“Bearing Jesus’ Name in Prayer”
Seung-Chan Park
Lead Pastor, ICMC
A common misunderstanding of this verse is that people assume that Jesus’ name is the guarantee that our prayer will definitely be answered – in a way that we desired. I believe no believer can dispute the power of Christ. However, a more serious point of objection should be about the subjects for which the prayer is spoken. It is because whenever this type of verse is pronounced, most of the prayer subjects appear to be about self-centred and fleshly wishes than “the things of God”. And an assumption is added to that God should answer their prayer as they wished.
Now, in order to understand our prayer in the name of Jesus, we need to look at Jesus’ own reference to the name of the Father “in his own life and ministry”. Jesus said in Jn. 5:43 that he has come in the Father’s name, and the fact that the Jews did not accept him concretely proves that they did not accept the Father. In Lk. 10:16, Jesus says the same thing: “…whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me”. It has to do with the context of the ancient society. Then, the concept of “agency” was well developed in a social and political context. A King normally sent an agent to another kingdom with a request or order, and this agent represents the king. If a certain kingdom rejects the agent, it equally means that it rejects the king who sent the agent. The prophets in the Old Testament were like that, too. They came by evoking the name of God and spoke to his people as his agents, and as Jesus criticised, the people of Israel and Judah rejected them and even put them to death. God pronounced condemnation on the people for their rejection, because they did not just reject the prophets, but more fundamentally “Him.”
In this connection, we might need to grasp the meaning of “praying in the name of Jesus”. Now, we can see that carrying the name of Jesus and evoking his name in prayer are not separate, but correlated. John 14:12-13 provides the background to v.14:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son”.
Jesus did “the work of the Father”, not his own arbitrary business, evoking the name of the Father. And he was now telling the disciples that if they believe in him – that “he is the Son of God and the Messiah with the authority from the Father in Heaven” – they will do “the very work that he has been doing” – even greater things. Jesus was sent by the Father with His name, and did all the work of the Father – “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (v.11). Jesus adds afterwards in v. 20 that when the Holy Spirit comes, “you will realise that I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”. Basically, because of what Jesus accomplished on earth, the disciples’ agency is now depicted to be similar to that of Jesus. “Union” is the basis: The Father in Jesus, Jesus in the Father, and Jesus in the disciples, the disciples in Jesus. Then, the pattern of Jesus’ life and ministry in the name of the Father becomes an example and standard for the disciples’ life and ministry in the name of Jesus Christ.Living by carrying the name of Jesus means being his agent and representative. Jesus promised to be “in us” through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Carrying his name, we are called to live and do everything as his agents in this world.
So, we should pray with the confidence that Jesus will certainly answer our prayers. But our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ cannot be dissociated from our life in his name. God calls us to examine ourselves to see if we are actually living in union with Christ while bearing his name. If we think our prayers are holy, but our life does not reflect the character of Jesus, now we can see the dissociation that are not supposed to be there. If our prayer and life show too much of fleshly characters, then repentance and spiritual renewal must be our first and foremost prayer subject, so that we may live and continue to pray in union with Christ. Then, our confidence will not be “misguided” as the Lord says “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
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