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NASB | John 14:14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 14:14 "If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it. |
Bible Question (short): What does "In the name of Jesus" mean? |
Question (full): 'It doesn't take a rocket scientist to draw the conclusion that we are, first, to pray in the name of Jesus, and second, praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean ending your prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus. Amen," because it is never done in the New Testament.' ------------- 'The "name of God" or "in the name of Jesus" means something different than repeating those words. 'Read the New Testament. It says "Anything you ask in my name, that will I do." We have presumed that what that means is that we must add a phrase after ...prayer...in order to make it work. ... 'Just about every time we finish praying we tack this phrase on at the end, "In the name of Jesus. Amen." We do that because we were told to pray in the name of Jesus and God would answer. We expect that in doing so it seals the power of the prayer. I think that is superstitious because praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean saying, "In the name of Jesus." (...) 'One thing you will notice when you highlight every prayer, every supplication towards God that is uttered in the text of the New Testament is that you will never see a New Testament prayer that ends with the phrase "In Jesus' name. Amen," even though the same text teaches you to pray in Jesus' name. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to draw the conclusion that we are, first, to pray in the name of Jesus, and second, praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean ending your prayer with the phrase "In the name of Jesus. Amen," because it is never done in the New Testament. 'Ending prayers with that phrase might do nothing whatsoever to the efficacy of your prayer. I even submit that it might be hurting your prayer, depending on what you mean by the phrase. 'What does it mean to pray in the name of someone if it doesn't mean saying, "In the name of..."? Here's what it means. 'The name of someone, in the sense that the Bible authors used it, was what the person stood for, the substance of their character, or their authority . . . When we pray in the name of Jesus . . . what we are doing is acting in [his] authority, in [his] stead, according to [his] command, and consistent with [his] desires.' 'When we pray in the name of Jesus it might be better for us to drop the phrase "In the name of Jesus" altogether because generally we don't mean, "I am praying in the authority of Jesus Christ." You know what we probably mean when we say "In the name of Jesus. Amen" ? Practically speaking, it means the prayer is over. That is the Christian exit. Amen. Translated it means, the prayer is over, let's go do what we were doing, or let's eat. 'There is power in praying in the authority of Jesus Christ, by the authority He has given you, consistent with His character, His desire, and His will. It's like when we say, "Stop in the name of the law." The policeman is saying that because he is standing in the place of the law and speaking on behalf of it. To the degree that he speaks for the law, then he can enforce the law and he has authority. When he steps outside of the law, he has lost his authority even though he still says, "Stop in the name of the law." (...) 'If you are praying in a group and you don't want to leave people mystified as to what is happening, you could just simply say, "The prayer is over, let's eat," or, "We're done, let's go on." The important thing is not what you say with your mouth. Dispense with the empty words. Get rid of them. Instead, approach the throne of God based on the authority of Jesus Christ. If you are thinking that way and that is your attitude, it doesn't matter what you say at the end of the prayer. God will hear you according to His promise.' [This article has been edited to fit here within space limitations. To read the entire article, see In the Name of Jesus by Gregory Koukl (www.str.org/free/commentaries/theology/nameofje.htm)] |