Let us read several verses from the Gospel of John. “And whatever you ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I appointed you that you should go forth and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you” (John 15:16).
“Until now you have asked nothing in My name; ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be made full. In that day you shall ask in My name...” (John 16:24, 26).
There are a great number of Christians who do not know that it is necessary to pray in the name of the Lord. Many Christians often say that they pray by the precious blood of the Lord or by the Lord’s merits. The Bible clearly states, however, that we should pray in the name of the Lord. What does praying in the Lord’s name really mean? Although we often use such a phrase, we do not necessarily know its meaning. Although some may know a little about it, they may not necessarily have the reality of it. The spiritual meaning of praying in the Lord’s name is very deep and high, so we really need to go before the Lord to learn about it.
In the Gospel of John, chapters fourteen through sixteen, the Lord Jesus personally says at least five times that we need to pray in His name. In Ephesians 5:20 the Apostle Paul also says, “Giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father.” In John, chapters fourteen through sixteen, we should know that the Lord’s name undoubtedly denotes the Son. The name of the Father in the same chapters also denotes the Father. Hence, if we want to know the meaning of the Lord’s name in the Gospel of John, we need to know something concerning the matter of the Lord coming to be the Son. What is the meaning of “the Son”? We have said many times that the Son is the expression of the Father. God has a Son in the universe, and this Son is the expression of God. Whenever John chapters fourteen through sixteen mention the Lord Jesus, the emphasis is not that He is the Lord nor that He is the Christ, but that He is the Son. As the Son, He is the expression of God. This name, therefore, is God’s expression. To be in such a name is to be in the expression of God.
We must see that in John 14 through 16 there is a basic concept concerning a threefold matter: the Father is expressed in the Son; the Son becomes the Spirit and enters into us, and as a result, the Spirit lives out a certain life in us. The Triune God-Father, Son, and Spirit-thus becomes one with us. This is what John chapters fourteen through sixteen disclose to us. Immediately following, in chapter seventeen, the Lord offered a prayer in which He clearly shows us how the Triune God-Father, Son, and Spirit-and we become perfectly one.
In the Gospel of John there are three main concepts. The first concept is that the Father has been expressed in the Son. The Father has been seen and touched in the Son by men. John 14:9 says that he who has seen the Son has seen the Father. When the Son is in the midst of men, it is the Father Who is in the midst of men. The second concept is that the Son had to go and change His form to become the Spirit. The third concept is that the Spirit comes into us who belong to Him, to be with us forever. Consequently, as He lives, we also live. We live together with Him, and we live by Him.
So, in chapter fifteen, we are shown just such a union. The Lord says that He is the true Vine and we are the branches. We abide in Him and He abides in us. Then, in chapter sixteen, the Lord shows us how the Spirit reveals all His reality into us so that we may experience and be led into the reality. Therefore, in these chapters of John the Lord tells us that we need to pray while living on the earth, and we need to pray in His name.
Based on the above-mentioned concepts, we know that praying in the Lord’s name bespeaks the fact that we have a perfect union with the Lord, and that such a union causes God to be manifested in us. We need three chapters of the Scripture, John 14 through 16, to explain the matter of praying in the Lord’s name. When we have a thorough understanding of these three chapters, we know what it means to pray in the Lord’s name. Briefly, it means that we are in union with the Lord. The Lord is the expression of God; this expression has become the Spirit, and the Spirit is dwelling in us. When we have this perfect union with the Triune God, our living becomes His living, and God is manifested through us.
Please remember, therefore, that to pray in the name of the Lord means that we are united with the Lord, and we allow God to be manifested through us. Never consider “in the name of the Lord” as a phrase or a form that you have to use at the end of every prayer. At times it may not be necessary to add “in the name of the Lord” at the end of a prayer. To add “in the name of the Lord” does not necessarily mean there is the reality, and not adding it does not mean that the reality of it is missing. It is not a matter of formality, but a matter of reality. A person who really prays in the name of the Lord is one with the Lord. His prayer, therefore, is the Lord’s asking. He has been united with the Lord to such an extent that the two have become one.
Never understand praying in the name of the Lord in a superstitious way. More than once I have heard people explain it by using the following illustration: you have asked a rich man for something, but he would not give it to you. Later, you find out that he loves his son very much, so you go and make the same request in the name of his son. Then, as a result, the rich man gives you what you have requested because he loves his son. Similarly, when we, the sinners, come before God to ask for something, He will not give it to us. But when we ask in the name of His Son, God will give it to us because He loves His Son. If this is how you understand and explain it, you are simply superstitious. Actually, if God refuses you when you ask on your own, He will also refuse you when you ask in the name of His Son.
Acts 19 gives us an account of some who superstitiously tried to imitate Paul in casting out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus. Eventually the demon said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” and he leaped upon them and wounded them (Acts 19:15). To cast out demons in this way is simply being superstitious. When Paul cast out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus, he could say, “I am one with the Lord Jesus, and for me to live is Christ.” This is the meaning and the spiritual reality of “in the name of the Lord.”
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