GOD, IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

Why do we pray in the name of Jesus? Why do most, if not all our prayers end with the phrase “in Jesus’ name”? Is it just because Jesus is the Author and Champion of our Christian Faith, or there is more???

I believe we all know Jesus as the Son of God Who came to Earth to die thereby to save humanity from their sins and to restore humanity back to God their Creator, for as many who believe and accept Him as their Saviour and LORD…

Also, I believe we do know that one of the profound statements Jesus made as quoted in the below Bible verses, was that His followers should pray in His name and God would hear their prayer and grant their requests…

"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.” John 14:13-14 (NKJV)

We also find the phrase “in the name of Jesus” mentioned several times in the New Testament Scriptures… Though the focus of this piece is not about whether all such prayers receive answers from God and why not; but rather the aim is to attempt to strengthen our understanding of what we actually mean when we pray in the name of Jesus

To begin with, probably we should ask, why did Jesus (as God incarnated) have to be the One to come and die as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world? Why couldn’t any other human being suffice for the job?... I believe we probably know the answer: basically because the blood sacrifice that would be acceptable and potent enough before God to pay for the sins of the whole of humanity, has to be of a 100% perfect and sinless human being; but unfortunately no ordinary human meets that qualification, so God had to incarnate Himself in the Man Jesus (a mystery that the natural mind cannot comprehend) to get the job done, and indeed Jesus did not only finish the task but He finished it perfectly, once and for all…

The above also gives us a clue to the reason why we pray to God in the name of Jesus… However, taking into consideration that the name “Jesus” has a different pronunciation and spelling in different languages, and in fact the Man Jesus was a Jew, so He was not actually called ‘Jesus’ during His days on Earth, but was called “Yeshua” (the actual Hebrew name); this then points to the fact that it is not just about calling the name ‘Jesus’ in prayers, but in understanding the spiritual implication of invoking that name, irrespective of the language it is pronounced in...

Indeed, every action in the Christian Faith is faith-driven, and that includes when we pray in the name of Jesus… The primary reason we pray in His name is because we are standing upon His righteousness as we make our requests or petitions to God by Faith; such that through Him (Having met God’s demand of 100% holiness) God can listen and attend to our prayers without lashing out on us in His Holy anger because of our many faults, failures, and imperfections…

Surely, this brings a ray of hope, and much more it afforded us the invaluable privilege to be called sons and daughters of God; as God now looks upon us as His Children, while He deals with us more as a loving Father than as a Just Judge… And truly, when we pray in Jesus’ name, in other words we are actually saying: “Because of Jesus…”… This keeps us reminded that we cannot come before God in prayers priding in any goodness or good-works of our own, because indeed as the below Scriptures states, they are inferior to what Jesus has already accomplished for us…

“…For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]. 2Corinthians 5:21 (AMP)

This however does not imply that we are free to live our lives as we please after-all the holiness of Jesus covers us (which would rather be viewed as an abuse of God’s grace); but rather the understanding of this causes us to love God the more and make it our life-long passion to please Him in all ramifications by the help of His Holy Spirit

Also, our prayers can become more effective and efficient as we pray with a better understanding of the efficacy of that name… So, in closing, I share the below Scripture verses from the Letters of Paul the Apostle to further buttress on the point:

“…Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in Heaven, and of those on Earth, and of those under the Earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV)

“…And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)

Thank you for reading… Remain blessed!

#JesusChristIsLORD #GODisStillinCharge

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