In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

 Jesus declares in today's Gospel, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you."  Now there are some who misunderstand those words to mean that you can ask for anything you want, and as long as you pray it sincerely with the tag line "in Jesus' name," God will grant it to you.  I've heard this referred to as "name it and claim it."  If you pray for something by name and claim it as your own and truly believe God will give it to you, then you'll receive it–be it a better paying job, healing from some ailment, a new car–any number of things. And if you don't receive it, it's because you didn't pray hard enough or have strong enough faith.

 But that's not what it means to pray in Jesus' name.  Prayer in Jesus' name is certainly not a blank check to fulfill all your worldly dreams and passions.  Prayer rather is a heavenly privilege with a heavenly focus and foundation.

 To pray in Jesus' name means, first of all, that you pray as those who are baptized.  For it is in the water that He put His name upon you and gave His name to you that you may come to the Father in prayer.  In Baptism Christ joined you to Himself and made you members of God's family.  It's as if Jesus is giving you His ID card at the font.  In Jesus you are counted as sons of God with all the benefits that entails.  You are given the privilege of coming before the Father with the same status and standing as Jesus Himself!  God hears you just like He hears Jesus.  The name of Jesus opens heaven to you.  It unlocks the door to the Father's heart.

 You see, apart from Christ, heaven is closed to you.  For your sin is like an impenetrable barrier between you and your Creator.  You can't break through from this side.  But by coming to you from the Father and taking on your human nature, Jesus broke through the sin-barrier from the other side.  Through His cross and resurrection and ascension back to the Father, He has given you an opening and a portal to heaven.  There is only one way to access God, to come to Him in prayer, and that is through Jesus.  Non-Christian religions, therefore, do not lead to the true God–neither Judaism nor Islam nor Buddhism nor the nature religion of Native Americans.  For they all reject Jesus as being the incarnate Son of God and the Savior from sin.  And He is the only way to God, as He said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me."

 To pray in Jesus' name means to pray with faith in what He has done to save you, to know that it is only because of His merits that you can come before the heavenly throne with your petitions and prayers.  It is to pray knowing that Christ is your sole passageway to the Father.  Like Moses was for the people of Israel in the wilderness, so Jesus is our intermediary, our go-between, our peacemaker with God.  As the bronze serpent was lifted up, so our Lord Jesus was lifted up on the cross for us, that everyone who looks to Him in faith may be saved from the venom of sin and be restored to fellowship with the Father.  It is written, "There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all."

 Prayer in Jesus' name, then, is prayer that begins with Jesus and His coming to us–not only in His ministry 2000 years ago, but also as He comes to us now through His words and Spirit.  Christ is still the Mediator between us and the Father.  Christian prayer begins with listening to the Gospel of Christ, listening to the words of the Scriptures read and proclaimed, and then on the basis of that Word, speaking back to Him in faith, making requests based on what He has said and promised, praising Him for what He has done.

 This is the Trinitarian shape of Christian prayer: The Father speaks to us through His Son by the Holy Spirit.  And in prayer we speak by the Holy Spirit through the Son to the Father.  First the Father comes to us through Christ with His words of life; and then, having been filled with His life, we are enabled through faith in Christ to pray to the Father and bring our needs and requests before Him.  True prayer, Bonhoeffer said, is based not on the poverty of our hearts, but on the richness of God's Word.

 This is our response, then, to those espousing a "name it and claim it" theology.  Godly prayer is shaped by God's Word.  Prayer in Jesus' name is prayer that proceeds from faith in Him.  And faith never prays "My will be done," but, "Thy will be done."  Faith trusts that God's will in Jesus is good and gracious.  For the name "Jesus" literally means "The Lord saves." When we pray in Jesus' name, therefore, we are asking the Father for all of the saving gifts that have been put into that name which is above every name.  All of this and more is the meaning of Jesus' words, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you."

 So, with this right understanding of Jesus' words, the question must be asked: Do we take Jesus at His Word?  Does this tremendous promise and privilege move us to pray and to seek Him?  All too often, we must confess that we are lazy in our prayer, or we want to pray but are easily distracted from it by other priorities.  The devil, the world, and our own flesh are always seeking to divert us from prayer.  You must therefore prepare yourselves to oppose them.  When they prompt you to think that there's something else you must do first, then you must say, "No; as soon as the need arises, I will pray.  For when I have need to call upon God, that is the right time to do it.  As God says, ‘Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.'  And if I do not feel ready or worthy to pray, God will make me ready and worthy.  For I know that He loves me, not because I am so good and righteous, but because of Christ, whom I love and in whom I believe."

 And when you are tempted to think that your prayer won't do any good, be reminded of Jesus' promise.  He said, "Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full."  He urgently invites you to come to Him as dear children to a loving Father.  If earthly fathers, who are sinners, know how to give good things to their children, how much more will our Father in heaven give good things and the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!  If I told you that there was a wealthy businessman, someone like a Bill Gates, saying, "Ask and you will receive," you wouldn't say, "Oh, I'll get around to it later."  You'd go right to him and make your request.  How much more should you do so with the King of heaven!  God will never turn away a heart that trusts in Him.  And even if your prayers in Jesus' name aren't answered immediately or exactly in the way you'd like, they will all ultimately be answered "yes" in the resurrection.  For on that Last Day, Jesus will come again to bring us the richness of heaven and the restoration of our bodies and the fullness of joy and peace.  It is written in 2 Corinthians, "No matter how many promises God has made, they are all ‘Yes' in Christ."

 Therefore, the Apostle Paul exhorts us, "Pray without ceasing."  The wicked go through the week's activities without ever giving a proper thought to the One who made and redeemed them.  But you who believe are given to have an attitude of faith and prayer in your daily callings, one which looks to God with thanksgiving and relies on Him and calls upon His name in times of need.  Use the morning and evening prayers in the Catechism and the table prayers, too.  Don't just sit down to a meal and start shoveling it in.  Acknowledge the Giver.  Pray the Psalms and the Lord's Prayer given you in the Scriptures.  The Our Father is really a summary of all that you have been given to pray for in Jesus' name.  Its petitions are broad enough to include all the good gifts that the Father delights to give His children.  From there you can pray more specifically and about your own particular needs and your neighbor's needs and the things for which you want to give thanks to God.

 The fact of the matter is, you will never have a shortage of things for which to pray in this world.  For there will always be troubles or challenges in your life, not to mention temptations seeking to lure you away from Christ, which should move you constantly to seek God's help and protection.  Then there are the opportunities you have to pray on behalf of your family members and friends and fellow workers, not only for their temporal well-being but also for their eternal well-being, that they be brought to the faith or remain steadfast in the faith.  Then there are the broader needs of good government, the betterment of our society, the fruitfulness of the earth, preservation from war and famine and disease.  And finally, we should pray for the church.  For she is persecuted in many places and is constantly under assault by false teachers and those wanting her to compromise with the world.

 Martin Luther had this to say about praying for the church: "Everyone who loves the Christian church and the Gospel, and is concerned about their well-being, ought to remember that he must help sustain them.  We can do this best of all through prayer, praying that the name of our God in heaven be hallowed, his kingdom come, and his will be done; on the other hand that the name of the devil be reviled, his kingdom overthrown, and his will and designs repulsed.  When you do this, then you and every Christian are like warriors on the field of battle with weapons drawn, helping to guard and protect the Christian church against the devil and the world.  For every Christian is a soldier who is engaged in battle with the devil.  As firmly as other pastors and I do battle through our preaching and teaching, so firmly ought you contend with us by prayer.  This is how we must contend and fight at every turn; for we Christians are mighty warriors, some of us preaching, and you also by praying.  These two things, diligently preaching and earnestly praying, pierce the devil's heart.
 "I have no doubt that by our prayers various evil practices on the part of our adversaries have been thwarted.  And if today still some good is to occur and evil be undone, it must be done through prayer.  Therefore, do not make light of prayer, even though you might think that you are not fit or worthy to pray.  Were that the case, no one would be in position to pray.  May each Christian say to himself: Since prayer is so pleasing to God and so highly essential and beneficial for me and for the church, I shall attend church and pray as fervently as in me lies, for I am confident that prayer is not, nor can ever be, in vain."  (House Postils, Vol. I, p. 110)

 Brothers and sisters of Christ, in the world you will have tribulation.  But be of good cheer, for Jesus has overcome the world.  Pray with boldness and confidence in Him who is the risen Conqueror, who has given you His victory, who has opened the door of heaven to you.  Believe Him when He says, "Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full."

  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit