Praying in Jesus’ name means praying for what’s going to honor and glorify Jesus. Praying in Jesus’s name is an amazingly robust and powerful force. Here are eight explanation why.
1. Access Only Through Jesus
Without a relationship with Jesus, without fully giving ourselves to him, we now have nothing. We haven’t any access to the Father. Yet, the moment we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, repent of our sins, and provides our lives to him, the whole lot changes. Who and what we’re change. We receive the Holy Spirit, who begins to alter us from the within out. Only then can we truly pray in Jesus’ name and understand its real meaning.
“I’m the best way and the reality and the life. No one involves the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
2. A Reflection of Our Salvation
Praying in Jesus’ name, we affirm our faith in him, we confirm our trust in his word, and we strengthen our faith in His saving grace and the redemption he provides for all of us who select the narrow gate. And we reinforce seeking to our hope of everlasting life with him.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the road that results in destruction, and lots of enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that results in life, and only just a few find it.” – Matthew 7:13-14
3. Reaffirm Our Unity With God
Praying in Jesus’ name signifies our union with him. It’s like a baby who carries the family name and thus is a mirrored image of unity along with his or her father. So, will we change into children of God?
“He got here to that which was his own, but his own didn’t receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those that believed in his name, he gave the appropriate to change into children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” – John 1:11-13
4. Authority and Power
Praying in Jesus’ name recognizes and invokes his authority and his power. That is an influence we cannot begin to fathom or understand. It is an influence that defeated death once and for all and raised Jesus from the dead. Through that power, the world and all life was created.
“Now to him who’s in a position to do immeasurably greater than all we ask or imagine, based on his power that’s at work inside us, to him be glory within the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, without end! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21
5. Aligning Our Prayers with God’s Will
So often, we don’t know exactly what to hope for. Or we pray for our will to be done fairly than the Lord’s will to be done in our lives. Yet, like all good Father, he knows what’s best for us. He knows what the longer term holds for us and can answer our prayers based on his will.
“In the identical way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We have no idea what we ought to hope for, however the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit since the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the desire of God.” – Romans 8:26-27
6. Confidence in God’s Promises
Assurance of answered prayers may be some of the difficult to consider and place confidence in, because it seems so often our prayers are unanswered. It seems that Jesus’ own prayers within the garden were unanswered – except that Jesus’ first selection was that God’s will probably be done. His prayer was, “If it is feasible, yet not my will but your will probably be done.” (Matthew 26:39)
God has made many guarantees, not the least of which is that he won’t ever leave us or forsake us—meaning he’ll all the time be with us, all the time hear our prayers, and all the time do what’s best for us.
“This is the arrogance we now have in approaching God: that if we ask anything based on his will, he hears us. And if we all know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we all know that we now have what we asked of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15
7. Acknowledging Our Need for Jesus
It is just through Jesus that we discover strength and guidance. In Him, we discover peace and joy beyond comprehension or understanding. Apart from him, we are able to do nothing. He has given us his Spirit to be with us, guide us, and help us resist temptation. Jesus promised he can be with us all the time.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them within the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey the whole lot I even have commanded you. And surely I’m with you mostly, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20
8. Gratitude and Remembrance
Praying in Jesus’ name is the last word act of worship. It honors his sacrifice for us and reminds us of the salvation we now have through him.
Samaritan’s Purse, the international relief organization, has a mission of “Helping in Jesus’ Name.” We honor Jesus and express our gratitude once we love others as he loved them, once we love others in his name, just as we pray in his name.
“A latest command I provide you with: Love each other. As I even have loved you, so you will need to love each other.” – John 13:34-3
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Tinnakorn Jorruang
