Prayer Keys - In Jesus’ Name
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” John 15:16
I started this list of prayer keys back in the 80 s. I doubt any rational person would have imagined back then that the most controversial prayer key would be, “praying in Jesus’ name.”
It started May 5, 1995, when Judge Samuel Kent ordered students at a high school not to pray. “Make no mistake, the court is going to have a United States marshal in attendance at the graduation. If any student offends this court, that student will be summarily arrested and will face up to six months incarceration in the Galveston County Jail for contempt of court. Anyone who thinks I’m kidding about this better think again. Anyone who violates these orders, no kidding, is going to wish that he or she had died as a child when this court gets through with it.”
Sadly, his ban made it to the supreme court where it was upheld. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote a dissent, joined by Justices Scalia and Thomas, that the majority opinion “bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life”.
Earlier this year, the Director of the Houston National Cemetery prohibited Pastor Scott Rainey from praying “in Jesus’s name” during the invocation at this year’s Memorial Day ceremony.
The ban was overturned by Judge Lynn N. Hughes who held that, “Limiting a person’s freedom of speech and religion is an irreparable injury. Money cannot replace the freedom he would lose.”
That May 26, 2011 decision should have been the end of it, but it wasn’t. In June, The Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion, and the National Memorial Ladies said the cemetery’s director and other government officials continued to create “religious hostility” at the cemetery. According to documents they filed in federal court, the cemetery’s director banned saying “God” at funerals and required prayers be submitted in advance for government approval.
Rep. John Culberson has called for a congressional investigation after he attended a funeral on July 8 and observed cemetery officials still hindering Christian prayers at veteran’s funerals.
The Veteran’s Administration, on one hand, has offered support for the cemetery’s director who issued the ban, while on the other hand denying that any religious speech has been banned. “The idea that invoking the name of God or Jesus is banned at Veteran’s Administration national cemeteries is blatantly false,” said Press Secretary Josh Taylor in a written statement. “The truth is, VA’s policy protects veterans’ families’ rights to pray however they choose at our national cemeteries.”
Rep. Culberson said, “Right in front of me, the VA directly and deliberately attempted to prevent the VFW from doing their magnificent, spiritual ritual over the grave of this fallen hero.” Cemetery officials told the commander of the honor guard to approach a grieving widow to reconfirm that she wanted the word God mentioned at her husband’s graveside service. “He quite correctly said as a Texan and a man of honor and integrity, ‘I’m not bothering that poor woman at this most terrible time of her life. We’re going to do the ritual,’”
On June 1, 2011, the Medina Valley High School in Castroville, TX was banned from having a student initiated prayer at graduation and from even using the words “invocation” and “benediction.” Judge Fred Biery banned the prayer and the words because the agnostic parents of another graduate brought suit saying he would be “irreparably harmed.”
On June 2, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott supported an emergency appeal filed by the Medina Valley Independent School District.
As of June 3,, Angela Hildenbrand, the valedictorian who wanted to lead an invocation prayer of thanks at her June 4 graduation, was told that she would be jailed if she prayed or if, during her graduation speech she used the words “in Jesus’ name,” “Lord,” or “amen.”
Late that night, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling, saying the family had not persuaded the panel “that the individual prayers or other remarks to be given by students at graduation are, in fact, school-sponsored.”
On June 4, at her graduation, Angela said, “Whether you would like to join me or not, feel free to do as you see best.” Then she prayed.
The agnostic family did not attend the graduation. “Our family chose not to attend the ceremony this evening because we did not feel welcome at the event and we even feared for our safety in light of how hostile some of the public comments have been,” the family said in a statement released by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
I don’t know if they really experienced hostility or if they are exaggerating. I do know that some people who claim to act in the name of Jesus do not honor his name. We should pray for the Schultz family to meet Christians who share the love of Christ with them.
Praying in the name of Jesus is not only being attacked in schools and cemeteries. City Councils and even military chaplains are also under attack.
I started this list of prayer keys back in the 80 s. I doubt any rational person would have imagined back then that the most controversial prayer key would be, “praying in Jesus’ name.”
Mark Roberts wrote of a time when he visited the Capitol as a guest of Congressman John Campbell. As long as he was with the congressman, he could walk freely around the Capitol, entering many areas that were reserved “for authorized personnel only,” reserved for members of Congress and their guests. He could enter those places, not because of who he was or because of what he had done, but because of who Congressman Campbell was. The name “Congressman John Campbell” opened doors. So it is when we come before God in the name of Jesus.
Jesus is our mediator. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus is our High Priest, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16). Jesus is our advocate. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense [an advocate] – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One,” (1 John 2:1).
Praying in Jesus’ name is a recognition that he is our mediator, that we do not deserve an audience with the Father. It is a recognition that we only have authority to come to the Father because Jesus, our High Priest, has prepared the way for us. It means that we know we are unworthy of approaching the throne of grace on our own without our advocate.
So is praying in the name of Jesus just saying the words, “in Jesus’ name?” No. In teaching the disciples to pray, in giving a model prayer for all Christians, Jesus did not include the phrase, “in Jesus’ name.”
Should we say the words, “in Jesus’ name” at the end of our prayers? If saying “in Jesus’ name” reminds us by whose authority we have been invited to pray, then it is an excellent phrase. If we think saying “in Jesus’ name” makes God subject to our will, it is a horrible phrase.
The singles group at the church I joined in 1978 was fascinated by Mike Warnke’s The Satan Seller. He wrote about being drawn into Satanism, advancing through the ranks, getting saved, and the struggles he had with other Satanists and even demons after leaving them. It was interesting reading, until he described an impossible event.
He wrote that one night he suffered intense demonic opposition. Hour after hour, all through the night, he despaired of ever having peace again. Hour after hour his wife prayed for him. Then, as the day dawned, it suddenly ended. The demons were gone and he had peace.
Mike Warnke’s wife said that after hours of prayer she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to “plead the blood.” As soon as she said those words in prayer, the demons were gone and Mike had peace.
Nothing in scripture teaches that prayer is an incantation, say the right words and you get what you want. Say the wrong words and God will ignore your request. Nothing in scripture suggests what Mike Warnke described was possible. Romans 8:26 says that when we do not know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit will intercede. If the right words were necessary, if Mike Warnke needed to “plead the blood” to have his prayer answered, if his wife needed to “plead the blood” to have her prayers answered, we can be sure the Spirit would not forget the words.
Beyond that, Romans 8:26 says the Spirit will intercede with groanings which are unutterable. Have you ever reached the point in prayer where all you could say was, “O God… O God… O God…?” Have you ever been praying and been deeply burdened by something you could not express? The Holy Spirit knows how to express those things which are unutterable.
What Mike Warnke wrote made prayer an incantation, say the right words and God must give what we want. Say the wrong words and God ignores us. That is an occult concept. That is not a biblical concept.
Thirteen years later, a Christian investigative reporter went to Mike Wanrke’s old college. Instead of being involved in Satanism, he was involved with Campus Crusade. Instead of having hair to his waist and fingernails several inches long, pictures showed him with a conservative hair cut, conservative clothes, and normal hands. The reporter found a wedding invitation for Mike, traced his former fiancé, and interviewed her. He concluded that The Satan Seller was a work of fiction, not a testimony.
Christians across the country were shocked. Those who knew him to be a false teacher were not. Prayer is not an incantation. We can’t just say, “I plead the blood” or “in Jesus’ name” or “abracadabra” or any other words and force God to our will.
What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name? Jesus is our mediator, (1 Timothy 2:5), our advocate (1 John 2:1), and our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15). Praying in Jesus’ name is a recognition that he is our mediator, that we do not deserve an audience with the Father. It is a recognition that we only have authority to come to the Father because Jesus, our High Priest, has prepared the way for us. He died on the cross to save us. It means that we know we are unworthy of approaching the throne of grace on our own without our advocate. Even when we don’t say the words, as long as we recognize these truths, we are praying in Jesus’ name.
