Praying in the Name of Jesus

Prayer includes talking to/with God, to fellowship with him or make requests of him. It could also involve asking for, with urgency, even to the point of demanding or commanding a change of a condition, or the enforcement of desired outcome with God’s authority. It is an activity that involves God and man.

Let us see how the explanation above applies where the word for “prayer” (Hebrew: פַּלל – “pālal”) explicitly appeared for the first in the Bible in Genesis 20:7, even though people had called on, communed with, and worshiped God, earlier.

Genesis 20:7 (KJV) “Now therefore restore the MAN his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall PRAY for thee, and THOU SHALT LIVE: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.”

Genesis 20:17 (KJV) “So ABRAHAM PRAYED unto GOD: and GOD HEALED Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.” (emphasis mine)

From this account, we see the following:

• God
• Man
• Prayed
• Change of a situation for the better (thou shall live/God healed).

Let’s fast-forward to the New Testament:

John 14:13-14 (KJV) “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
To pray in the name of Jesus does not mean just to append the phrase, “In Jesus name” at the end of prayer. That is not to say that it is wrong to do that.

However, to pray essentially in the name of Jesus, we should firstly, understand the meaning of the name, Jesus.

The word translated as “name” (Greek: ὄνομα – ónoma) also means the person, authority, character, reputation.

Jesus is the English transliteration from the Greek form Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), which is from of the Hebrew name Yeshua (Hebrew: ישוע‎). The name can be translated as “God saves” or “God is salvation.”

To pray in the name of Jesus therefore connotes to pray in His authority, and, to pray in a way that is consistent with his person, character and reputation. His character is grace. His character is love. His character is salvation. He is the merciful and faithful high priest.

We see an interesting episode where some disciples of Jesus “prayed” for what was not consistent with his character, reputation, and mission:

Luke 9:54-56 KJV “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the SON OF MAN is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to SAVE them …” (emphasis mine).

He taught similarly in Matthew 5:44-45 NIV “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

When we pray to curse or destroy others, we are not praying in a manner consistent with the person and name of Jesus, which is “Salvation,” we are not portaying the true charatcer of our heavenly Father, and are not expressing our identity as his children.

Therefore, to pray in the name of Jesus is to pray in a way that is consistent with why Jesus came; for men to be saved and come to the accurate knowledge of God. To pray in the name of Jesus is to engage with the power of God in order to bring about change of circumstances for the better, especially as they relate to the gospel.