Transcribed by Dr. Elizabeth Stone
John 14:14 says “You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it”
Our access to God the Father is only produced through Jesus whom said in John 14:6 “I am the
way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus made exclusive proclamations of himself: He is the way to the Father, He is the truth and
He personifies the abundance of eternal life. More so He didn’t present himself as one of many
paths to the Father but as the ONLY path.
As believers all aspects of salvation and our spiritual lives depend solely on Jesus; in Acts 4:12
it says “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to
mankind by which we must be saved.” We receive the Holy Spirit in His name. In John 14:26
we read “But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach
you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” We are baptized into His
church in His name. In Acts 2:38 it says “ Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”
Whatever we ask in His name, He promises to give it to us. Even if Jesus would have said this
one time, this would be an eternal truth. But the Bible tells us about our dependence of Jesus,
in John 15:16 “-and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give to you.” Again in
John 16:23-24 “Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until
now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be
complete.”
What does it signify to pray in the name of Jesus?
There seems to be a lack of information when it comes to prayer. We think, that praying in
Jesus’ name is a magical thing, however using the name of Jesus implies more than just a
footnote at the end of our prayers. Out of all the prayers in the New Testament none of them
end with the phrase “In Jesus name I pray”, why is that? However, the fact that we do it doesn’t
mean it’s wrong, in fact we should be praying in the name of Jesus. We will look at some
verses of the Bible that will tell us what it really means to pray in Jesus name.
Asking for things in the name of Jesus is more than just putting His name at the end of our
selfish requests. When we pray in the name of Jesus we are uniting ourselves with His mission,
reflecting His character and expressing His desires.
Praying in the name of Jesus signifies that we are calling upon His authority as the Son of God
and our Savior. We get closer to God based on Jesus’ merits, not on ours. We can pray with
full confidence in the power of Jesus.
Praying in His name signifies making use of all His being. Our prayers are not answered by our
own goodness, but because Jesus deserves it and because we are asking in His name. When
we pray to God we get closer to the Father because of Jesus’ merits. We do not go before God
reclaiming our power or privileges, we only do so using the name of He that is worthy to receive
all glory and power.
Praying in the name of Jesus implies that all we have said in prayer has been said for the glory
of God. Jesus said to His disciples that the reason that He would do everything that is asked in
His name is “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13). If God’s glory is
Jesus’ desire, it should be our desire also.
I will pray with the same authority Jesus would pray with. In Acts 3:6 there was a lame beggar
man to whom Peter said “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Peter was not talking about his power, but the power
of Jesus. Using the name of Jesus signifies to pray in harmony with His will, His purpose and
His character. It represents all that He truly envelopes His character, nature, holiness and love
for people.
If someone like a police officer comes to your house and they say we come in the name of the
state of Florida, you immediately understand that the person knocking on your door does not
have something personal against you, but they are coming in someone else’s name. This is the
same idea with praying in the name of Jesus.
Elements to an effective prayer
1. Praying according to His will
The Bible gives us examples of praying according to God’s will: I John 5:14 says “This is the
confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears
us. also in Matthew 6:10 “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Praying in the name of Jesus implies praying how Jesus would pray. You need to ask yourself,
would Jesus make the same prayer I am making? i.e. Jesus, make me rich or Jesus make this
person fall in a ditch. Are these prayers that Jesus himself would make? The answer is no.
2. Effective prayer is done with faith
We have habits that show we don’t have faith.
If I pray for someone to get healed we need to believe that person will be healed. However, just
because you prayed for someone and they didn’t get healed doesn’t mean it won’t happen for
someone else. Don’t limit God, we do not know God’s sovereign plan. Mark 11:24 “Therefore I
tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
3. Obedience.
Being that prayer occurs in the context of our relationship with God anything in our lives that
does not please Him will be a barrier to our prayers. In Psalms 66:18 “If I had cherished sin in
my heart, the Lord would not have listened;” and in Proverbs 15:29 “The Lord is far from the
wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”
My infidelity is an obstacle, my sinful life is an obstacle to an effective prayer life.
The power is of God’s and God in His sovereignty will listen to anyone, however, Biblically
speaking the prayer of someone that lives a pure life apart from sin is more likely to be heard
than someone living in sin.
4. Confess your sins and repent from your sins.
Being that our obedience to God is never perfect in this life, we constantly depend on His
forgiveness of our sins. The confession of your sins is necessary for God to forgive us. So that
he can restore his personal relationship with us on a daily basis. Sometimes you don’t know
your sins, but other times you know your sin. Name that sin and repent so your soul gets
healed. In Matthew 6:12 it says “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors.” And I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
5. We have to forgive others
In Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not
forgive your sins. Similarly in Mark 11:25 it says “And when you stand praying, if you hold
anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father In heaven may forgive you your
sins.”
Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you will go out and have dinner with them. You heal your soul
forgiving someone else. Not forgiving someone becomes an obstacle to your prayer life. And
there are times that it is not within our power to forgive someone, however you would have to
ask God to give you the capacity to forgive, and also the power of His spirit to forgive the
person(s) that have wronged you. God wants us to get out of that spiritual rut.
6. We must pray with humility
We do not tell God what He has to do.
You must humble yourself when you pray. In James 4:6 we see “God opposes the proud but
shows favor to the humble and I Peter 5:5 we read the same “God opposes the proud but
shows favor to the humble”
Submit to God’s will by saying: “Lord give me according to your will”. We may ask things that
are not going to be good for us, only He knows what is best for us because He has our best
interest in mind.
Praise and Thanksgiving
Praise and thanksgiving are essential elements to prayer. The prayer model Jesus left us (Our
Father) starts with “hallowed be your name” Matthew 6:9. Paul said to the Philippians 4:6 “but in
every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God.” And to
the Colossians in Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
If your prayer life is dry, start singing and praising God.
There was a woman that was feeling sick and she went to her Doctor. Her Doctor then told her
that she needed to stay home and get rest for 2 weeks; the woman asked the Doctor I have to
stay home on Sunday too? And the Doctor answered, ma’am God can continue being God
without you, and she answered, but I can’t continue without God and praising Him. The way to
know that you have communion with God is when you miss the time you have to praise Him and
pray to Him. To be like the lady that said, God can continue to be God without me, but I can’t
continue my life without God.
What about the prayers that are not responded?
1. We need to keep in mind God’s time
God’s time is not my time. The Jews prayed for centuries for a Messiah to come, however, this
did not happen until the set time had fully come (Galatians 4:4). In Revelations 6:10-11 we
have the souls of the martyrs “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the
inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” In verse 11 we see that they were told to wait a
little longer.
God’s eternal purpose will not change, but our situation can change. We live in a time that we
want a quick response for everything. We want instantaneous things, prayer does not work that
way. We have to think that God is working in me when my prayers are not answered. He is
working on my patience, on my desire to have communion with Him and on my dependance on
Him. Do not try to rush God’s perfect time.
2. We might be praying incorrectly
Sometimes our prayers can go without a response from God because we don’t always know
how to ask according to His will or sometimes we just don’t ask what the will of God is. In James
4:3 it says “when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.” Other
times we don’t ask with faith. In James 1:6-8 “But when you ask, you must believe and not
doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-
minded and unstable in all they do.”
There was a son that asked his dad “how is God” the dad looks up and said, “look son, God is
like the plane you see up there”. The son said, “wow, God is little”. What the dad meant was
that God was up in heaven like the plane, but the dad wanted to prove the point to the son
about God and the dad took his son to the airport one day and told him “remember the day that
you asked me about God and I showed you the plane? Well here is the plane.” And the son
said, “wow God is BIG!!” The point is that God looks small to us when we are far apart from
Him, but when we get close to God we realize how truly big and powerful He is.
The author of the book “Praying with Purpose” Stephen Rummage says in Day 5, “Several
years ago, Michele and I visited the U.S. Army training installation at Fort Benning, near
Columbus, Georgia. It was our first time ever on a military base, and we saw fascinating things.
We were impressed by the facilities and the young men and women who were training to be
well-prepared infantry soldiers.
A noteworthy part of our visit was the level of security we encountered. We stopped at
checkpoint after checkpoint as we traveled through the installation. However, at each instance,
the armed guards simply waved us through. Why did they let us pass? Certainly not because
of our qualifications. If we had pulled up to the gate and said, “we’d like to drive around for an
hour or so,” we would not have been allowed to pass. We were able to enter because we were
with an army captain. He had the credentials to take us past the guards and onto the base. At
each checkpoint, our friend simply showed his identification, then pointed to us and said
“They’re with me.” He was our access.”
In the same way when we pray, our prayers are heard because of the person that Jesus is, our
prayer is heard because we invoke and use Jesus’ name. What is implied by using Jesus
name? Jesus’ sacrifice, it’s not by our merit or qualifications. When God looks at us He sees
Jesus’ perfect sacrifice, His holiness and His justness and He views us through His blood that
has cleansed us from all sins.
There are many people that pray or invoke the name of God, but if you do not pray in the name
of Jesus the prayer is not heard. For those of you that know what it means to use the power of
Jesus name, use it. This is a very controversial topic because there are so many other people
like Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc that say that they pray, but God will not answer them
because they are not using the name of Jesus. In John 14:6 Jesus made a very exclusive
remark of himself, He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.”