Posts Tagged ‘Name of Jesus’
“In Jesus’ Name.” How regularly we tag those words on to the end of a prayer. Often we do it without even really thinking about what we are saying: it is just a formula, an extension of the “amen” which for most of us is simply a meaningless word, another way of saying “I’ve finished praying now.”
“In the name of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth of England.” Would we use those words as easily? The idea seems almost laughable! Proclamations in the name of the Queen can only be made by those who have been given authority by her. Even then, the thing they are proclaiming has to be something that the Queen has actually decreed. No-one would even think of declaring in the Queen’s name something that was purely out of their own wishes and desires – and if they did think of it, and carried that thought into action, they could expect to face at best a lengthy jail term. On the other hand, when someone who has been authorized by the Queen makes in her name a proclamation that she has decreed, then that proclamation has authority to see that thing carried out, or to enforce penalties if it is not.
This applies even at a more mundane level. If mother tells Johnny, “Go tell Bobby I said to come in from play now,” then when Johnny goes to deliver the message it is the same as if Mother were speaking to Bobby personally. There is no use Bobby saying, “But it was only Johnny who told me!” Johnny went in Mother’s name, and therefore with her authority. However, if Johnny takes it upon himself to tell Bobby, “Mother said you are to give my your baseball bat,” it’s a totally different story. Mother said no such thing, and Johnny had no right to attach her name to his wishes. Not only does his demand not carry Mother’s authority, it is also likely to earn Johnny some strong discipline.
Jesus told His disciples, and through them, us: “Whatsoever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give it to you.” Many of us have taken that as meaning that we can ask for anything we please, and as long as we tack “in Jesus’ Name” on the end, those words will be the magic wand that make God give us what we want.
We’ve got it back to front! The person issuing a decree in the name of Queen Elizabeth must first go into her presence and hear what it is she wants, and how it is to be said. If the decree is to carry the Queen’s authority, then it must be exactly what she wants. Johnny must carry to Bobby his mother’s wishes, not his own.
If this is true of any human situation where we speak in the name and authority of another, why can we not see that it is also true when we dare to speak in the greatest Name and the highest authority, that of the Lord Jesus Christ? His Name is not a magic wand to materialize our wishes. His Name is His authority, and His authority is based on His will.
Before we tack His Name on to the end of our prayers, we need to come into His presence. We need to bring our situations, our needs, our desires to Him, and hear from His throne what He wants to do about them. Then, confident that we are declaring the will of the Lord, we can add “in Jesus’ Name” to our prayers and decrees, knowing that indeed they are backed by all the authority of heaven.
If we don’t, we risk not only not having the authority of heaven, but actually being in defiance of God. Remember the commandment that says, “Do not take the Name of the Lord in vain”? We have taken this to refer to blasphemy, but surely using the Name of Jesus to back decrees that are not His but ours qualifies as using His Name “in vain.”
Of course, there are those who go to the opposite extreme. Rather than bring their own desires and declare them to be authorized by Jesus, they pray “if it be Thy will” prayers – and still tag “in Jesus’ Name” on the end of them! “If it be Thy will” prayers are meaningless. They are basically a way of washing our hands of the situation and saying, “God, do whatever You want.” They are an abdication of our responsibility to find God’s will in the situation and pray accordingly.
Some people base this kind of praying on Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not My will but Yours.” Jesus, however, was not saying, “I can’t be bothered finding Your will so just do whatever You please.” He knew the will of the Father: it was that Jesus go to the Cross. Rather than avoiding that will, Jesus embraced it. He said in effect, “Everything in My human will wants to avoid this, but I know that this is Your will, Father, so I submit My human will to Your will. I choose what You want, not what I want.”
Jesus wants us to pray in His Name. He has given us authority to pray in His Name. But our authority is always a derived authority. To speak effectively in His Name, we have to be speaking the things that He wants. We have to take the time to hear His heart and will in the matter. When we do, we will find ourselves speaking with an authority that heaven will not resist – and that hell can not resist.
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This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.
There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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