What does it mean to pray "In Jesus' name"?

What does it mean to pray "In Jesus' name"?

Will God answer your prayer if you don't end with, "In Jesus' name, Amen"?

"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:14 New King James Version

'It doesn't take a rocket scientist to draw the conclusion that

'we are, first, to pray in the name of Jesus, and

'second, praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean [merely] ending your prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus. Amen," because it is never done in the New Testament' (www.str.org).

I welcome your questions or comments.

Grace and peace,
JohnMark



56267, 118400
 
JohnMark said:
Will God answer your prayer if you don't end with, "In Jesus' name, Amen"?
He heard the prayers of His people before Jesus was born. So the answer is yes.

JohnMark said:
'we are, first, to pray in the name of Jesus, and

'second, praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean [merely] ending your prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus. Amen,"
If by this you mean we're not to just repeat the words in 'vain repetition' (Matthew 6:7), then I agree. It's not the words that will get God's attention, but our hearts.

JohnMark said:
because it is never done in the New Testament' (www.str.org).
I beg to differ:

Acts 4: (NIV)
23On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: " 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.'
27Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
28They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
(my emphasis)
 
Posted by JohnMark
because it is never done in the New Testament' (www.str.org).

Originally Posted by HisManySongs
I beg to differ:

Acts 4: (NIV)
30Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

HisManySongs,

I appreciate your reply to my post. I have no wish to be argumentative or to major on minors. :) But, I wonder, In Acts 4:30:

Were they praying "through the name of your holy servant Jesus"? I.e., did they mean, "This we pray through the name of...Jesus. Amen."?

Or was this their meaning, "Stretch out your hand to heal..through the name of Jesus"? Were they actually asking God to heal through the name of Jesus?

Moreover, even if they were praying in or through the name of Jesus, this would be the ONLY place where anyone in the NT ended their prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus".

Again, I do not wish to argue. Nor is it my intent to criticize your post. My desire is to submit posts that will stimulate us to think.

Grace and peace,
JohnMark
 
If by this you mean we're not to just repeat the words in 'vain repetition' (Matthew 6:7), then I agree. It's not the words that will get God's attention, but our hearts.

HisManySongs,

Yes, I agree that we're not to just repeat the words "In Jesus' Name. Amen" in 'vain repetition' (Matthew 6:7).

Acts 4:30

English Standard Version
"while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

The American Standard Version
while thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus.

King James Version
30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

Grace and peace,
JohnMark
 
OK. Getting back to your original post:
'we are, first, to pray in the name of Jesus, and

'second, praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean [merely] ending your prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus. Amen," because it is never done in the New Testament' (www.str.org).
If we are to pray in Jesus' name and that doesn't mean merely ending our prayer with those words, then what?

Lets look at John 14:12-14 using three different versions: New King James Version, The Message and Contemporary English.

John 14:12-14
(NKJV)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

(The Message)
"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.

(Contemporary English Version)
I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father. Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask. This way the Son will bring honor to the Father. I will do whatever you ask me to do.

Eugene Peterson gives a different perspective (that's why I like to include his translation in my studies). This version is in line with

1 John 5:14-5
(NKJV)
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

(The Message)
My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours.

We are not merely to ask in Jesus' name, but to ask according to His will. To bottom line this - God will not answer a prayer, Jesus will not do anything for us that goes against who God is!

So to ask in Jesus' name means to ask according to His will. The prayer must conform to the will of God. Just adding the words - 'in Jesus name, Amen' will not help us if our prayer goes against God's will.
 
We are not merely to ask in Jesus' name, but to ask according to His will. To bottom line this - God will not answer a prayer, Jesus will not do anything for us that goes against who God is!

So to ask in Jesus' name means to ask according to His will. The prayer must conform to the will of God. Just adding the words - 'in Jesus name, Amen' will not help us if our prayer goes against God's will.

HisManySongs,

Yes, that's it! It's just as you say in your post. "We are not merely to ask in Jesus' name, but to ask according to His will."

Grace and peace,
JohnMark
 
And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son. [Exod. 3:14.] [Yes] I will grant [I Myself will do for you] whatever you shall ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]. John 14:13-14 AMPLIFIED

"To ask in Jesus' 'name' does not mean to tack such an expression on the end of a prayer as a mere formula. It means:

"1) the believer's prayer should be for His (Jesus') purposes and kingdom and not selfish reasons;

"2) the believer's prayer should be on the basis of His (Jesus') merits and not any personal merit or worthiness; and

"3) the believer's prayer should be in pursuit of His (Jesus') glory alone" (Note at John 14:13-14, MacArthur Study Bible, 1997, Word Publishing).

"Asking in Jesus' name means simply asking on the basis of His merit, His righteousness, and for whatever would honor and glorify Him so as to build His kingdom" (Note at John 16:26-28 MacArthur Study Bible, 1997, Word Publishing).
 

____________________

'...praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean ending your prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus. Amen,"...'
____________________

'The "name of God" or "in the name of Jesus" means something different than repeating those words.

'Read the New Testament. It says "Anything you ask in my name, that will I do."' [We have presumed that what that means is that we must add a phrase after our prayer in order to make it work.]

'Just about every time we finish praying we tack this phrase on at the end, "In the name of Jesus. Amen." We do that because we were told to pray in the name of Jesus and God would answer. We expect that in doing so it seals the power of the prayer. I think that is superstitious because praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean saying, "In the name of Jesus."

(...)

'One thing you will notice when you highlight every prayer, every supplication towards God that is uttered in the text of the New Testament is that you will never see a New Testament prayer that ends with the phrase "In Jesus' name. Amen," even though the same text teaches you to pray in Jesus' name. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to draw the conclusion that we are, first, to pray in the name of Jesus, and second, praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean ending your prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus. Amen," because it is never done in the New Testament.

'Ending prayers with that phrase might do nothing whatsoever to the efficacy of your prayer. I even submit that it might be hurting your prayer, depending on what you mean by the phrase.

'What does it mean to pray in the name of someone if it doesn't mean saying, "In the name of..."? Here's what it means.

'The name of someone, in the sense that the Bible authors used it, was what the person stood for, the substance of their character, or their authority . . . When we pray in the name of Jesus . . . what we are doing is acting in [his] authority, in [his] stead, according to [his] command, and consistent with [his] desires.'

'When we pray in the name of Jesus it might be better for us to drop the phrase "In the name of Jesus" altogether because generally we don't mean, "I am praying in the authority of Jesus Christ." You know what we probably mean when we say "In the name of Jesus. Amen"? Practically speaking, it means the prayer is over. That is the Christian exit. Amen. Translated it means, the prayer is over, let's go do what we were doing, or let's eat.

'There is power in praying in the authority of Jesus Christ, by the authority He has given you, consistent with His character, His desire, and His will. It's like when we say, "Stop in the name of the law." The policeman is saying that because he is standing in the place of the law and speaking on behalf of it. To the degree that he speaks for the law, then he can enforce the law and he has authority. When he steps outside of the law, he has lost his authority even though he still says, "Stop in the name of the law."

(...)

'If you are praying in a group and you don't want to leave people mystified as to what is happening, you could just simply say, "The prayer is over, let's eat," or, "We're done, let's go on." The important thing is not what you say with your mouth. Dispense with the empty words. Get rid of them. Instead, approach the throne of God based on the authority of Jesus Christ. If you are thinking that way and that is your attitude, it doesn't matter what you say at the end of the prayer. God will hear you according to His promise.'

(Source: Gregory Koukl, www.str.org)
 
Re: "In Jesus' Name

I don't know that it is necessary to end every prayer with the phrase "In Jesus' name." We Christians so easily are led into ritualistic traps.

But, in my opinion, it is important to ask Jesus to come into any prayer of petition.You don't necessarily have to do it verbally. Many times when I pray a prayer of petition with another person, I'll begin by silently asking His healing in the situation. The prayer may be no more profound than "Help Jesus!".


SLE
 
Re: In Jesus' Name

In Acts 4:30, the first century church is praying that God will confirm Jesus' promise that whatever we ask in his name will be done.

I believe that we need to remember that for the most part, aside from the Apostles and some disciples, these early believers were truly "baby Christians". Since the new Testament had not yet been written, since these people had not yet become rooted and grounded in God's Word, they were nervous and very much unsure of themselves.

SLE
 
"through the authority...of the name "

In Acts 4:30, the first century church is praying that God will confirm Jesus' promise that whatever we ask in his name will be done.

SLE

Acts 4:30
The Amplified Bible
While You stretch out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the name of Your holy Child and Servant Jesus.


SpiritLedEd:

Thanks for your reply. I value your input.

Grace and peace,
JohnMark
 
Back
Top