In the book of John, Jesus states whenever you ask for something in His name that you will receive it. But if you were to ask any believer if they’ve ever had a prayer go unanswered, their response would be yes. Tony Evans says this is because we often use His name in our prayers illegitimately. In this message, learn how to properly utilize the phrase “in Jesus’ name” as you begin to see prayers answered like never before.
faith must always precede sight
once you put sight in front of faith
you’ve negated faith
faith is based on what you do not see
if you’ve got to see it first you won’t
see it
the euphemism of walking in the bible
means to live according to because
you’re moving with the mind of christ
you’re not just doing that on sunday
morning when it’s church time because he
wants to know that you want him so if
you’re in distress don’t let that drive
you away draw you near
closer
so that you like jacob and say i’m not
gonna let you go
until you answer me so welcome to the
file
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when you get close and want to live for
him want to please him want to honor him
want to exalt him want to draw near to
him then heaven opens up and he lets you
find him
he lets you find him
welcome to the fire
it is normal for us to conclude our
prayers with in
jesus’s name
and yet for many of us when we conclude
our prayers that way
we just canceled out our request
because it was forgery
it was an illegitimate use of his name
yet it is the most important
phrase
in a prayer
when you conclude your prayer in jesus
name it determines
whether you get what you ask for or
whether you don’t
jesus makes an astounding statement
he says when you ask for anything in my
name
you will receive it
yet we all can testify
that we’ve used the name and not got
what we asked for
well what i want us to look at today is
whether we’ve been using it legally or
illegally
because the use of the name
and its
legitimacy or lack thereof
will determine whether we get what we
pray for
if we pray at all
so i want to look at three things
because if you grab what i share with
you today
you will see prayers answered like
you’ve never seen them before
you’ll see kingdom authority
leave eternity and come in the time
leave heaven and come down the earth
leave the infinite and join the finite
because we will have made contact
with eternity
now the first thing we’ve got to answer
is
what is this concept what is this
principle of in my name what does that
even me
to understand that we have to understand
a little bit of theology here
god has already determined
that what he does in history on earth
where you and i live
he will do
by means of jesus christ
god is in the words of theologians holy
other
another word for that is transcendent
uh another homegrown word for that is he
way out there
god is way out there he he exists in a
whole nother realm
but we live here in the realm of the
five senses
how can i get that realm way out there
to join me in this realm way down here
in a way that’s vibrant and meaningful
god has established a mechanism
a means
through a person
to connect the two realms
that’s why first timothy 2 5 says
there is one mediator one in between
person
between god and man
and that is the man christ jesus
hebrews chapter 7
verses 24 and 25
says that jesus ever lives
to be the intercession
interconnection point
between us and god
the bible says he mediates
or brings to bear the promises of god
hebrews chapter 8 verse 6.
so the word of god the ways of god are
mediated or transferred
by and through
the person of jesus christ
when we talk about his name
we’re not talking about his nomenclature
alone
we’re talking about the person who
stands behind
the name
so when you talk about
in the name of jesus
you need to know the jesus whose name
you just used
it can’t just be the word
it has to be the authorized use of the
person whose name you just called
in other words
just because you authorized don’t mean
you can do your thing
i have authorized you to do my thing
for my good on my behalf so you best get
my okay
if you go out there on your own
i’ll find another power of attorney
what he was saying is i will give you
authority as long as i’m authorizing how
you’re using it
because the moment you use it in an
unauthorized way you lose my backing of
the authorization i put on loan to you
when you pray to the father without the
backing of the son
you don’t get the support of the son in
the request you made to the father
but now let me give you the good news
the good news is that
god the father
never turns down god the son
there’s only one time
when god the father turned down god the
son and that’s when he bore our sins on
the cross my god my god why hast thou
forsaken me if it’s possible let this
cup pass from me
god turned down the sun because he was
bearing our sin that’s the only time
that has happened it can never happen
again
god never turns down jesus so here’s the
deal
you want to make sure what you’re
praying for
jesus is praying for because of what
you’re praying for is what jesus is
praying for since the father never turns
down the son then what you’re praying
for that jesus is praying for that the
father always accepts becomes an answer
prayer for you
so you’ve got to have a link between
your prayer his name and the request you
make to the father
the question on the floor is not whether
you’re using the nomenclature
but whether you’re using it in an
authorized way
because an unauthorized use of his name
means a meaningless prayer request
because the father loves the son and
responds to the son
then he responds to us who’ve responded
to the son who the father responds to so
he makes the statement that to use the
name
you must use it in
an authorized way
number two
what are the prerequisites for me being
able to use the name
legitimately and with kingdom authority
so that i can get heaven to come down
into my history and to blow my mind
to answer my prayers
god demands total surrender
it is submission to his lordship or as
luke 6 46 says
why do you call me lord lord and don’t
do what i say
it is the absence of lordship that keeps
prayers unanswered
when you look at colossians chapter 3
you find something very interesting
beginning in verse 17 listen to these
words whatever you do in word or deed
do all in the name
of the lord jesus giving thanks
through him to god the father let me
read that again whatever you do in word
what you say or deed what you do because
we’re always saying on doing something
do all not some in the name
of the lord jesus
when you decide my whole life is owned
by him
let me quote another verse you won’t
like it but i need to quote it it’s
found in 1st corinthians chapter 6
verses 19 and 20. hold on to your
seatbelt because this will rock your
world he says in first corinthians 6 19
and 20 you are not your own you’ve been
bought with a price
you don’t get to own you once you become
a christian
you don’t get to own you he says you are
not your own
i bought and paid for you with my blood
on the cross
so don’t say what you gonna do when i
say something different you don’t own
you if you are willing to give up
ownership
of your life now you can have access and
kingdom authority in prayer you can see
god move but he goes on and then he
breaks it down
just so you’re not thinking about church
he says wise i want you to be the kind
of wife i want you to be because i’m
your lord verse 18. husbands be the kind
of husband i want you to be because i’m
your lord children be the kind of child
i want you to be because verse 20 says
cause i’m your lord he goes to 21
fathers be the kind of father i want you
to be cause i’m your lord then he goes
to the workplace he says servants when
you go to work tomorrow be the kind of
worker i want you to be because i’m your
lord whatever you do he says verse 23 do
your work hardly as for the lord rather
than from men knowing from the lord you
will receive the reward of inheritance
it is jesus christ the lord whom you
serve he wants total ownership
if you want answered prayer
listen the more you surrender the more
of heaven you’ll see you want to draw
near to him you want to get close to him
that’s why the scripture talks about how
much the father loves the son they are
so into each other that they never turn
each other down
because they so into each other
he wants us to be into him like that
that’s why first corinthians 15 chapter
verse 7 says you abide in me and my word
abide in you
ask me whatever you want to and i will
do it for you because we hang out
together
how does this work it works like this
whatever the father thinks
the son thinks
exactly the same thing because they
always on the same page
whatever the father thinks that the son
thinks the holy spirit thinks because
he’s part of the triune god so they’re
always on the same page the closer you
get to the lord whatever the father
thinks son thinks that the spirit thinks
because he renews our mind we think
so we begin to think what the spirit
thinks that’s exactly what the son
thinks that’s exactly what the father
thinks matthew 6 24
no man can serve two masters
you can’t have the lord and anything
as a final decision maker
no everybody has ideas only the lord
gets the final decision maker to rule
and overrule
if you want intervention in history then
jesus christ you must be willing to be
identified with him
to call on his name in the day of
trouble means you have publicly
confessed him before men romans chapter
10 verses 9 and 10.
he says if you
if you confess with your mouth
that is open declaration that i am i’m a
committed christian i belong to jesus
christ
open declaration
not hidden
he says
those who call on me who have confessed
he says will be delivered if you ask
anything in my name
i will do it
in other words anything that’s gonna
make me and my daddy look good
i’ma do
glorified if you’re gonna make me look
good by your prayer request that’s why i
want to give you a secret to give you a
secret this is a secret when you go to
god and you’ve been fully you’re fully
surrendered and you go to him in the
name of jesus here’s his don’t tell
nobody i told you this but here’s what i
want you to do
i want you to tell god if he answers
your request what he’ll get out of it
because god loves to hear his glory on
display
he loves to know he’ll be glorified in
the process his name will be great
first john says this in chapter 5 john
says
in verse 13
these things i’ve written to you
who believe in the name of the son of
god
so that you might know keep the word
know in mind that you have eternal life
so when you place faith alone in christ
alone he gives you an inner confidence
of your salvation
a conviction that you’re his child
but now notice what he says right after
that
verse 14
this is the confidence
which we
have
before him so the word confidence the
word no
if we ask anything according to his will
he hears us
and if we know that he hears us
in whatever we ask
we know
that we have the request that we have
asked from him
ooh
you see how many times i’ve said the
word no
that is inner persuasion or confidence
anybody been waiting for something for a
while
okay well the first question is are you
praying in his name okay
are you surrendered okay
but given that
when there is a gap of time
between a legitimate prayer in jesus
name
the knowing that he’s going to answer
but the lapse in time between the answer
it is for one reason and one reason
alone preparation
either god is preparing it
for you
or he’s preparing you for it
or he’s preparing the two for each other
it is for preparation
god will use whatever time is needed
for the preparation to occur
for the request to be answered and you
to be qualified to receive the request
when it comes now that’s the good news
the bad news is you can delay the time
because you can delay the preparation
you can decide i’m not going to be
surrendered you can decide i’m not going
to obey you can decide and you can just
spend that time on so god may have
decided i’m going to it’s going to take
one year and you may be at 25 years
because he never got the surrender so
you never got the preparation so he
could never answer he says there is a
knowing that occurs
when we are in framework with god
it’s powerful for watch this
physical and spiritual healing
james chapter 5 verses 13 to 15.
he says if you pray in the name of the
lord
the prayer will heal the sick
okay
address the sin
the prayer will heal the sick
and address the sin
now all sickness is not due to sin
but a lot of sickness is
he says the prayer of faith
he says in the name of the lord
so he brings the name in
will heal the sick and it will
deal with the sin
what god is saying is if i could ever
get to the spiritual we could do a lot
better with the physical
but we often want him to do stuff in the
physical without touching the spiritual
don’t touch my sin but give me my
blessing
don’t touch my rebellion but give me my
blessing
no
he doesn’t mind changing the physical
but he wants to address the spiritual
the name of jesus gives you power over
the devil
because much of what we deal with has
come from him or through him or by him
in luke chapter 10 verses 17 and 19
he told his disciples
he’s having a conversation with his
disciples and he says
you have authority over the devil in my
name
you tread among the demons you tread on
top of the demons
instead of the devil and the demons
walking on you you walking on them tread
means to walk on
when’s the last time you walked on the
devil just just walked on oh devil let
me walk on you
rather than walking over you
he says i give you authority he used the
word authority to tread on the devil and
his demonic scorpions why
because
many of the issues we have
are
demonically exacerbated
in chapter 19 of acts
verse 13 and 17. okay
paul is casting out demons
in jesus name
he just get rid of demons in jesus name
this just the sick of being healed the
supernatural is occurring regularly in
jesus name
well some dudes see this
and they say wait a minute wait a minute
wait a minute paul using this name jesus
and stuff happening
why don’t we do that
because they concluded there’s magic in
his name
it’s a magical name here paul doing all
this stuff in jesus name
so they came to this demon-possessed
person
the sons of skeva
they came as jesus the person and they
use the name of jesus
they do like christians through jesus
jesus jesus christ
in the name of jesus jesus they they
went they went they went jesus on them
just just jesus all over the place just
jesus come out demon
then acts 19 says the demons spoke up
demons spoke up and the demon says
jesus we know
paul
we know
we’ll know who you folks are
it says the demon jumped out of the man
and jumped on to the folk who was used
in the name of
jesus stripped them of their clothes and
it says and they ran out naked
why
because when you don’t know how to use
the name
and you still use the name you just
invite the devil to jump all over you
and make things worse on you while you
call in jesus name
so jesus’s name is not a name to be
played with
nor is it is it dice is it magic you
just throw out there ah
this is a person behind the name and if
you don’t know the person submitted to
the person intimate with the person
following the person yielding to the
person submitted to the person don’t
expect the power
the power comes from a person
when you get on your knees to pray
and you go to your heavenly father and
say father i want this i need this help
me over here deliver me over there god
has a question show me your id
upon what right and authority do you
have right now to come to my throne and
to make this request and to expect me to
let you in to my holy throne where is
your id
and oh if you understand the name of
jesus
you got an id
just like when it comes time to go to
heaven
and if the peter would say on what
ground should i let you in the glory
i hope you don’t say my good works
because that’ll get you booted out of
heaven there’s only one thing that’s
going to get you in the glory and that
is i have somebody who died on the cross
for my sins who was my personal
substitute who i placed my eternal
destiny in the hands of for the gift of
eternal life that’s your idea for glory
but while you’re on your way there and
you go to god for answered prayer and
the father says what’s your id all you
got to do is tell him i come in the name
of the lord jesus who i’ve submitted my
life to who rules over my life who
controls my life who i’m not ashamed to
be identified with or as the words of
the apostle paul says i’m not ashamed of
a gospel for it is the power of god unto
salvation to everyone who believes
anybody wants a power
anybody wants some victory anybody wants
some deliverance anybody want to see
some heaven
well then give god the glory
by giving jesus the
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honor for many people prayer is
words that just come out of their mouths
and
doesn’t seem to go anywhere
it doesn’t seem to arrive at the
intended destination
in fact you may be one of those who are
thinking
does god really here is he really
listening
to what i’m dealing with what i’m going
through
the burdens of my life the pain of my
circumstance
how do i get to him
well
i’ve got some good news
god has a specific point of entrance
a specific point of access
to make sure that what
he needs to hear from you
gets to him
and that is the name of jesus
jesus christ is the point of access
that guarantees that our communication
on earth
reaches his throne room
now i know for many people saying in the
name of jesus at the end of the prayer
has devolved into a tagline of sorts
something that you’re supposed to say
but it’s a little deeper than that
it has to do with the principle of
authorization
i’m sure you’ve been in the buildings or
been in the theaters
or been into events where it says only
authorized personnel allowed
in other words just anybody can’t come
in there you have to you have to be you
have to have the badge or whatever the
authorization is that allows you
to get back into this private area
well the general public does a lot of
praying to god we do it around our food
saying grace
maybe bedtime prayers maybe before
events
but it’s a little bit deeper than that
the point of access that authorizes you
to get into god’s presence is the name
of jesus but by name
we don’t just mean nomenclature just
saying the word jesus or jesus christ
what we mean by name
is
his person
his character
recognizing his identity
so it’s not just using a phrase it’s
recognizing the identity of the phrase
you’re using
you see jesus christ is the eternal son
of god
and god has dispensed everything to the
authority of jesus christ
so when it comes to having prayers being
answered
for his father to grant the answer to
your request jesus has to say okay dad
this one is okay to respond to
so therefore your point of access is
your relationship to jesus not merely
your belief in god
to believe in god is good it’s
foundational but it’s not enough for
access
access comes through the person and work
of jesus christ who has granted us the
opportunity to enter into the presence
of god the closer you are to jesus
the greater the access to the father
the further you are from jesus
the less and more limited the access to
the father
are you pursuing your intimacy with
jesus christ
that is the quickest way
to get your prayers answered
because now you pray
in jesus name
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when you’re in the spirit
but the bible calls the spirit a wind
a wind it blows
my opinion nobody’s opinion when it
conflicts with god
is to be considered as truth the bible
says let god be true and every man a
liar
mother nature doesn’t work without daddy
god
that’s because truth
they’re the just
because if it comes from god it’s truth
because god has absolute standard by
which reality is measured
you