What Makes Our Prayers Different?

We often hear about doing things in the Name of Jesus. In fact, Jesus is pretty specific about this. Here are three instances from the Gospel of John.

"Whatever you ask in My Name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it" (John 14:13-14).

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He may give it to you" (John 15:16).

"In that day you will ask nothing of Me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you" (John 16:23).

So, Jesus encourages us to ask for what we need in His Name. What does that mean? If you go to a Bible internet site like Biblegateway.com and you search for all the times the Bible uses "in my name," you quickly begin to see that "in my name" means "under my authority" or "with my signature added" or "with me co-signing for you." When we pray in Jesus' Name, we are praying with Jesus' full support behind us. We are like people who come to ask a favor from a king, and we have a letter from the king's son with us, which reads, "Father, please take this concern seriously and give a good answer, for I myself am giving them the authority to ask you just as if I were asking you myself."

That is what makes a Christian prayer different from any other prayer from any non-Christian around the world. Everybody prays, but Christians alone pray with Jesus' signature added to the bottom of our prayer. And that signature is there regardless of whether we actually say the words "In Jesus' Name we pray," because our whole Christian lives are lived "in Jesus' Name" -- not just our prayers, but also our service, our teaching and preaching, our acts of charity, and basically everything we do because we belong to Christ. We are His ambassadors; what we do is done in His Name (which can be a huge and frightening responsibility sometimes!). And so, we are responsible for making sure that what we do in His Name is something that should be done in His Name: something that is good, loving, and honors God the Father.

So, you can see why so many people routinely add the words "In Jesus' Name" to the end of all their prayers. They are reminding themselves of this privilege Jesus has given us, to come to God the Father in His Name. But as you noticed about the Lord's Prayer, not every Christian prayer ends with those exact words spoken. If you look in the book of Acts, you will find many Christian prayers from the early church, and I don't recall even one of them ending with the exact words "In Jesus' Name" though the meaning was there.

So, when you pray, you can use the form "In Jesus' Name" if you wish to, or you are free to leave it out. The meaning will still be there in everything you pray, because you belong to Jesus. Sometimes I use the formula "in Jesus' Name" because I want to remind myself exactly what's going on when I pray; sometimes I use it because I am praying out loud among fellow Christians who have grown up thinking they must always say those words, and they get afraid and disturbed if someone prays without using those exact words. So, for their sake I add them in.

That's a good principle for however we pray when we are with fellow Christians; if they can't stop worrying about this issue, we can just go ahead and say it to put their minds at rest. But it's clear from the Bible that God has given us all the Christian freedom either to use those exact words, to paraphrase them, or to leave them out entirely when we pray. Jesus' Name will still be on what we pray, whether we say those specific words out loud or not.

Have you thought much before about the phrase "in Jesus' Name"? Is it something you add to your prayers?

What kinds of words do you think about when you pray, as in what favorite phrases or repetitions do you use? Any come to mind?

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Fending off Demons

This Friday a couple friends and I will be watching the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. It's one of golf's four major championships and the season's final major. We'll be there for round two cuts, which means the entire field will be in full swing. At the end of the day, the top 70 players, including ties, make the cut and finish out the tourney on Saturday and Sunday.

As this particular PGA Championship is a milestone, the Gateway City was lucky to land it. On hand will be those upper-echelon players who consistently breathe the rarified ether found at the game's top tiers. Guys like Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, and Ricky Fowler will be there. Also playing in St. Louis are household names like Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and that other guy we may have all but forgotten: John Daly.

Remember him? He's the dude with a penchant for cocktails, a flair for drama, and twitchy fingers at the slot machines. Though his lifestyle seems to have mellowed in the last few years, he's still a colorful character. Thing is, we're gonna to have to get there early to see him at the opening tee. He begins at 7:34 a.m. Nevertheless, I hope to seem him launch one of those trademark boomers that propelled him to 18 pro tour wins.

Daly brings to mind one of the things I really like about golf, and that's the commitment you must have to get good and stay good. The game demands constant attention. Like a virtuoso instrumentalist, top-notch players have devoted the lion's share of their lives to their craft: scrutinizing tee-offs, analyzing bunker play, honing fairway shots, laboring over every nuance of their putting game and, perhaps, most importantly -- like Daly -- fending off their demons.

We all have things that trip us up.

What do you do to steer clear of those landmines that would derail you or run your ship aground? How do you handle the unexpected occurrence/appearance of some pet sin that always seems to satisfy -- and then leave you ... empty?

You can pass along your tips of wisdom by clicking here and telling us about it.

P.S. And if you've got a way to cure a slice, we'd like to hear that, too.