John 14:13-14 "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
Prayer is such a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father. An earthly king
requires a request and consent before giving an audience to anyone who would
like to speak to them. Even that is limited to a very few individuals that
would warrant being granted to go before the king or anyone of high
position. But as children of God, you and I have been given open access
to the very throne of grace. The words of Jesus are constant and ongoing when
He spoke, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden..." As
children of the most High God, we have been given a boldness of His grace and
love that we can go into His presence.
In today's text, Jesus gives us further enlightenment concerning prayer.
Were you taught to include in your prayers these words, "In Jesus'
name"? Have you ever wondered why? I don't intend to sound
like I am talking to little children, but I have to take time every once in a
while to remind myself about these precious words. What does it mean to
tack on those words at the end of our prayers? Some might say you can ask
anything you want and if you pray in Jesus' name, it will be granted.
After all Jesus did say, "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do
it." Quite honestly, a great responsibility comes when we address
our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus.
Have you ever been a "name dropper"? I have to admit there was
a particular time when I did just that. I had such a bad toothache and I needed
a dentist really bad. It was when we lived in Missouri the first time and
had not been established with a dentist. I was hurting so bad that I called a
dentist who I knew was a friend of a friend. I dropped the name of my friend in
order to make contact with this dentist. Though this dentist did not know me,
he agreed to see me (even on his day off) because we had a mutual friend.
When we go to our Heavenly Father, we can use that boldness by praying in the
name of Jesus. I believe that even if the Father would not listen to me because
of who I am, He has promised to listen when we come in the name of His only
begotten, beloved Son. He looks at us through the finished work of His Son. We
are to look to Him through that same finished work of redemption by the shed
blood of Jesus.
Now we stop to say this. Jesus gave us the qualifier for using His name. We are
not to merely be "name droppers". We are to pray in Jesus' name
"that the Father may be glorified in the Son." That tells me
Jesus gives us permission to use His name as long as the thing we are requesting
will be used to honor our (His, mine, your) Heavenly Father. We should
never be guilty of lightly using the name of Jesus when we make requests unto
God.