Jesus says that whatever you ask for in his name will be given to you (John 14:13-14). But what does that mean?
In an attempt to follow Jesus’ instructions, many parents and churches teach (usually by example) that every prayer should conclude with the words “…in Jesus’ name, Amen.” But is this what Jesus meant?
Sometimes you hear people take this idea to an extreme, and they say, “…in Jesus’ name” over and over throughout their prayer such as this:
Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus, to ask you, Father, that you bless our time together, in Jesus’ name. And we bring forward our needs to you, Father, thinking of Ruth and her ingrown toenail, that you would heal it, Father, in Jesus’ name. And we lift up to you the sick cat of Carol. You know, Father, how the cat has been throwing up all night, and how Carol loves the cat which you gave her, and so we ask that you reach down out of heaven and touch her cat in Jesus’ name, Father, and deliver her cat from this malady that is causing the cat and Carol so much problem, in Jesus’ name…
And so on. (And while you might think I am trying to be funny with requests about toenails and sick cats, if you have been in many prayer meetings, you know that these sorts of requests are not uncommon.)
Even when Christians are able to root out of their prayers all the repetitious mentioning of “Father” and “in Jesus’ name,” it is still quite common for most Christians to end their prayers with the word, “… in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I admit I do this. It is a habit I just cannot break.
But why would I want to break it?
Doesn’t Jesus tell us to pray in His name?
Well, yes, He does. But His instruction does not mean that we liberally sprinkle our prayers with the magic words “in Jesus’ name” or that we even close out our prayers with these words.
When we do this, we are treating the words “in Jesus’ name” like they are some sort of magical incantation by which we will get whatever we ask for in prayer. But that is not at all what Jesus meant, and in fact, mindlessly repeating the words “in Jesus’ name” to get what we ask for in prayer is actually the exact opposite of what Jesus meant when He invited us to pray in His name.
What does it mean to pray “in Jesus’ name”?
To pray “in Jesus’ name” means to pray as if Jesus Himself was praying our prayers.
When an ambassador visits another country “in the name of the king” (or president) it is as if his king (or president) is speaking the words that the ambassador speaks. The leaders of these other countries are to assume that whatever the ambassador says, it is as if the king (or president) himself said them.
Obviously then, the ambassador had better be certain that what he says is exactly what the king himself would say. If an ambassador says something foolish or insulting, he could easily start a war or ruin a trade agreement or destroy a treaty. To be a good ambassador, the ambassador needs to know the mind and heart and will of his king so intimately, that the two minds are nearly one.
This is what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name.” They are not magic words to get what you want, but are a mind frame we must adopt when praying to God. We must so intimately know the mind and heart and will of Jesus in whatever situation we are praying about, that the words we speak are the same exact words Jesus would speak if He Himself were the one making the petition to God.
How to Pray in Jesus’ Name
So to expand a bit on what Jesus said in John 14:13-14, I think His words could be paraphrased this way:
But when you pray, spend time thinking about what I value, what I have instructed you, how I lived my life, the kind of example I provided, the people I hung out with, the goals I sought to achieve, the relationship I had with God. Take careful notice of what I taught and what I prayed for. Then, offer your requests to God in light of these things. And when you do, make these requests boldly, knowing that the words you speak are the same words I am speaking. And when you pray this way, know that your prayers will be answered.
If you are not completely confident that what you are praying is what Jesus Himself would pray, this is when it is best to add the little caveat to your prayers of “if it is your will.” This way, in your conversations with God, you can tell Him what is heavy on your heart and weighs on your mind, but you are telling Him that you trust Him to make the best decision since you yourself do not know what is best.
In my opinion, most of the prayers we pray will be of this second sort, where we recognize that our hearts can be deceived and our minds darkened, and so we leave judgment and decision up to God.
To “pray with faith” is not to summon up so much “confidence” that God is somehow “forced” to do what we ask. No, to pray with faith is to offer our requests to God, knowing that He loves us and will do what is best for us, even if this involves not giving us what we have asked for.
So let us stop praying with magical words by which we try to coerce God and manipulate Him to do what we want. Stop using magic words in your prayers.
Instead, let us spend time learning the heart and mind of Jesus so that our prayers can match His prayers, and then, when we pray, pray with the humility of faith, knowing that God will do what is best for us.
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it seems like more tradition than sincerity. Praying in Jesus name should mean “in unity” with God’s Love.
I’m not as concerned about someone ending their prayer “in Jesus name” as I am to hear people praying in Old English, using “thou,””thy” or “thine” to use a couple of common ones.
I would think Jesus expects to acknowledge Him in our prayers. After all, if Jesus had not shed His blood on the Cross, we would still be in our sins! Even those who are deist can pray to God, without acknowledging that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God.
Correct, “in unity” means to pray in His person (none other than the Spirit indwelling us, who makes His person real to us), by which we receive His love, His will, His authority, etc.
“In unity” implies that our focus in prayer is on God Himself, His will, and not on ourselves, our problems or even the thing we are praying about.
Praying “in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18), and “in Jesus’s name”, essentially means the same thing.
If we don’t pray in the Spirit, essentially we are just uttering vain words that accomplish nothing, since God will only answer the prayers which are aligned with His will.
I’ve always thought praying “in Jesus’ name”, meant God hears my prayer because of Jesus.
The way they use it for praying-out-loud, it starts to seem kind of like an ‘applause-sign’ … the congregation (studio-audience) hears it and knows ‘it’s almost time to say “Amen” 😛
Hmm. Well, Jesus is our mediator, but I would say God hears our prayers simply because He is a loving Father.
You’re very correct!
Really good article, it enlightened me :-)!
You and I are on the same wavelength here. This brings to mind Matthew 6:7. I have a friend who uses the word ‘Father’ repeatedly when he prays. I confess that sometimes I am paying little attention to his prayer but, instead, counting the repetitions. 😉 I could say a few things about saying ‘the Lord’s’ prayer or singing the doxology.
I feel the same when I hear “Father” repeatedly and the prayer ends with “In Jesus name” . It confused my as a child and bothers me today. I pray to God and still recognize Jesus died with our sins in his soul. I just say Amen. Praying in group dinners is acceptable but should end with Amen.
Good article. My wife and I have felt this way for some time, but of course, growing up in the church we were always taught we needed to end our prayers this way. I agree with you, praying in Jesus name is not simply a phrase we add on, but an attitude, a power given by Christ, praying as Jesus prayed and in the authority he provided us. I mentioned a little about this also in one of my articles and I’m glad to see that we are not alone with this view: http://donewithreligion.com/2015/02/02/prayer-a-religious-act/
Thank you Jeremy. Good teachin of the reality of the truth we should be walking in.
Right on–isn’t it safe to say that praying in Jesus’ name is praying by His authority because we know it is His/God’s will?
Not exactly. We know that ‘what we’re praying ABOUT’ is the will of God. I think of one of Jesus’s last prayers (the one in the garden of Gethsemane … not for-now opening the can of worms regarding ‘whether He actually prayed it’). HE prayed that ‘the cup would pass away from Him,’ but added the condition “if it be your will.”
Maybe THAT’S what ‘in Jesus’ name’ means … sort of like “if it’s harmonious with your symphony.”
I’ll bet you don’t pray using King James english either!
Amen Jeremy — God does look at our hearts, a component in our petitions. Yes, what we say in line with His will is important, and whether we are sincere is equally important.
I have no problem saying, In Jesus’ name — it’s an acknowledgement that I speak to honor Him and what He has done for us.
Didn’t Jesus say something about God knowing what you pray BEFORE YOU PRAY IT? To me, that means your prayers ALREADY ARE in Jesus’s name (didn’t Jesus ORIGINATE common-folk’s praying? I mean, wasn’t ‘praying’ something restricted to priests & prophets & anointed leaders before Jesus ‘tore the veil’?)
Yes that’s what the Bible says; however, Just because God knows our prayers before we pray them. as He foreknew everything that would take place, that certainly didn’t indicate we shouldn’t pray. Our prayers are built into the providential apparatus. We are told to pray without ceasing…Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Praying is as much a means of fellowship with God as it is therapeutical and life giving, for us. Notwithstanding, the present is “continuous” — it is something we must do constantly, Just as it is necessary to be “constantly” renewed (Ephesians 4:23) as well as (constantly) filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
Our prayers are vital in view of the very aggressive operation of evil. (Ephesians 6:10-16). In Jesus’ name, Amen. The New Covenant set up new standards for everyone.
To pray “in Jesus’s name”, basically means “focus on Jesus’s person when you pray”. I don’t mean focus on the concept of Jesus or what the name of Jesus means, or the theology of Jesus, I mean focus on the presence of Jesus in your inward parts. When praying it is so easy to be focussed on the thing we are praying about, our own feelings and problems, other things or other people, rather than Christ. When we do this we often pray our own will, rather than receiving His will, and praying His will back to Him. The world’s concept of prayer, is to pray your own desires and wishes to God, and hope they get answered. But the Biblical concept of prayer, as practiced by Christ Himself as a model for us, is to seek and obtain God’s will, and they pray for God’s will to be done (even if that means going to the cross).
I realized a few years ago, that “In Jesus’s name”, is analogous to Christ saying “abide in Me” (John 15:4, 15:7). The true Christian realizes that God’s desire is to be intimate and one with them, even in prayer, to accomplish His will, not our own. How different this is to the world’s concept of prayer.
In the Bible, the name of a person denotes the person. So when the Bible says “in the name of…” it means “in the person of…”. So in Jesus’s name means “in Jesus’s person”. Similarly, to be baptised in the name of Christ, means to be baptised into Christ and even “put on Christ” (Gal 3:27).
Therefore, to be “in Christ” practically, means that our thoughts are focussed on Him. We could learn to set our mind and thoughts on Christ as a matter of habit and will-power, yet the most practical way to set our mind on Christ is by frequent prayer, see Ephesians 6:18, and 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
There’s also the word ‘Just’. Lord, we just pray that you’d just heal this sickness and just drive out the darkness.
‘Just’ that? Is that all you want from God? Surely there’s more…. 😉
What a great insightful article. It clears up so much for me. I must confess I had always thought when I prayed for something (especially if it was important) and then added ‘in Jesus name’ – it would ‘magically’ happen and I sometimes got so disappointed with God when it didn’t. This will hopefully change my prayer life. Just like Matthew Richardson above – I also have a friend who constantly repeats the words ‘Father God’ when she prays – maybe 50 times or more so at the end or the prayer I have absolutely no idea what the prayer was about. Quite funny but I’m sure Gods hears her heart.
I don’t know how ‘the person saying “Father God” every-other-phrase’ feels about it, but hearing it remind me that all spoken-prayer is basically saying, “Dada? … Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
What about “Amen”? Because people do not correctly understand prayer (basically, that it’s more like ‘telling God what it looks like he is going to do’ than ‘asking him for a favor’), they are most-sorely disappointed when it ends differently.
It seems that our prayers are often selfish and thus, not in accordance with God’s will. Jesus taught us how to pray and I put a few scriptures together below so I myself could learn his will for me in prayer:
http://followingjesuschrist3.com/2015/01/29/prayer-a-brief-thought-from-the-scriptures/
Thanks for this post. I love the diversity of views on what praying in Jesus’ name means. Definitely saving some to ponder on later.
I don’t really have problems with people repeating words when praying out loud, even if it does annoy my fleshy impatience sometimes. We all have our bad speech habits. Some people use ‘like’, others use ‘just’, ‘you know’, ‘um’, ‘Father God’, ‘in Jesus’ name’,…. and the list goes on.
Not everyone can be a gifted orator. It’s what’s behind the words that counts. (Any observations here from your chaplaincy work?)
But now you’ll have me listening harder. I haven’t noticed people using ‘in Jesus’ name’ like a magic wand, even if they indulge in repetition.
In trying to teach this information some are so indoctrinated with the sign-off that suggesting it wasn’t what He meant is almost heresy.
That’s true. People are really attached to their prayer languages.
Would Jesus mind if we say it repeatedly?
Indeed! Well said! By using the name of Jesus which is the name above all names is key in prayer and praying the promises of God will cause God to move on our behalf. Our faith filled words will cause Angels to be dispatched and help us. Faith must be in two places in our heart and our mouth. When we hear the word of God daily we are building our faith. When we declare the word of God (in JESUS’ name) and expect results we will get it. Our ministry has audio downloads that really help people reach that point of receiving. I pray you check them out. I look forward to more post. God bless you.
When you pray in Jesus name you are invoking the power of Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf.
In the name of Jesus.. because of what he did on the cross for my sin I ask you would hear and answer this prayer.
It’s not magic but it IS POWERFUL. iT is SUPERNATURAL!!
There is NO OTHER name by which man can be saved.
As a chaplain at the VA, well-meaning church folks ask me, “Do you pray in Jesus Name?” (at nonreligious events that has an invocation.) It fells like an inquisition testing my commitment of being a “real” Christian. I believe it matters more of the person bearing Jesus name than the spoken incantation of merely saying Jesus name, as the 7 sons of Sceva demonstrates (Acts 19:11-15). Now if Jesus had put that at the end of the Lord’s Prayer in Matt 6:9-14, “Pray in my Name” then this wouldn’t be a discussion for us today. Thank you for this post and your insights.
Another thought…if we always have to use some sort of tagline in our communications with the Lord, then it is not a relationship. Jesus came to (re)establish the relationship we were created for. He made no demands that we use any sort of sign-off or special code in order to validate our prayers.
Right! Exactly right. You don’t “sign off” with any other conversation (except for phone conversations), so we don’t need to do this with God either.
AMEN
I agree that we sometimes treat Jesus’ name as a talisman. But I would also suggest that we forget that in petitionary prayer, God has promised to answer our prayers according to how we’ve prayed them: “If a son asks for bread, will his father give him a stone?”
https://atdcross.blogspot.com/2015/09/prayer-with-fasting.html