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“The Holy
Spirit is given to the believer to be and
to do everything in him that God wants him
to be and do. The Spirit is given to him
especially as the Spirit of prayer and supplication.
Is it clear that everything in prayer depends
on our trusting the Holy Spirit to do His
work in us? We must yield ourselves to His
leading and depend only and entirely upon
Him.”
Andrew Murray,
The Ministry of Intercession |
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First Guideline of Prayer: Praying in Jesus’ Name
Jun 01, 2007
How many times have you been part of a small group and the leader says, “Tonight we have an hour for prayer and share. Are there any prayer requests?” Fifty-five minutes later the leader looks at his watch and says, “My, where has the time gone?” He reminds the group to pray for the requests through the week and then asks one of the group members to close the time in prayer.
Lots of share and very little prayer!
Unfortunately this is the experience of many small groups. There is no doubt in those fifty-five minutes a good deal of caring has taken place. But the group never taps into the awesome power of God to minister through prayer. Although they may have a sense of being cared for, they rarely encounter their loving heavenly Father and His power. What if the group never took prayer requests? What if the group reviewed a few guidelines for prayer and then poured out their hearts to their Father for 55 minutes in prayer? The following is an explanation of the first of five Prayer Guidelines used by many small prayer gatherings to encounter the Father together.
When we pray in Jesus’ name, we remind ourselves of the source of authority for answered prayer. On the night before His death, Jesus promised His disciples six times that whatever they asked in His name, He would do for them.
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. John 16:24
When Jesus says something once, we should respond to Him. When He says something twice, we need to take note. When He says something six times, do you think He’s trying to make a point? There is power when we pray in Jesus’ name!
When we pray in Jesus’ name we are drawing on the riches of Jesus’ account in the heavenly realms. Several years ago my family banked at a small credit union. There were only three ladies working on the floor. They knew each member of my family by name. It is conceivable that if my oldest daughter, Kara, were to approach the clerk’s window with a check signed by me that the clerk would recognize Kara and cash the check. However, if Kara signed the check and handed it to the clerk, she would never honor it. The reason being, Kara didn’t have an account at the credit union. Even though the clerk recognized Kara and knew that she was my daughter, the clerk would not give her any funds because she had no funds to draw upon. In the same way, when we approach our Heavenly Father in prayer, although the Father knows us as His children and loves us, we don’t have an account. It is only as we make our requests known in the name of His Son, Jesus that the Father then responds by drawing on Jesus’ account.
As we approach the Father in prayer we have nothing in our account to draw upon, it is only Jesus who has the resources to supply our needs in answer to our prayers in the heavenly realms. So when we pray, we use the phrase, “In Jesus’ name,” at the beginning of our request or at the end of our request. “Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, would you... or Lord God, we want to ask that you would...in Jesus’ name.” In so doing we are reminding ourselves of the source of answered prayer – it is the One “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3) and through whom we boldly approach the throne of grace! (Hebrews 4: 14-16)
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