Question 180. What is it to pray in the name of Christ?

 

Question 180. What is it to pray in the name of Christ?

Answer. To pray in the name of Christ is to obey his command, to trust in his promise, and to ask for mercy for his sake, not by merely mentioning his name, but by obtaining from Christ and his mediation the courage, boldness, and strength to pray, and the hope that our prayers will be accepted.

Jesus said to his disciples, John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask in my name (en tonomati ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί) that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” En tonomati (ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί) means in my name. Since the name of Christ is Jesus, it means “in Jesus.”

The word "whatever" is associated with the death of the cross, giving forgiveness of sins, and associated with the resurrection, giving life of resurrection. The meaning of "in Jesus" is "in Jesus who died on the cross and was resurrected." Jesus told his disciples to preach the gospel and that if they asked for everything in Jesus, he would solve everything. This is related to the gospel. The amazing events of raising the dead, healing the sick, and casting out demons are recorded in the Book of Acts.

However, most prayers today are based on the belief in fortune telling. Prophetic prayers are popular, as if they are fortune telling about an individual's fortune. Such prayers are not prayers to God. In addition, there are prayers to receive the Holy Spirit, prayers to cast out demons, and prayers in tongues, all in the name of the gospel. These people are those who pursue gnosticism (mysticism). It is not easy for ordinary believers to distinguish between truth and falsehood. That is why the Bible tells us to discern spirits.

1 John 4:6 "We are of God. He who knows God listens to us; he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error." Those who are united with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are those who belong to God. Those who belong to God are those who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and a new temple is established in their hearts, and Christ is present. Therefore, they listen to his words and the saints act. Most of those who speak other than the words about the death and resurrection of the cross should be considered fake.

 

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