In Jesus’ Name We Pray – Part 2

In the previous article, I proposed that praying in Jesus’ name is equivalent to abiding in Him and having His words abide in us. If that idea is accurate and leads to answered prayer, we should determine what abiding means and how we do it.

First, what does it mean to abide in Jesus? Jesus himself presents a beautiful picture of abiding in the gospel of John. He stated to his disciples:

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.[1]

Abiding in Jesus is being connected to him. When we believe and receive Jesus, we are born of God.[2] His Holy Spirit enters our hearts and remains with us.[3] This connection is more profound than any human relationship we can imagine. We become one spirit with our Lord and Savior,[4] the creator of everything.[5]

Jesus also said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”[6] When some of his disciples complained about these words, Jesus explained that he was speaking spiritually because the Spirit gives life and the flesh counts for nothing.[7] Eating Jesus’ flesh is equated with coming to him and believing in him. Jesus is the spiritual food that gives life to all who partake of him.[8] Interestingly, Jesus continued this metaphor when he instructed the apostles to remember him by eating bread and drinking wine at the Passover before he was crucified. Of course, this is the sacrament of communion that we practice today.

So, abiding or remaining with Jesus is being joined to Jesus. When you read John 6, notice that abiding is not just being a disciple or following Jesus. A disciple is a learner; one can learn about Jesus and not be connected to him. Following Jesus is admirable, but it is not the same thing as being joined to him in Spirit. Many of Jesus’ disciples turned away and stopped following him because they did not believe in him. Abiding also means remaining, so there is persistence in our connection to Jesus.[9] All that said, what does abiding in Jesus have to do with answered prayer?

We become partakers of the divine nature through Jesus.[10] This mysterious and profound connection changes us. We see the world and our life in new and remarkable ways. We become integral parts of the body of Christ.[11] As such, we care about what Jesus cares about. He came to restore humanity to a relationship with God like he desired from the beginning. Being connected to God through Jesus, we have access to God as Jesus did. We can approach the throne of grace with confidence.[12] We realize that God is working in us, enabling us to will and work for his good pleasure.[13]

When we come to God in prayer, we do so as his people who desire what he desires. Only by our connection to Jesus is this possible. So, as part of Christ’s body, God answers our prayers because we align with his will and work. While we now have God’s law written in our hearts and minds, we still need to grow and mature. How do we grow in the will and work of God? This is where the second aspect of abiding comes in. We must have Jesus’ words abiding in us.

Jesus is known as the Word,[14] so having Jesus in us is also part of having his words abide in us. Nevertheless, Jesus also said:

But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”[15]

The Bible is our source of God’s words. So, the best way to have Jesus’ words abide in us is to immerse ourselves in Scripture. The apostle Paul wrote that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.[16] We are firm on the foundation when we take in the words of Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets. The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, his protégé, these words:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.[17]

Not all of us have known the Scriptures from infancy, but I think we can still learn from Paul’s exhortation to Timothy. Scripture is important. Reading and studying the Bible is essential for having Jesus' words abide in us. Nevertheless, it is not meant as just an intellectual endeavor. Yes, we read and study the Bible to learn and grow. Perhaps we should do so for a more important reason. We can do it to understand God and what is important to him. For example, the apostle John states:

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.[18]

Also,

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.[19]

Interestingly, John only mentions two commandments in his letter, believing in Jesus and loving one another.[20] These seem to coincide with the great commandment to love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.[21] We can do these only because God first loved us.[22] So, abiding in Jesus and having his words abide in us are wrapped up in being loved by him and, consequently, loving him and others. When we realize this love in our lives, our prayer is focused on God’s will, and he will answer.

However, some circumstances lead to unanswered prayer. For example, James, Jesus’ brother, states in his letter:

You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.[23]

While God is gracious and wants us to cast our cares on him, we must check the motives of our prayer. As mentioned above, we have God's law written on our hearts and minds as participants in the New Covenant.[24] When we walk in the Spirit, we know what God desires for us. We relish what is good and true. We want to please him and seek his glory. In this way, we can pray in concert with his desires. The New Testament is full of examples of how to pray and what to pray for. We are not limited to following rote prayers. Still, the prayers of the apostles and saints are an example to us.

In my previous article on prayer (I Just Became a Christian, Now What? – Prayer), I recommended reading John 17, and Paul’s prayers in Ephesians 1 and 3. These are examples of how to pray for the church. A quick Bible search will find many other passages that indicate how we can pray. Again, it is not just the words we say but the state of our heart that brings us into God’s will in prayer. Amazingly, through prayer, God gives us the opportunity to join with him in his work.

I hope this article has some insight that there may be more to praying in Jesus’ name than ending our prayers with those words. When we believe in him and receive him, we are born of God, and he abides in us. When his words abide in us, we understand what he desires. Joining him in prayer allows us to trust him in everything and accomplish what he wants for us. No matter the answer we get, we are assured that we are praying in Jesus’ name.

I will be taking a break from posting articles for several weeks. I hope to publish again sometime in June. God bless you as you abide in Christ, and his words abide in you.

[1] John 15:4-5, NRSV
[2] John 1:12-13
[3] Romans 5:5, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Galatians 4:1-6, 1 John 3:24
[4] 1 Corinthians 6:17
[5] John 1:1-3
[6] John 6:56
[7] John 6:63
[8] John 6:41-51
[9] Matthew 24:9-14, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, 2 Timothy 2:8-13
[10] 2 Peter 1:3-4
[11] Romans 12
[12] Hebrews 4:14-16
[13] Philippians 2:1-13
[14] John 1
[15] Matthew 4:4, NRSV
[16] Ephesians 2:19-22
[17] 2 Timothy 3:14-17, NIV, see also, 2 Peter 1:12-21
[18] 1 John 3:21-24, NRSV
[19] 1 John 5:14-15, NIV
[20] 1 John 3:9-13, 4:12-16. See also John 17
[21] Matthew 22:34-40
[22] 1 John 4:16-19
[23] James 4:2b-3, NIV
[24] Hebrews 8:10, 10:16