Do We Have To Say "in Jesus' name" to Pray Right?

In a recent sermon I mentioned that repeating words as if they make our prayers effective is a practice similar to the Ephesians' attempts to use words of power as charms or curses.  Some dear friends pointed me to John 14:14 where Jesus encourages us to pray "in my name" as warrant for saying this is necessary.  I spent some time composing an answer, and here is what I shared with them.

Thank you for your comment and response last Sunday.  I hope that you will believe me when I say that I appreciate your concern for honoring the name of Jesus in prayer, which I referenced a few weeks ago in the sermon.  I’d like to try to explain what I was referring to, and hope it will help you to understand my thinking on this matter.  I know that it may seem that I am moving outside of what Scripture directs, such as John 14:13-14, 15:16, or 16:23-26.  As you say, the Savior clearly teaches us to ask the Father “in my name.”  I believe that is what we are to do.  But I do not believe that what this means is simply to say the phrase at the end of, or sometime in the middle of, any given prayer.  The point I was trying to make is that simply saying, “…in Jesus’ name” is not what praying in Jesus’ name means, and can become similar to what the Ephesians thought of as using words of power to get what they wanted if we reduce it to saying the right phrase at the end of a prayer.

As I examine the prayers prayed from the time of Jesus onward in the New Testament, I do not find any particular formula at the end of a prayer.  If you look through the New Testament, you do have prayers that have “Amen” at the end by various apostles and writers.  You have prayers that simply end with the final petition or praise to God. But you never find an example of a prayer that ends with the phrase, “in Jesus’ name.”

In Matthew 18:20, Jesus speaks of gathering “in my name” which means he is the focus or reason for the gathering.  Matthew 24:5 tells of false prophets coming “in my name”—claiming the authority and commission of Jesus.  In Mark 9:37 it speaks of receiving a child in Jesus’ name and receiving Jesus himself by doing so.  In Mark 9:39 it speaks of doing a mighty work in his name.  This means claiming to act in the authority and power of Jesus or on behalf of Jesus. In John 5:43, Jesus speaks of coming in “his Father’s name”—which means on behalf of or in the authority of the Father.  He says that people didn’t receive him this way, but that if someone comes in his own name, the listeners would receive such a witness.  Then there are the passages in John about prayer that I mentioned above.  In each case, it does not mean to say the words, “in Jesus’ name.”  I don’t, for example, say “I receive this child in Jesus’ name,” or “I do this good work in Jesus’ name,” and so on.  I do these things in the attitude of doing what Jesus would do or have me do in the given situation.

Based on all these usages of the phrase, and the absence of the words themselves in actual New Testament prayers, it seems that asking or praying “in Jesus’ name” cannot mean I am to say those words, any more than receiving a child in Jesus’ name means I have to say those words then.  I pray in Jesus’ name whenever I pray in under his authority, or pray what he would have me to pray.  When he teaches us to pray in the Lord’s prayer, he does not tell us to say “in Jesus’ name” at the end, but he teaches to pray exactly what he prayed for in other prayers and would have us pray for—the glory of God, the will of God to be done, the provision of God for our needs, the protection of God from evil.  Such prayers carry his authority because they are what he wants us to pray—so that when I pray such things I pray in his name.  This would hold true for all the prayers I find written in the New Testament.  I believe that Paul’s prayers in his epistles were certainly prayed in the power and authority of Jesus, but he didn’t say or write, “in Jesus’ name” at the end.  He didn’t need to because the whole of the prayer was what Jesus wanted him to pray.

Now, it is certainly not wrong to say “in Jesus’ name,” and if it is a meaningful reminder of the authority in which we pray, it is a very good thing.  I often speak of Jesus’ name and authority as I pray to the Father, during the course of different prayers.  However, it seems to me that many times the use of “in Jesus’ name” has become an empty form to us, much like the word “Amen.”  We treat these phrases as our way to say either “goodbye” or “I’m finished now,” in a prayer.  But Jesus’ name is his authority and his reputation, and “Amen” is the word for “true,” as in “truly, truly I say to you.”  It means you can believe what is said.

Worse, there are some who actually believe and teach that unless we say these words, our prayers are substandard and not likely to be heard.  I have had people here tell me that this is what they had been taught.  That is not only wrong, but dangerous, because it makes a particular word or phrase the key to powerful praying.  And of course we all know that there are prayers for things offered with the “in Jesus’ name, Amen” ending that are not according to the will of God—sometimes out of ignorance, but sometimes out of wrong motives.

I grieve over the lack of powerful, consistent prayer that marks so many Christians and churches.  I long to see prayer revitalized in a way not seen in decades among American Christians, and we will be talking about prayer in a few weeks for a number of Sundays.  One of the problems I encounter is believers who have lost faith in the power of prayer, and one of the main reasons I hear from them is “well, I prayed with all my heart, and prayed in Jesus’ name, but it didn’t happen.  Jesus said if I ask for anything in his name that it would happen.  So he is either not really able to do it, or praying in his name doesn’t work.”  I think a wrong understanding of what praying in Jesus’ name means needs to be corrected for many.  It isn’t saying the words, it is praying as Jesus wants us to pray—for the right things, with the right motivation, for the appropriate length of time.  It is not to inform him of what we need—for he knows, but to demonstrate faith and dependence on him alone.

I'd be glad to hear your thoughts on this, and if you can offer any help to my understanding, I would gladly receive it.  I love you and appreciate your fellowship in the gospel here.  You have been a great encouragement to me as your pastor.  Keep praying for me.

So do you have any thoughts to share on this?