PRAYER,
JESUS’ NAME
A YOUNG man sat on a park bench, bawling. A little boy saw him and said, “Sir, what’s wrong? Sir, what’s wrong?”
The man told him the story about his brother who was in prison. His brother was on death row and would be executed in the next few days. The man desperately wanted to see Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States, and ask for a pardon, but of course regular people can’t just walk into the president’s office. The man was hopeless.
After hearing the man’s story, the little boy said, “Sir, would you come with me?” He took the man by the hand, walked him into the presidential office through the guards, past the secretary, and nobody mumbled a word. The man couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t have gotten in to see the president if he had tried and this little boy was walking him straight past everyone into the president’s office.
President Lincoln stood up as the young man entered with the boy. He looked at the boy and said, “How can I help you, son?” You see, the reason the man could get into Abraham Lincoln’s office is because he had run into the son of Abraham Lincoln, and the son could walk past all the opposition.
You can’t walk into the presence of a holy God unless you are escorted by the Son. That’s why we pray in Jesus’ name.722
[Jesus, Authority of; Prayer, Access in]
John 16:24; Heb. 4:16
THE QUESTION is, “What’s in a name?” If I say Bill Gates, what are you going to think of? Computers. If I say Serena Williams, what are you going to think of? Tennis. If I say Tiger Woods, what are you going to think of? Golf. These names are tied to something. When I say Tiger Woods, it’s not just any name. It a NAME! Because he represents a whole industry. He represents a hundred million dollars.
Tiger Woods’s name is substantive. Now, let’s say you like the name Tiger and you like the name Woods, so you name your kid Tiger Woods. Or let’s say your name is Williams and you like the name Serena, so you name your kid Serena Williams. Better yet, let’s say you like Bill and you like Gates, so you name your kid Bill Gates. Well, your kid may have the nomenclature and they may have the words, but they don’t have what it represents.
The problem for many Christians is that we use Jesus’ name powerlessly. We tag on His name without accessing the power that comes with it.723
[God’s Name; Jesus, Authority of]
John 16:24; Heb. 4:16
ONE Friday, I was speaking in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the host pastor asked if he could introduce me to someone. I said, “Absolutely!” He said he wanted to introduce me to a young man who loved me. I said okay because I’m always interested in meeting someone who loves me. The pastor brought a young guy over to me and said, “Tony Evans, I want to introduce you to Tony Evans!”
Now this Tony Evans, whom I did not know, loved listening to my tapes. Tony Evans listened to Tony Evans’s tapes! This young guy said that two or three times a week, he listened to my tapes. Tony Evans said that he not only listened, but he memorized my tapes. Tony Evans said he not only listened to my tapes, he not only memorized my tapes, but he preached my tapes when he’s called upon to preach.
This guy had my name, and my messages, but he still wasn’t me! You can have a name without the correlating essence and use the name, but then that use is illegitimate. The reason why more of us are not experiencing answered prayer is because of the misuse of God’s name.724
[God’s Name]
John 16:24; Acts 4:12
WHEN you go before God, you need to show an ID. When you go to the airport, and they say, “Show me your ID,” it’s because they want you to verify that you are who you say you are. You need an ID in order to go through security and to go back to the gate area. The ID grants you access because it shows you are authorized to go into a secured area. The Father always authorizes the Son and the Son always authorizes the children of God who carry His ID with His name. We must pray based on the authority of the name of Jesus Christ.725
[Jesus, Authority of; Prayer, Access in]
Acts 4:12; Phil. 2:9–11
IMAGINE that I went to the White House and said, “My name is Tony Evans, and this is what I want the White House staff to do.” As I was being booted off of the property, it would be clear that my name is really no name at all. Why? Because, in that setting, it just doesn’t carry any weight. In other words, my name has no authority at the White House.
Now, if the president comes out of the Oval Office and says, “I want this, that, or the other,” staff start moving and shaking because of his name. But his name is only “his name,” because of his position. In other words, he’s got power in his name, because he’s got power in his post. His post makes his name a name above every other name in America.
Now, if you bring Tony Evans back to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, I’ve got a name. At the White House, I may not have a name; at this house, I have a name. In this house, there is authority that goes with the post, giving the name credibility.
Just shouting out the name of Jesus doesn’t give you power. If you don’t have the power of the person, you might as well not use His name. Having the power of the name comes through connection and relationship with the one who has the authority behind their name.726
[God’s Name; Jesus, Relationship with; Power, Accessing]
John 20:31; Phil. 2:9–11