John 16:23-28 - Prayer in the Name of Jesus

“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”
--John 16:23-28 NASB

Jesus taught the importance that we pray in His name. We cannot hope to approach God in ourselves. Jesus has to come between God and us. The Apostle Paul explained that Jesus Christ must be the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). When we pray to God, Jesus acts as our “advocate” and our “High Priest” (1 John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17-18). Jesus performs these roles when we pray to God in Jesus’ name.

The act of doing something in another’s name usually means to do something by their authority (Acts 4:7), but our prayer in Jesus’ name is more than this. Also, it is incorrect to think of prayer “in the name of Jesus” as merely good prayer etiquette, as just a necessary element in a “prayer formula” (Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 3:17).

In verse 23 Jesus used the phrase “In that day,” meaning after His death and resurrection (John 16:19-22). At His resurrection Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4). To ask in Jesus’ name means to acknowledge Jesus’ authority and power as the resurrected Son of God, the High Priest, the advocate, and the one mediator between God and man.

God does expect us to be faithful (1 John 3:22). Even so, our lives and our prayers would be meaningless without the sacrifice and the intervention of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:12).

Father, I praise You as Creator and Ruler of all. I thank You for loving me so much that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to live and to die in my place so that, if I accept Your free gift, I may approach Your throne boldly, I may commune with You, and I may bring to You the greatest and the least of my requests. This I pray in the name of Your Son, Jesus, amen.

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