Many believers have made it a practice to end their prayers with the phrase “in Jesus’ name.” They do so because of the Saviour’s command to pray in His name. However, the command carries a far deeper relevance than simply a formula habitually added at the end of a prayer. This phrase added at the end of the prayer serves as a reminder that we are performing the action in the name of another. It is also taking place at the request of and under the authority of another person. By coming to the Father in the name of the Son, believers are approaching the Father under the Son’s authority and at His request. Because of Christ’s request and authority, believers can approach the throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16). Without Christ’s request and authority, our boldness would be turned into presumptuousness.
The 2,000-year history of the church reveals that there have been teachers and whole religions who have rejected the biblical teaching of the coexistence of a Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Others have accepted their existence but rejected the fact that these three are one with each being fully God (1 John 5:7). Some have simply been unable to comprehend or unwilling to accept that God could exist as one God in three persons. Regardless of man’s intellectual inadequacies, the Bible reveals that each member of the Godhead works together on our behalf in prayer. The Lord told us that every believer should pray to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus (John 15:16). The prayers are directed toward the Father with the Son acting as the mediator (Hebrews 7:25). The book of Romans further reveals that the Spirit of God makes intercession for us in our prayers (Romans 8:26).
One might think that prayer has always existed in the exact manner in which it presently exists, but such is not the case. It appears that the first major shift in prayer took place in Genesis 4:26. We know that Adam and Eve freely spoke with the Lord face-to-face in the garden (Genesis 3:8). However, it seems that the fall of man caused men to have to begin “to call upon the name of the LORD.” Even then, prayer was not as it is today. The very fact that prayer has not always existed parallels a time in the future when prayer as we know it will not exist. When man had full access to the Lord, there was no need for prayer. In eternity, the same will be true. For now, the Lord has given us access to Him through prayer (Hebrews 4:16).
Contrary to today’s all-inclusive teachings, no one comes into this world as a child of God. In fact, the Bible plainly teaches that God becomes the Father of only those who trust Christ as personal Saviour. This new relationship between the Father and His children results from a personal, conscious, willing decision. As the Father of His children, God at times finds it necessary to chasten (or correct) believers. No chastening is enjoyable, especially that from an all-knowing Father. Unfortunately, when God begins administering His corrective hand, far too many Christians quit. Consequently, those who quit on the Lord never experience the by-product of God’s chastening—“the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” Christians should never take the grace of God in vain by thinking that simply being saved pleases the Lord. God wants and expects much more. His chastening hand confirms the believer’s wrongdoing and directs him in the right direction. When God cares enough to correct a man’s wrongdoing, it is an uncaring response to quit. The believer who loves the Lord will accept the correction and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
At the age of forty, Moses fled Egypt in fear for his life (Exodus 2:11-15; Acts 7:20-29). It is not hard to imagine the degree of fear sensed by Moses as he ran from the most powerful man who ruled the most powerful nation on earth during his day. Today's verse reveals that Moses yet again departed from Egypt, forty years later this time, not fearing the wrath of the king. What made the difference? How did Moses keep from losing his mind during such a difficult time of trial? How did he endure the troubles associated with leaving Egypt? He endured because he saw “him who is invisible.” He saw God! He did not see the Lord simply with his physical eyes, but rather through the eye of faith. Moses endured for one reason, the Lord was with him and he knew it. Endurance becomes possible as the believer learns to acknowledge the presence of the Almighty in his or her life.
