Praying “in Jesus’ name”

Jesus so loves us that He uses the privileges of His exalted position and the affection of His heavenly Father to ask the best for those who pray in His name.  And, because Jesus speaks for us, the Father who loves Him treats us with affection, out of love for His own child.  It is as though a prince makes an appeal before his father, the king, for the good of a pauper.  Though the king may have little cause to care for the pauper, because the son he loves makes the request, the king grants the pauper what he seeks.

Not only does Christ’s intercession grant us spiritual paupers the ability to have our appeals lovingly heard by the Father, Jesus’ continuing work grants us direct access to the Father.  By His death, resurrection, and intercession, Christ Jesus enables us to approach our God and petition Him as though we were the royal prince that He is.  When we approach our God in Jesus’ name, we have His own status as a child of the king.  Christ continues to plead, not only for our desires, but also for our souls.  He asks God to forgive our present sins and to apply His own righteousness to our account.  The result is that, though we are fallen creatures, before God we have the holy status of Jesus Himself.

Despite our sins, faults, and weaknesses, we enter the heavenly Father’s throne room of grace on the basis of Christ’s merit and His willingness to identify with us.  Thus, we pray “in Jesus’ name” in praise of Christ’s sacrifice and in recognition that our union with Him alone gives us privileged access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18-19).

Bryan Chapell, Praying Backwards: Transform Your Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus’ Name (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005), p. 23.