Ask the Father in My Name: Praying In The Name Of Jesus
Jesus, Our Mediator And Teacher On Prayer
Jesus is our mediator, our Savior, and our Lord. He stands between us and the Father. Growing up, many of us were taught to pray to Jesus. Even now, well-meaning Sunday School teachers still instruct children to do the same. But Scripture doesn’t teach us to pray to Him. In fact, when Jesus Himself was asked about prayer, He directed our attention to the Father.
Study Scripture:
23 “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” John 16:23-24 CSB
1: Asking The Father: Who We Address In Prayer
Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus instruct us to pray to Him. If we want our prayers to reach heaven’s throne room, the place of power and authority—we need to know who we are addressing.
In John 16:23, Jesus says, “In that day, you will not ask me anything.” What day is He referring to? In context, He’s talking about the time after His earthly ministry, our time. He was teaching His disciples (and us) how to have our prayers answered:
“Anything you ask the Father in my name, He will give you.”
So who are we to ask? The Father.
What does He promise? Anything.
Not some things. Not only small things. Not things you begged for, anything.
Now, you might be thinking, “What’s the difference? Isn’t the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all one?” Of course, God knows your heart, but the distinction matters, because Jesus said it matters. He could have said, “Ask any of us,” but He didn’t. He said to ask the Father.
When we pray God’s way, we get results.
2: In My Name: The Power Of Jesus
The second point Jesus makes is a significant shift in how we pray. Not only are we to come before our personal Father, but we do so with legal right and access through the name of Jesus.
It’s because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross that we now have access to the Father, forgiveness of sins, healing for our bodies, and provision for our lives. Jesus modeled a new way to live, pray, and exercise spiritual authority on earth.
“So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit… And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”
1 Corinthians 15:45–49 (NIV)
“Anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.”
John 16:23
3: That Your Joy May be Complete: Why God Answers Prayer
Why does God answer prayer? Jesus tells us clearly in John 16:24 (CSB):
“Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”
It’s hard to feel joyful when burdened with bills, sickness, stress, or anxiety. And while we can have joy amid trials, Jesus was talking about something deeper, complete joy. God answers prayer because He’s a loving Father who delights in blessing His children.
We don’t need to beg or twist God’s arm. There are times we must stand on God’s Word because the enemy opposes answered prayer, but that delay is never on the Father’s side. Jesus simply said, “Ask in my name…” When we begin to see how deeply God loves us, it changes how we pray.
In Kenneth E. Hagin’s book on prayer, he wrote:
“There is a joy that comes when you get answers to prayer. But if you’re not getting answers to prayer… there can be a look of perplexity and trouble on your countenance. There is an air of doubt, perplexity, fear, and confusion about you… But you can know God hears you when you pray according to His Word. And your joy can be full even before you see the answer because you are resting on the integrity of God’s Word.”
Worry Will Block The Answer To Your Prayers:
This has been one of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn this year. Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28–30). Peter reminds us to cast all our cares on God, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). So when I pray, I’m supposed to release the burden.
But when I worry, when I stress or try to figure out the solution on my own, I take the problem back into my hands. Worry will block or hinder God from helping you.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?… If that is how God clothes the grass of the field… will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”
Matthew 6:26–30
Final Thoughts:
Don’t stress, pray. Come to the Father who loves you and wants to hear from you. Release your desires to Him, and then thank Him for the answer that’s already on the way. If the answer takes time, keep thanking Him. You already prayed. He already heard you.
Trust that He loves you. Consider the matter done.
And don’t let worry kill the seed you planted in faith.