Praying “In My Name”

By Curtis Mitchell, Th.D.

Chafer Theological Seminary

Curtis Mitchell earned his B.A. at Biola University, B.D. at Talbot School of Theology, Th.M. at Western Seminary, and Th.D. at Grace Theological Seminary. He taught for nearly 25 years at Biola University and is now Professor of Biblical Studies at Chafer Theological Seminary.

Jesus revealed a significant condition for successful praying in His Upper Room Discourse. No less than six times, He urged the disciples to ask in My name. We find these six statements in four separate passages. In each Johannine statement, the Lord gives this specific condition, upon which He bases a promise. In each case the promise includes one condition, ask in My name. [1] Certainly, the repetition of this condition indicates its importance.

Exegesis

The four passages wherein this prayer condition is explicitly stated we will consider chronologically as we discover them in the Upper Room Discourse.

John 14:13–14

The first reference to prayer by Jesus in His final discourse we find in this passage. In verses ten and eleven of the fourteenth chapter, Jesus emphasizes His relationship to the Father. He claims to be the Father’s perfect representative through whom the Father’s own work is accomplished. He then proceeds to insist that those who are true disciples will do the same Father’s work even in a greater measure (John 14:12). Then, as if coming to the heart of His message, the Lord indicates how these greater works should be accomplished. [2]

Most commentators take the “that” (ὅτι) of verse twelve as governing the next two clauses: I go to My Father (14:12) and whatever you ask in My name (14:13). [3] Lenski opposes such a construction, insisting that verse thirteen begins a new thought and is relatively independent of verse twelve grammatically. [4] Westcott acknowledges either possibility as grammatically sound. [5] In view of the overwhelming weight of scholarly opinion, this paper will take verse thirteen as a means by which the greater works spoken of in verse twelve will become a reality.

Hence prayer is directly associated with the accomplishment of activity. As in all of Christ’s prayer-promises a condition is given, and in this instance it is clearly and explicitly stated by the phrase whatever you ask in My name (ὅτι ἂν αἰτήσητε ἐν τῳ ὀνόματι μου). The “whatever” with the aorist subjunctive of “ask” constitutes a more probable future condition. However, the assurance for the one who prays in this manner is unquestionably guaranteed by the future indicate I will do (ἐγὼ ποιήσω).

The ultimate purpose in this entire transaction is clearly delineated: that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Thus, we see the glory of God to be the ultimate goal of prayer. Indeed, God’s glory is the goal of all creation (Psalm 19:1), of all the redeemed (1 Corinthians 10:31), and the Son Himself (John 17:4).

Verse fourteen restates the same condition in slightly different terminology; Jesus uses a third class condition indicating a high degree of probability: If you ask (ὅ τι ἂν with subjunctive, αἰτήσητε). The assurance of God’s response to such a prayer is just as definite. The emphasis now is upon the fact that Christ Himself (ἐγὼ ποιήσω) will answer the request.

Textual criticism is divided over the inclusion of “Me” (me) in verse fourteen. If it is part of the text, it means that this is the only authorization on the part of Christ to address prayer to anyone other than the Father. This writer concurs with R. V. G. Tasker and the translators of The New English Bible in omitting the “Me.” In the words of Tasker:

[“Me”], found after αἰτήσητε [“you ask”] in most MSS., was left out of the text on the evidence of A D, most late Greek MSS., and the old Latin. Its later insertion was thought to be an inference from ποιήσω [“I will do”], made on the assumption that the one who answers prayer must be the one to whom prayer is made. [6]

Coupled with Tasker’s reasoning, this writer feels that the uniform practice and teaching of Christ in the gospels argues strongly for the omission of “ask Me” in this instance.

By way of conclusion, this passages reveals that prayer conditions divine action. Moreover, for the first time a new “in My name” relationship is unveiled, from which the believer can petition effectively. In the words of Whiting:

Christ and the believer are seen together in a partnership of activity and achievement for the realization of the divine purpose. It is not just a Creator-creature, master-servant, or father-son relationship, but a co-partnership. [7]

John 15:16

Jesus emphatically announced to His disciples that He had chosen (ordained or appointed) them. Following this announcement two purpose clauses are given: that (ἵνα) you should go and bear fruit and that (ἵνα) whatever you ask. Most grammarians feel that the two purpose clauses (each introduced by that) are parallel, marking results of their “appointment” by Christ. Thus Christ appointed them that they should be productive (i.e., fruitful) and that they should obtain such answers to prayer as would make them fruitful. [8]

Of importance to this study is the fact that Christ clearly associates prayer with productivity (fruit bearing) even as He associated it with “doing” in John 14:13. It is increasingly evident that we must accomplish Christian ministry or service not merely by our asking, but by God’s performance. The language indicates to Lenski that “Jesus has appointed that the Father give them whatever they may ask him.” [9]

Jesus repeats the same conditions of prayer in John 15:16 as He stated in 14:13–14. He directs the promise universally to “whatever” and conditions it by “in My name.” The Lord instructs the disciples to direct their requests specifically to the Father and in this instance the Father will grant the request. This differs from John 14:13, where Christ expedites our prayer requests. Thus, we see both Christ and the Father granting the believers’ requests.

The prayer-condition Jesus states again with a third class, more probable future condition denoting a high degree of probability. The aorist subjunctives of ask and give indicate that in each individual case in which we ask, the Father will correspondingly give. [10] Thus, Jesus meant that His disciples are to have fruitful ministries and such fruitful ministries must be connected to and dependent upon prayer “in My name.”

John 16:23–24

In these verses, the Lord reveals explicitly what has been implicit thus far in His statements about praying in His name. Prayer in His name is a privilege specifically for the time after our Lord ascended and the Holy Spirit descended. Most critical commentaries recognize that in that day (ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ) refers to the new age that began at Pentecost. Westcott says “‘that day’ begins with Pentecost and is consummated at the Return.” [11]

The expression you shall ask Me nothing (ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε οὐδέν) can either mean “ask no questions,” or “make no petitions.” Most commentators agree with Swete who feels it indicates that in the new age (“that day”) “there would be no need to interrogate a visible Christ.” [12] It should be noted that the Me (ἐμὲ) is emphatic both as to form and position. Bernard sees this indicating a contrast with another personal term, which to him is “the Father.” Hence, we see a clear contrast between asking me and asking the Father. [13] Thus a new and, in some sense, drastic distinction is made between the days of Christ’s earthly sojourn and this present Age of Grace; and this distinction is involved to some degree with prayer.

This apostle makes more evident this distinction by the insertion of the words Most assuredly (ἀμὴν ἀμὴν), which usually emphasize the significance of what is to be said. Thus, asking the Father in My name seems to be a bold advance in Jesus’ teaching about prayer; a bold advance which will be realized “in that day” (i.e., this present Church Age). Following the formula Most assuredly, the Lord again repeats the new prayer formula introduced in this Upper Room discourse: Whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you (cf. John 14:12–16; 15:16).

Then to heighten the dramatic advance even further, Jesus adds: Until now you have asked nothing in My name (John 16:24). It is difficult to see this statement as anything less than “an advance on their former knowledge and experience.” [14] Here we reach a new prayer plateau. H. A. W. Meyer calls it “higher illumination” in the fine art of prayer. [15] There is an interesting relationship between in that day (16:23) and until now (16:24); for in that day they (the disciples) will ask in My name and until now they have not asked in My name.

Until now, Christ had certainly taught His disciples to address God as “Father.” He taught them to ask, or petition, the Father for things in prayer. Hence, the new and unique feature implied by the until now must be a reference to asking in My name. The Old Testament saints knew nothing of this high privilege. Perhaps the nearest approach was asking “for thy name’s sake” (Psalm 25:11; 31:3). This introduces prayer grounded in a life relationship, a union where Christ would be the sphere and atmosphere of their prayer life. [16]

Jesus follows the announcement of this new prayer-privilege with a command: ask (αἰτεῖτε), which denotes a continuous prayer practice. [17] The command (ask), Jesus then follows with a promise: you will receive (λήμψεσθε). The future indicative of “receive” speaks of a positive assurance that God will answer prayer offered in His name. Finally, a purpose clause designates one of the reasons for prayer fulfillment in the new age: that (ἵνα) your joy may be full. Westcott says that this phrase depicts not only a fact, but also an abiding state. [18] Whiting adds that “Joy is not only a concomitant but a consequence of prayer.” [19]

John 16:26

This passage amplifies the truth we learned in verses twenty-three and twenty-four. The Lord explains that hereafter there will be an increased clarity of revelation (16:25), and this fullness of knowledge will lead to a fuller prayer privilege. The time in which believers exercise this greater prayer privilege He designates as in that day (ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ), which, as seen previously, is a reference to the new era initiated at Pentecost. Thus, the Lord clearly designates prayer in My name as something characteristic of a new era about to dawn. In the words of Alford, “approaching the Father through Him shall be a characteristic of their higher state under the Dispensation of the Spirit.” [20] Prayer in Jesus’ name, then, is indicative of prayer based upon a new relationship that the Day of Pentecost will initiate.

The drastic nature of this new advance in prayer privilege is heightened by the Lord’s next words: I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you. Clearly, the reference is to the personal praying of Jesus as seen by the emphatic I (ἐγὼ). The nature of the praying is petitionary, I shall pray (ἐρωτήσω). This carries the idea of “a request made on the basis of fellowship and is used in the Gospel of St. John only of the petitions of the Lord.” [21] Further, the praying of Jesus herein mentioned must refer to intercession for He says, I shall pray for you (περὶ ὑμῶν). The preposition for (περι) carries the idea of “concerning,” or “about.” Christ thus states that in view of the new prayer privilege inaugurated by the new age (that day), His own personal prayer concerning the disciples will, in some sense, not be necessary. Certainly, to say the least, this infers a radical change in prayer relationships.

Scholars differ as to the precise sense in which Christ’s personal intercession becomes unnecessary by the new advance inaugurated by prayer in His name. Some see these words as indicating a total intercessory cessation by Christ. [22] However, certainly such passages as 1 John 2:1 and Hebrews 7:25 negate such a concept. The thought seems rather to be that “after Pentecost, the petitions directed to the Father by the disciples in Jesus’ name will not need the support … of Jesus in order to be granted by the Father.” [23] Christ will still intercede for His own, but it will not be in order to secure favor from the Father. Lange says, “It is no longer a mediation whereby immediateness must be effected, but one by which it is carried to perfection” (italics mine). [24] The implication seems to be that before the new age of the Spirit (that day), some sort of intercessory prayer was necessary on the part of Christ. However, the new privilege of prayer in His name would eliminate this need.

Doctrinal Implications of Praying in Christ’s Name

Certainly, the exegetical study of these four passages makes one fact evident: whatever it may involve, prayer in His name is of tremendous significance. In the words of Walvoord, it “is infinite in its possibilities, infinite in its privileges; it is at the center of God’s gracious provisions for our lives on earth.” [25] The chief problem is to comprehend what is involved in the concept of asking in My name. Perhaps no one can fully understand all that Jesus meant. Yet, it is interesting to note that Christ evidently did not feel it necessary to define elaborately the concept in My name, nor do His disciples display any indication of bewilderment over the expression. Certainly, then, it behooves the student of prayer in the twentieth century to seek insight into the concept in My name.

In view of the fact that our Lord bears well over a hundred titles, how is one to determine which is in view in the concept in My name. Some men go to considerable length to show that the name must refer to a specific title. Yet, it seems to this writer that such an approach largely misses the significance of the expression name as understood by the Jewish mind. A. B. Whiting concludes a survey of the word name as the New Testament uses it concerning Christ:

Generally speaking, where no title is mentioned there is no necessary implication of a specific title in the term. Thus, when our Lord instructed believers to ask in His “name,” and dissociated it from a title, it would seem to be beside the point to attempt to identify the “name” by title, since the meaning evidently lies in another direction (italics mine). [26]

The lack of a specific title strongly suggests that Christ did not intend this phrase, in My name, to be a fixed formula attached to a prayer. Had this been His purpose, then surely He would have so indicated and would have plainly identified the correct title to use. Furthermore, it is strikingly significant that of all the prayers recorded of Paul, not one of them closes with a fixed terminology incorporating the name. Thus, those who hold a talismanic conception of the phrase, in My name, seem to fail to realize its true intent. [27]

Essentially, it would appear that Jesus referred to something deeper than simply a convenient formula whereby believers conclude their prayers. What precisely did He mean? To the Westerner, a “name” is usually a convenient device for identifying one individual from another, but to the Easterner a “name” is far more. “Indeed, in the giving of the name, one of the aims was to express some outstanding and particularly marked individuality.” [28] Sometimes the name described the nature of the person, i.e., Emmanuel, which means God with us (Matthew 1:23). At times the name pointed to circumstances surrounding one’s birth, i.e., Samuel, which means “Asked of God” (1 Samuel 1:20). Other times it might refer to one’s appearance.

Among the Hebrews the naming of a person had great significance, for it was indicative of personality. C. Von Orelli states that, “Among the Hebrews then was especially true the maxim nomina sunt omina, since to the Israelite the name was the expression of personality.” [29] George Foucart contends that to the Hebrew mind, “the name of a person is his very soul—let us say his ‘name-soul,’ i.e., his reason for living, his life as far as it has any personality.” [30] G. H. Gray concurs with Von Orelli and Foucart when he says, the “Hebrews frequently use the name as almost the equivalent of the personality or character or nature of the person named.” [31] This seems doubly to apply with reference to the names of deity. Concerning this McLaughlin writes:

It represents the Hebrew conception of the divine nature or character and of the relation of God to His people. It represents the Deity as He is known to His worshippers, and stands for all those attributes which He bears in relation to them and which are revealed to them through His activity on their behalf. [32]

As noted earlier, is it not a significant thing that when Jesus made this prayer-announcement in the Upper Room Discourse to His disciples, He did not attempt to explain His language? Was this not because these Jews were already familiar with the basic connotation of the term “name”? Thus in using the term “name,” Christ undoubtedly signified the ideas of being, personality, and character. As A. J. Gordon states, “The name of Christ stands for Christ Himself.” [33] To pray in the name of Christ is to pray in the person of Christ. This is like how to believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18) means to believe in the person of Christ. The notion is to rest by faith in all that Christ is, has done, and will do.

With all this in mind, we should not forget that the preposition in carries the basal function of “sphere.” Hence, we may freely translate “in the sphere of His name.” [34] Thus, the concept in My name conveys the concept of praying in the sphere of His ownership, protection, presence, power, glory, etc. E. J. Hawkins has stated it as offering “petition that is consonant with the manifested nature of Jesus Christ.” [35]

Another thought most certainly prominent in the concept of praying in My name is to pray by His authority. Swete well states this aspect when he says: “To ask in Christ’s name is to ask as on behalf of Christ, as belonging to Him, as authorized by Him to approach the Father.” [36] Without doubt, this aspect is more widely acknowledged than any other. [37] Moreover, its biblical basis is obvious even to the casual reader of the New Testament.

We may bring all of the thoughts involved in the concept in My name under one heading, namely, identification with Christ. To pray in His name is tantamount to praying in union with Christ. Westcott sensed this important truth. In commenting on the words in My name, he says: “The meaning of the phrase is ‘as being one with me even as I am revealed to you.’ Its two correlatives are ἐν ἐμοιῶ [“in Me”] and the Pauline ἐν Χριστῷ [“in Christ.”] [38] Hence, to pray in My name is essentially to pray from the vantage point of a new and exalted position. The believer occupies this position because of Christ’s so great salvation. To pray in His name is to pray from the position we occupy in Him.

This certainly is in harmony with the context wherein we find the admonitions to ask in My name. As we observed in the exegesis, praying in My name was a new and startling concept reserved for that day (i.e., the Church Age). It was something that until now they had not done. Once the in My name praying began, Christ’s personal intercession would not be necessary to give validity to their prayers. This points to a new relationship established by Christ’s work on the Cross, which the Pauline Epistles refer to as being in Christ. This phrase describes a mystical union between Christ and the believer that is at once representative, organic, vital, supernatural, and indissoluble in nature.

In the words of A. H. Strong,

“Christ and the believer have the same life. They are not separate persons linked together by some temporary bond of friendship—they are united by a tie as close and indissoluble as if the same blood ran in their veins.” [39]

Because the believer is always positionally “in Christ,” the very fact that Christ six times conditioned prayers on asking in My name indicates that the condition is more than being positionally “in Christ.” Hence, it must mean that a believer is to pray consciously aware of his exalted position in Christ, even as he must be consciously aware of believing in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18). Indeed, the very fact that Jesus felt it necessary to state in My name as a condition, implies conscious awareness. I suppose there is nothing wrong with ending a prayer with the typical phrase, “This we ask in Jesus’ name, amen.” However, it makes more sense to repeat the phrase at the beginning of a prayer, thus reminding oneself at the outset that he is “in Christ.” The real issue, again, is to make sure that one prays consciously aware of being “in Christ.”

Notes

1. This is not to infer that other conditions were not involved, or that Christ’s hearers would not assume other conditions. In the immediate context, Jesus clearly teaches that “abiding” is another condition (John 15:7).
2. John F. Walvoord, “Prayer in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Bibliotheca Sacra, XCI (January, 1934), 464.
3. Frederick Louis Godet, Commentary on the Gospel of St. John with an Historical and Critical Introduction (New York: Funk and Wagnalle, 1886), 140; cf. also Henry Alford, The Greek New Testament (London: Deighton, Bell and Co., 1874), 1:852.
4. R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Columbus, Ohio: The Wartburg Press, 1946), 990.
5. Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel According to St. John, reprint ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1954), 204.
6. R. V. G. Tasker, The Greek New Testament: Being the Text Translated in the New English Bible (Oxford: University Press, 1964); 428. [Editor’s note: Actually, it is not “in most mss.” See the apparatus to the Majority Text, which indicates a division within the Majority text family here. The Majority Text does not include με.]
7. Arthur B. Whiting, “The Biblical Doctrine of Prayer,” doctoral dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas, 1940; 73.
8. Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s, 1965), 2:253; cf. also Alford, 1:861.
9. Lenski, John, 1053.
10. Ibid.
11. Westcott, 231; cf. also H. W. Watkins, New Testament Commentary for English Readers (London: John Murray Company, 1890), 519; Whitlaw, The Gospel of John in the Pulpit Commentary (Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1891); 340; et al. Govett’s attempt to understand “that day” as the Millennium has not gained great acceptance (R. Govett, Exposition of the Gospel of St. John [London: Bemrose and Sons], 2:264).
12. Swete, John, 141; cf. also Westcott, 233. Henry Barklay Swete, The Gospel According to St. John, Reprint (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s Pub. Co., 1951), 241; cf. also Westcott, 233.
13. J. H. Bernard, “A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John,” The International Critical Commentary, ed. S. R. Driver, Alfred Plummer, and C. A. Briggs (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1928), 2:517.
14. W. H. Griffith Thomas, Life Abiding and Abounding (Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, n.d.), 65; cf. also J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of St. John (London: William Hunt and Company, 1883), 3:170
15. H. A. W. Meyer, “The Gospel of Matthew,” The Critical and Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark), 2:273.
16. Whiting, 93.
17. Everett F. Harrison, “The Gospel According to John,” in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, edited by E. F. Harrison and C. F. Pfeiffer (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), 1111. See also Westcott, 234.
18. Westcott, 234.
19. Whiting, 119.
20. Alford, 1:872.
21. Westcott, 234.
22. Alford seems almost to approach this position, but his thesis is not completely clear (cf. Alford, 1:872).
23. Lenski, John, 1103.
24. John Peter Lange, “John,” A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical, with Special Reference to Ministers and Students. Translated and edited by Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d.), 499
25. Walvoord, 472.
26. Whiting, 85.
27. Henry Frost, Effective Prayer (Philadelphia: The Sunday School Times Company, 1926), 51.
28. C. Von Orelli, “Names,” The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Samuel Macauley Jackson (ed.) (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1920), 8:77.
29. Ibid.
30. George Foucart, “Names,” Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, n.d.), 9:135.
31. G. H. Gray, “Name,” A Dictionary of the Bible (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1902), 3:480.
32. J. F. McLaughlin, “Names of God,” The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1905), 9:160.
33. A. J. Gordon, In Christ: or The Believer’s Union with His Lord (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1872), 136.
34. Walvoord, 467; cf. also Lenski, John, 991.
35. Edward J. Hawkins, “The Scope and the Limitations of Prayer,” The Power of Prayer: Being a Selection of Walker Trust Essays with a Study of the Essays as a Religious and Theological Document, W. P. Paterson and David Russell, eds. (London: Macmillan and Company, Limited, 1920), 145.
36. Henry Barclay Swete, The Last Discourse and Prayer of Our Lord (London: MacMillan and Co., 1914), 34.
37. Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (New York: Charles Scribner and Co., 1880), 3:705; cf. also A. C. A. Hall, The Christian Doctrine of Prayer (New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1904), 165; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1848), 2:340; H. A. Ironside, Praying in the Holy Spirit (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, n. d.), 40.
38. Westcott, John, 2:175.
39. A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology (Philadelphia: The Judson Press, 1907), 3:802.