"In His Name"

I was half listening to two guys discussing prayer; one frustrated that his prayers are not answered, the other more than happy to share modern Christian superstition with him.....

Consider John 14:12-14.
¹² “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Sometimes you have to wonder at Jesus' words.  Think of this, He just said here that He would do what ever you ask in His name.....  And He knows the hearts of men are desperately wicked, the regenerate usually not much better.  And so we have the source of a ton of bad theology within the Western Church that ANYTHING and EVERYTHING we ask will be accomplished and done just because we asked for it "in His name".....

Well, it does not take much for someone look at that and think, "uhm, I don't think that can mean what they say it means.....".  And you would be right.  Because there are a few fine points to think on before committing yourself to superstition or flailing yourself because obviously your faith was too weak and your prayers go unanswered.

Does that mean there is some sort of catch in here?  Well, yeah!  Let us start off easy: You.  Are you saved?  Are you sure?  I know so many now, whom I am convinced are not, and yet a year ago I had no problem with taking them at their word.  But, my eyes were forcibly ripped opened this year to see that all is not what it seems.  We take no account of our sin but magnify the sins of those around us.  So how is the old sin life these days? We gossip, we slander, we deceive, we think ourselves above others, we live openly in rebellion and dare all comers to call us on it.  And that just covers my family.  How is yours doing so far?  No excuse making here!  It is rubber on the road time.  But, for the grace of God none us would ever be found worthy.....

And then there is the object or subject of the prayer: is it something God should care about?  No, the election is beyond His concern - except under American Theology, no sporting events are not His concern - except under A.T. as well, no God does not give a wit about your dog sparky and its fleas, you marital status is not His problem, nor your car's need for fuel, nor that you are so happy for that steak dinner you are sitting down to.  So what does God care about?

You will have God's undivided attention when you are praying concerning the lost, reaching a certain person for salvation, changing the course of one fallen away, problems within the church, anything and everything to do with outreach - nothing to do with entertaining ourselves.  Anything to do with witnessing, or validating the witness, nothing to do with your comfort or pleasures.

Whoa!  Wait a minute!  God says somewhere He wants His best for us!  We are to be the kings and rulers of our realms!  Really?  You are a better Christian because you were born rich, than the Christian in Nigeria whom may not even have a dung hut to live in and just hopes to not be eaten during the night?  Welcome to toxic faith of the American Church, where wealth and might make right - it proves God is behind us after-all.  But, in reality, this is called pride of life.  It is a much condemn sin by the way, just if you were interested......

Okay, okay, I can expect God to answer my prayers concerning outreach, but He does answer other prayers as well.  Yup, and this the entire point of this post.  God will answer prayers, as He wants to, when He wants to, how He wants to.  And just by tagging, "In His Name" on to your prayer is not going to move God one way or the other.  But it does move you.

And, the direction you are moved, is to the side God is on, by praying "In His Name" .....  What you are really saying is that you want what He wants, for whatever the situation is. 

Consider: Psalm 8:1, 103:1, 148:13; 1 Samuel 17:45

As a side note, there are even those whom believe that by praying, "In His Name", this is really God speaking.  Nope, it is just you or whomever.  But, by praying so, we are asking for His authority to be behind our words.

We need to be praying God's agenda in our lives, the lives of our loved ones, in the lives of those around us, our church and our nation.  We need to be siding with God on all issues, in constant prayer for His values to be reflected in our lives.  It will conform us to Him, it will change how we see the world and because of this, as Jesus said, we will do greater things than He.....

And, as for our two arguers whom started this thread thought?  They both are now superstitious about magic words in their prayers.....

Pssssst, There are No Christian magic words .....