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Are we ready to pray in Jesus’ name?
Message #5 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series "Prayer Promises"
When Jesus first taught His disciples about prayer, it was early in His ministry, during the Sermon on the Mount. He kept it simple, including the model prayer [Matthew 6:5ff]. Later He added a couple of parables that taught them not to give up, if the answers didn’t come at once [Luke 11:5ff, 18:1-5].Then toward the end of His ministry, Jesus was preparing His twelve disciples to carry on His work after His death. He began to teach another level of prayer, repeating several powerful promises that they could have whatever they asked in prayer. Six of those promises He qualified by saying they must ask in His name [John 14:13,14; 15:16; 16:23,24,26].Praying in His name was so important that Jesus repeated it six times--yet He didn’t tell them that initially. They didn’t know Him well enough. Praying in His name means to act in His authority and on His behalf, asking for things according to His character and nature. Praying in Jesus’ name is praying from the depths of our relationship with Him, our understanding of all that He is, all that He has done, all that He lives to do in us and through us. It’s not a casual thing. It takes time. Perhaps that’s why Jesus didn’t teach it early in His ministry--He knew His disciples weren’t ready. So we must ask ourselves: are we?
Pray with me now -- Lord, forgive us if we ever use your name in a casual way in our prayers. Help us always to honor You, when we pray in Your name--as we do now, amen.
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