In Jesus' Name?

Growing up in church I was always kind of legalistic about ending my prayers to God with "in Jesus' name". Sometimes I even acted under the assumption that the more "Jesus names" I put to the end of my prayers, the more likely God was to hear them and answer me. I even felt as though I was disobeying God by not having the very last words of my prayers be "in Jesus' name".

"God please give me a good night's sleep tonight that I will feel rested for my Chemistry test tomorrow. In Jesus' name, Amen. Oh, and please give my Dad safe travel coming home tomorrow. In Jesus' name...and please bless my sister and the difficulties she's going through and my mom at work, that she would be able to be productive [insert dramatic pause as to ensure that the last 'Jesus name' was set apart from the first two] In JESUS' name, Amen."

"Mmm (I thought)...God's definitely gonna hear that one."

I'm sure I'm the only one who's ever done this though.

But the other day, I came across a passage in 1 Kings that made me rethink what all is truly being declared by the words "in Jesus' name"...

"Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah...And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." (1Ki. 15:1, 3-5)

For the sake of context, when the kingdom was divided following the reign of Solomon, two separate kingdoms were born: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. For the next 300+ years a grand total of 40 kings took the throne between the two kingdoms, only 8 of which walked in the way of the LORD and none of these were in the north. I say all of this simply to make the point that idolatry and wickedness over the course of those 340 years were not exceptional. They were the norm; and Abijam was no outlier to this pattern.

When we come across 1 Ki. 15 though, we see something interesting. God declares that, in spite of Abijam's sin, He will ensure that his son will sit on the throne of Judah, thus ensuring the continuation of the Davidic dynasty. And why does God extend His grace to Abijam like this?...Certainly not because of what Abijam's done, but "for David's sake".

No king throughout Isarel's history ever surpassed that of David, yet God's purpose for him was not intended to cease following his death. He was meant to be a model...a shadow of what was to come...an image of Israel's coming Messiah (Isa. 11:1, 10; Matt. 1:1; 9:27).

When we declare that it is in Jesus' name that we pray to God the Father, we are making the statement that it is not on account of our own actions that God would incline Himself to us, but on account of another's...on account of His Son, who, coming to earth, took the divine wrath and punishment that we rightfully deserve for all of our wickedness and idolatry (1 Cor. 5:21). Jesus took God's wrath and died because of it; but then He didn't stay dead. Three days later He rose from the grave for our justification (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Rom. 4:25). So that now, anyone who puts their faith in the atoning blood of Jesus will be saved (Acts 4:11-12; Rom. 8:1). It's for the sake of Jesus that we can have a relationship with God (Gal. 4:4-5).

If you've put your faith in Jesus, I pray that this would stir your affections for Him and fuel the joy His Spirit has placed in you for Him (2 Cor. 1:24; Php 1:25; Heb. 10:24).

If you haven't made this decision, I pray that you would take a serious look at this man Jesus. No one changed history like He did. His followers have grown from 12 to the #1 largest religion in the world over the past 2,000 years; and He claimed to be God (Matt. 16:15-17; Mk 16:61-62; Jn 8:58-59 w/ Ex. 3:14). Regardless of what you believe, you have to deal with this man.