Are Your Prayers Legitimate Prayers?

Hitherto have ye asked nothing IN MY NAME;

ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

John 16:24

"Hitherto" means "up until now." Up until the time Jesus spoke these words, His followers had asked nothing in His name. At this point He established a new relation with them. He told them to ask God for things in His name:  . . . 

Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father IN MY NAME, He will give it you.   John 16:23

What a powerful promise! Whatever we ask In His name, we will receive!

But this promise has to be taken along with the other principles of prayer taught in the Bible. We can never isolate one verse on a subject without considering all that is taught on that subject in the Word of God. The Bible teaches 

You cannot ask selfishly.  

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.  James 4:3

You must also be living righteously before God. 

If you sin, you are to confess and pray for forgiveness:  

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a RIGHTEOUS man availeth much.         James 5:16

You cannot continue to live in sin -

and think just because you ask in the name of Jesus you will be granted your requests. It is the prayers of righteous men and women that avail with God:  

If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.   John 15:7

This means IF you are abiding in Christ you can ask and it shall be done. IF you are walking in obedience to God's Word, then you can ask in the name of Jesus.

Praying in the name of Jesus is also subject to God’s will. Jesus prayed:  

Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.   Luke 22:42

In the weakness of human flesh, Jesus did not want to suffer. He wanted the cup of suffering removed, but He submitted His will to God's will.

In some matters clearly defined in Scripture, we know the will of God and exactly how to pray. In other matters we can express our will, as did Jesus, then submit our will to His will -- all in the name of Jesus.

Requests made in the name of Jesus are subject to the sovereign will of God. We ask according to human reasoning and cannot always discern God's higher purposes:  

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.   For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.   Isaiah 55:8-9

You will not always know the will of God and exactly how to pray. When you are not sure of the will of God, it is a good time to pray in the language of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf according to the will of God:  

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: FOR WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE SHOULD PRAY FOR AS WE OUGHT; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.   Romans 8:26-27

Some will disagree with this Biblical teaching. They will say you can ask ANYTHING in the name of Jesus and it will be done. When you arrogantly pray without submitting your requests to God’s will, He may answer your requests, but it may not be in your best interests. He did this for the nation of Israel:  

And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.     Psalms 106:15

You must also realize that when you ask for something on behalf of another person that their will enters into the situation. Nobody, through prayer in the name of Jesus, can push something on someone else which that person does not want. God does not take away the free will of man. Another person's will and unbelief can affect your prayer for them.

John relays a great prayer Jesus prayed (John 17) concerning the men God gave Him as disciples. All these men received the same training. They saw the same miracles. They received the same Word of God. But yet one of them was lost. Judas still had a will of his own, and despite all he had heard and seen, rejected God's Word in unbelief.

Jesus spoke of the power of agreeing with others in prayer in His name:  

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done of them of my Father which is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered IN MY NAME, there am I in the midst of them.   Matthew 18:19-20

As part of prayer, thanks should be given in the name of Jesus:  

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father IN THE NAME of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:20

You should also give thanks to the name of Jesus:  

By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks TO HIS NAME.     Hebrews 13:15

(Biblical Studies)




10/21/15
06/16/20