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| °°° °°° December 7, 2015 "Whatever you ask in My Name..." I can remember the first time this verse jumped off the page for me. I remember how amazed I was by these words. I was very excited! I was in Sunday School at that moment. I motioned for my Sunday School teacher to come to my side. I excitedly pointed to the verse and asked, "What does this mean?" It was such an amazing promise, I could hardly believe it. Her answer baffles me to this day: "It doesn't mean what it says." I was probably nine or ten at the time. With the eyes and heart of a child, I believed what I read. Her words did not dissuade me. My understanding of those words has changed as I have matured as a woman and as a Christian. Initially, "In Jesus' Name" became a sort of magic phrase add to the end of my prayers: "God, The Bible says whatever I ask in Jesus' Name, that He will do that the Father might be glorified through the Son. In Jesus' Name, help me do well on this test." I have often said, "Legislation can not really take prayer out of schools." As long as we have tests and relationships, we will have folks praying both in and out of schools. I prayed as I quoted above and consistently did well on test after test - sometimes amazingly well. I sometimes wonder if my test scores accurately reflected my intelligence or knowledge or if they were simply answered prayer. Either way, my thoughts about the idea of praying in Jesus'Name changed over the years. I began to see more depth of meaning in them. I continued to ask, "What does this mean?" but, now, I was asking God instead of my Sunday School teacher. Perhaps she meant that they weren't just magic words to be tacked on the end of our prayers. Perhaps she could have explained further but perhaps she didn't have time to do so right then. As I continued to ask God about what this verse truly promises, I heard some teaching on it here and there. Ideas were put forth such as Jesus giving us a blank check or perhaps a Power of Attorney. I can't remember the specific teachings, just the ideas. Jesus gave us the right to use His Name. Well, perhaps a better way to say that is that He gave us the privilege to use His Name. Another possibility is that we are to ask in His stead. If we are asking in His Name, perhaps we are asking what He would ask. Sort of like a mother sending a child to the store to get something for her -- or having her child run next door for a cup of sugar -- asking in her name -- making her requests for her. When we ask in Jesus' Name, are we careful to ask as He would ask? ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
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