
NEXT — Part Seven: Asking According to His Will. He said ask what ye will. John said if we ask according to his will . . . those two verses have troubled more praying people than any other pair in the Bible . . . and they belong together.
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