Praying in the Name of Jesus

Our community has long practiced including the name of Jesus Christ in our personal or communal prayers. This is an acknowledgement of what brings us to God today and a reminder of what is promised in the Kingdom Age. 

As the apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ began their ministry after the ascension, they were the standard bearers of his name. Their words and behaviors needed to convey his principles accurately. Their faith was reflective of his ongoing leadership in their lives. Jesus had left them physically, but assured them of his powerful presence.

It is an honor to bear the name of Jesus Christ. Peter boldly declared in Jerusalem that there was “none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). The lame man was made whole, the blind man given sight—all in the name of Jesus Christ. Men and women were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Men and women “hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 15:26). The name of Jesus Christ established the authenticity of discipleship and their connection to the Lord, who was alive from the tomb.

John concludes his gospel with this clear statement: 

But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:31). 

As we read the New Testament record, the disciples regularly used the name of Jesus. They used it when addressing opposition. They used it within their circles. Jesus was their identification. They were his representatives. Everything was done in his name.

There is an essential passage in Acts 4, where the Temple leadership, the rulers of the people, and the elders assess Peter and John. From their observation, it was impossible to reconcile the words coming from the lips of these uneducated Galileans. The Scriptural record says they considered them “unlearned and ignorant” men (Acts 4:13.) J.B. Philips translates this as “who were in their view uneducated and untrained men.” At the trial of Jesus just weeks before, Peter had only been known for being a follower of Jesus and a Galilean because his speech gave him away. But now, boldly speaking by the Spirit, and healing by the name of Jesus Christ, “they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13). Their words “pricked” the heart of those who heard their words (Acts 2:37). The power of Jesus was on display through those who bore his name. Peter declared, “And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man [lame man at the gate of the Temple] strong.” (Acts 3:16 ESV). When we worship and serve in the name of Jesus Christ, it proclaims Jesus, not ourselves.

Prayers Today

To approach God in prayer, we can only come to Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. Some posit that when we ask our petitions of God, doing so through the name of Jesus Christ is already assumed. Some don’t mention the name of Christ in their public prayers. It is a trend that I pray will be reversed very soon. Naming the Lord Jesus is one of our great privileges as believers today. When we do not include it, it diminishes the reverence of prayer for many brothers and sisters.

God doesn’t need to be reminded about how we can approach Him. But it may be highly presumptuous for us to come before our God without naming the Son who brought us into the holiest by his own blood. 

Through the name of Jesus Christ, we are promised that if we keep his commandments, the Father and Son will make their abode with us (John 14:23). The intimate relationship offered with the Father is always through the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 15, Jesus continues by speaking of the need for disciples to bear much fruit. Jesus tells his disciples:

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16).

This passage is interesting, especially when coupled with John 16. 

In that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:23-24).

Jesus tells his disciples that up to this point they had “asked nothing in his name.” (John 16:24). Certainly, the disciples prayed frequently. We remember them asking Jesus for instruction about prayer. Jesus spoke of the need for prayer and fasting when the disciples could not heal the epileptic (Matthew 17:21). But at this point, they had not yet made their prayers through the name of Jesus Christ. However, Jesus spoke of the day that was soon to come, when he would be seated on the Father’s right hand, and granted all power in heaven and earth. (Matthew 28:18). Then they would pray to the Father through his name.

We can be certain the Father and Son are completely aligned about helping us to bear fruit. However, Jesus is now speaking of a time when the disciples will no longer ask their visible and present Master to help them bear fruit. Through him, they will take their petitions to the Almighty God. Whatever they ask, they are to ask in Jesus’ name.

The Apostle John reassures us that we can be confident in our petitions. However, he provides an important clarification. 

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1 John 5:14-15).

Not all petitions we make are according to the will of the Father. We may ask for things that seem appropriate to us, but our perspective is limited. But for things we ask that are the will of God, we should have confidence that they will happen, not be as waves tossed by the sea (James 1:6). For more on this topic, please see a fine article written by Bro. Darren Tappouras (We Do Not Know What We Ought to Pray For, Tidings, February 2023).

This subject is not a recent consideration in Christadelphia. In a “Letter to the Editor” of the Christadelphian Magazine in 1937, a brother expressed concern over a brother in his worship service prayer neglecting to acknowledge the Mediator. Bro. Carter commented:

This is a matter on which we can take too narrow views. We sympathise with our brother’s lament about the repetitions into which some fall by way of closing prayer; language good on occasion easily becomes a striving for effect. On the other hand, to conclude a prayer with the phrase “in the name of the Lord Jesus” or similar words can with equal ease become a form. What is it to pray “in the name” of Jesus Christ? It is much more than appending a phrase to a petition. It is a recognition of certain doctrinal facts and certain privileged relationships. The “name” expresses and sums up all the truths by which the Father and Jesus are known. The roots of the idea are in the memorial name that God unfolded at the bush. When the promises of God are heartily believed, and the “adoption of sons” in Christ Jesus appreciated, with baptism “into the name of Jesus Christ,” then prayer “in the name,” and approach to God “by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way” is an exercise that should elevate and ennoble. A richly indwelling word will provide the thoughts and expressions of prayer.

Meditate on His Name

As Bro. Carter suggested, using Jesus’ name in our prayers should never become a thoughtless, rote repetition. The name of Jesus Christ demands that our minds recognize the mediatorial work of our Master. It is only through him that we can approach the throne of grace. He brings us to the Father to make our petitions and offer praise. We bear the name of Jesus Christ to the world, to one another, and even when we approach our God. Expressing this in our prayers demands devotion and identification.

Jesus was clear about the relationship he was establishing between us and God. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5.) We are to be one. But the process of becoming one is always through the Lord Jesus Christ.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:21-23).

Paul speaks of the name of Jesus Christ in Philippians.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. (Philippians 2:9-10).

The picture of every knee bowing to acknowledge our Lord with heart and lip is important. Paul connected Isaiah 45:22-24 to draw on his instruction that we ought not to condemn our brothers and sisters, as if we were the judges. There is one Judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only to him that we bow the knee.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (Isaiah 45:22-23).

Millennial Name

The beauty of the name of Jesus Christ culminates in his rulership of the earth. Revelation 19:12 tells us that “He had a name written, that no man knew but himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:12-13). He has a vesture he wears, and “on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:16).

We take great comfort in our hope to be part of the new Jerusalem when our Lord will write upon us his new name (Revelation 3:12). At that time, we will be wonderfully joined, by grace, in his saving name, as kings and priests to rule over the earth. 

Public Prayers Today

Our community has long practiced including the name of Jesus Christ in our personal or communal prayers. This is an acknowledgement of what brings us to God today and a reminder of what is promised in the Kingdom Age. 

At this time, we may pause, reconsider familiar words, and contemplate what “in his name” means to us. It calls for brothers and sisters to open the pages of Scripture and assess what our prayer practice should be.

Until then, may we each proclaim his name in our lives. Wherever we are, may his name be glorified. We aren’t Americans, Canadians, Britons, Australians, Nigerians, Filipinos, or any other peoples. We are his. He is our king. We do all through his name.

Dave Jennings