Jesus said this in John 16:24-26:

24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. 25 I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. 26 Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf. (NLT)

The power of prayer never ceases to amaze me. We have been seeing so many answers to prayer in our own lives and the lives of others, but it’s not the fanciness of our prayers that brings answers. It’s the power in the name of Jesus, the name that we pray in, that brings answers.

Verse 26 above is especially good news because Jesus is saying that we can pray to God in His name. He is saying we don’t even have to wait for Him to pray to God on our behalf, but instead, we have been given the privilege of going to the Father in the name of Jesus!

In verse 24 of John 16 Jesus says ask, using My name, and you will receive!

Pastor Jeff Perry says, “All of our spiritual authority comes to us on the basis of what Jesus has done.”

I’m sure we have all just attached the name of Jesus on the end of our prayers many times just sort of as an add on because ‘that’s the way we’re suppose to do it’ but I want to encourage all of us (me included), to really honor and see the power in the name of Jesus as we speak His name over our lives.

It’s something we talk to our girls about on a regular basis. We may say to them, If you are in an emergency situation where there is potential danger, what do you do? They know the answer, say the name Jesus!

John said this in 1 John 5:1-5:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves His children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey His commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (NLT)

The way I would have viewed this verse before with my old way of thinking (before I had an understanding of God’s grace) was this:

“OK, have to make sure I am loving others and obeying God and if I don’t need to try harder because this says if really loved Him I would be able to do this.”

I’m in trouble already because look at all the I’s in that last sentence. Everything is totally focused on me and my ability to produce results. This is the way I read the Bible and the way I lived for a very long time.

Now, with my new way of believing, as I keep my focus on Jesus instead of my own self-effort, I see the verse this way:

“Since I have made a decision to spend my time believing in Jesus, the power in His name, His finished work on the cross, the new nature I have as a result of believing in Him and His amazing grace, this totally causes me to fall more and more in love with my heavenly Father than ever before. After all, my heavenly Father gave Jesus up for me so I would have the opportunity, through Jesus, to live this exchanged life. An exchanged life means Jesus got what I deserved and I get what He deserves. Wow!”

So now look at verses 1 and 3 with this new mindset. Verse 1b says  And everyone who loves the Father loves His children, too. Verse 3a says Loving God means keeping His commandments. I want to encourage you to see these verses as promises because they are promises! They are not meant to scare us but to encourage us! As we have right believing and see God for the way He really is we naturally fall deeper in love with Him. Loving Him leads to loving others and keeping His commandments!

Do you see the power in believing in the name of Jesus?! Do you see what it can bring to your life?! Do you see what you are going to receive as you choose to get your mind right by believing on the right thing?! – the right thing being that Jesus is the Christ (vs 1) and Christ Jesus lives in you and will live His life through you as you believe and trust in Him.

I believe Jesus is the very person of grace!

The Apostle Paul said, But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Acts 20:24 (NLT)

The last part of this verse could be easily interchanged with the word Jesus. Look at this… the work of telling others the Good News about Jesus!!

So when you trust in Him, you are trusting and believing in His ability in you instead of your own. Look at all the good fruit that comes from believing in the name of Jesus! When you see the Bible this way, truly, one verse can change your whole world!

Philippians 2:9 says this: 

Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names. (NLT)

You may be asking yourself right now why you didn’t get what you prayed for even though you did pray in the name of Jesus. That happens to me sometimes too and since I am not God and not seeing the big picture of God’s plan, I have decided to leave my questions in His hands. But one thing I refuse to do any longer, is pray prayers based on my own self-effort, believing that because I’ve been good enough or had enough faith, He is blessing me or because I’ve been bad or had weak faith He is punishing me and is not going to answer my prayer.

I’m not saying obedience and faith isn’t important because they are, but I was living my life backwards for so long. Satan will constantly try to keep our focus on what we are doing or not doing to keep our focus off of what Jesus has already done for us.

What is the best way to get a clear idea of Jesus and the power in His name? Through reading and studying the Bible.

I even searched this on Google: scriptures about the name of Jesus, and a ton of them came up. This technology available today has made studying the Bible easier than ever.

When you start seeing the Bible as a book of promises, promises that Christ in you will live out through you by the power of the Holy Spirit, you won’t want to stop reading it, for it reveals your inheritance in Christ and your destiny which is full of hope!

As we pray, let’s rely fully on the name of Jesus and all the power that His name holds!

Colossians 2:15 says,

In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross. (NLT)

He won that victory for you and for me. We have victory in the name of Jesus!

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!

Sandra McCollom

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Savarapu Krishna

I am blessed to have this sermon which is wonderful. We are so glad to this sermon in our Church today.

Savarapu Krishna

Thank you so much. Really it’s a great blessing to all of us. I will continue to read them and use in my churches