Jesus says, “So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.  On that day you will ask nothing of Me.  Very truly, I tell you, ask anything of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in My Name.  Ask and you will receive that your joy may be complete.”  John 16:22-24

The disciples pain was to watch their loving Savior Jesus suffer and die on the Cross; then three days later showers of joy are given to them with His Resurrection and gift of salvation!  This is the third time that Jesus mentions praying in His name.  To obey Jesus Christ and to love other people as He loves you places you within His Holy Joyful Presence that gives you not only His Peace, but also allows you to seek His will as you lean into the day with anticipation, expectation of His best, and quiet joy that the abundance of His love is here with you.

Yet, you cannot simply add, “In Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior’s Name,” to the end of your prayers as an arbitrary ending and expect to get what you wish.  Remember that the disciples had never asked anything in His Name before.  So in using this ‘new’ way to pray Jesus is teaching believers that by using Jesus Christ’s Name we prompt the Holy Spirit to intercede for us to the Heavenly Father God’s heart with a reinterpretation of what we are asking for, in order that our asks align with God’s will.

God’s glorious will is the best, right, good, most loving way to go– whether we are asking in prayer for others or asking in prayer for ourselves.  With the abundance of the heavenly Father’s love all things work together, in tandem, and with an outcome that you may not understand at first and yet through time you will see the benefits of this blessed Christian life which you have committed yourself to– obedience to Christ with all you have, with all that you are, and with Jesus’ Name foremost in all that you do.