Samuel Daniels

Welcome back, my awesome Friends!

I started this series to expose the hidden treasures of fasting and prayer. In my previous blogs, I discussed the discipline of fasting, types of fasting, whether or not Christian couples should have sex while fasting and how fasting after prayer. One of the questions I am asked very often is “how do I pray in the name of Jesus?” In this blog, I will attempt to address this seemingly trivial but dicey question. Come on board and let’s take off!

We cannot overemphasise the power of fasting and prayer. I stated in my previous blog that they are two sides to one coin and are super effective when they are deployed together. Also, I established here that fasting alone without praying amounts to starvation. This implies that as much as fasting is a great weapon, it hinges on prayer.

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This means, when you fast and you don’t pray the right prayer or the right way, your fasting activity amounts to starvation and therefore will have less or no outcome.

The question then is, “what is the right way to pray?” In answering this, I would like to engage in some ontological reflections. Jesus said,

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me [1].

Also, John 15:16 reads,

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask Him in My name.

Jesus drew more emphasis and said,

I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in My name you ask Me for anything, I will do it [1a].

This essentially means that the right way to God is through Jesus and the right prayer is one that is said in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus is our only, but also completely sufficient plea; the power of prayer and its answer depends on the right use of the name [2].

Moreover, praying in the name of Jesus doesn’t mean that at the end of some request we say, “this I ask in the name of Jesus”. Or, “in the name of Jesus, I pray”. When we do this, we are treating the words “in the name of Jesus” as some sort of magical incantation by which we will get whatever we ask for in prayer. I am not saying it is wrong to end your prayer by saying “this I ask in the name of Jesus”, I often do that myself, but we must understand that repeating that phrase does not necessarily warrant us to pray in the name of Jesus. The bible says,

Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit said to them in reply, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded [3].

The sons of Sceva thought that merely invoking the name of Jesus against the evil spirit will cause it to flee. Oh, how wrong they were! I only wish they were here to tell their story. Like the sons of Sceva, many believers have a completely wrong notion about the usage of the name of Jesus.

Tragically, this may account for the reason why many Christians in the world over are praying using the name of Jesus, yet our prisons and hospitals are getting full by the day. This is because even though we are making a lot of religious “noise”, no power is released.

Many people who profess to be praying in the name of Jesus are not even close. The disciples of Jesus also thought they were praying in the name of Jesus until the Lord told them the unfortunate reality: “Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete [3a].”

What is a person’s name?

It is a word or expression by which a person is represented to others. When I mention or hear a name, it brings to mind the whole man/woman, what I know of him/her, and also the impression he/she has made on me. The name of a king includes his honour, his power, and his kingdom. His name is the symbol of his power. Likewise, each name of God embodies and represents some part of the glory of the Unseen One, and the name of Christ is the expression of all He has done and all He is and lives to do as our Mediator [4].

To do something in the name of another comes with his/her authority, as his/her representative and substitute.

Using another’s name always presupposes a common interest. No one would give another the free use of his name without first being assured that his honour and interest were as safe with that other person as with himself [5].

Therefore, Jesus, giving us power over his name, warrants us its free use with the complete assurance that whatever we ask will be given to us. It is however safe to say that he would not do this if he did not know that he could trust us with his interest and that his honour would be safe in our hands. The free use of someone else’s name is always a token of great confidence and close union. Someone who gives his/her name to another stands aside for that person to act on his/her behalf [6].

You give up your name to use another’s

It is worth mentioning that when you agree to use the name of another, tentatively, you give up your own as of no value. If you agree to represent the president of a state in a leadership seminar, you enjoy all the accolades and the benefits as a president’s representative. But at that point, you may have to forfeit your own name and any image that comes with it.

Christ’s servants have the spiritual power to use the name of Jesus only insofar as they yield themselves to live only for the interests and work of the Master [7].

A Name and Character

Name and character must be in perfect harmony. A child may bear his father’s name by reason of birth, and that child may enjoy some favours from people because his father is/was a good man. But if the father’s character was not present in the child, it is just a matter of time that he would lose all the favours, even though the child still bears the father’s name. When we pray in the name of Jesus, it means we pray according to His nature, which is love that doesn’t seek its own will, but only the will of God and the good of all creatures [8].”

Conclusion

This statement Jesus made, “I will do whatever you ask in My name [8]”, is like being given a blank cheque. It would be suicidal to give someone you don’t fully trust a blank cheque and tell them to withdraw “whatever” they want. Jesus boldly made that statement without any reservation because He is well aware that even though He gave a blank cheque, it was still subject to approval.

If you give someone a blank cheque to take whatever they want, the bank will obviously call you to approve the cheque before it is cleared. If the person who presented the cheque does not have any sort of relationship with the giver, the cheque will bounce and that person will be treated like a thief.

This accounts for why there are many unanswered prayers even though those who prayed them ended by saying, “this I ask in the name of Jesus”. I would like to end by asking the question, “have you been praying in the name of Jesus?”

Thank you for stopping by. Watch out for my next blog in this series. Subscribe to my newsletter from below, and get notified of new posts. You may also drop a comment or question in the comment section below.

References

[1] John 14:6

[1a] John 14:13

[2] Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, (New Kensington: Whitaker House, 1982), 176

[3] Acts 19:13-16

[3a] John 16:24

[4] Andrew, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 176-177

[5] Andrew, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 177

[6] Andrew, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 177

[7] Andrew, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 178

[7] Andrew, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 179

[8] John 14:13

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