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

 This 5th Sunday after Easter is historically known as "Rogate" Sunday, which is Latin for "Call Ye" or "Pray Ye."  In centuries past the next three days of this week would be observed as special days of prayer, when petitions would be made to God for the fields and for the seeds planted in them, that the world might be blessed with food in the coming harvest.  As I think about it, this might be a good practice for the church to pick up again, especially in light of the various "earth day" celebrations that have become more popular in recent years.  Unlike earth day, which tends to make an idol out of mother nature, and which has pagan leanings in its references to the "spirit of the earth," Rogate days of prayer would emphasize our dependence on Father God, the Creator and Sustainer of Life, and our stewardship of a world that belongs to Him, not to us.  In any event, the Gospel chosen for this Sunday on the historic Church calendar brings out the words of our Lord urging us to pray.

 Jesus declares, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you."  So what does that mean?  What does it mean to pray "in Jesus' name?"  Well, the epistle of James helps us to answer that question.  First of all James tells us what Christian prayer is not.  He says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  Adulterers and adulteresses!  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" (James 4:3-4)  Prayer in Jesus' name is not simply a blank check to fulfill worldly dreams and desires.  We must confess that too often that's how we utilize prayer, to try to get God to follow our will rather than asking Him to conform us to His will, to get Him to make our plans come to fulfillment rather than seeking our place in the fulfillment of His plan of salvation.  We need to remember, too, that prayer is not only about asking for ourselves but also interceding for others in their need, just as Jesus is our intercessor before the Father in heaven.

 We would do well to follow the example of young Solomon when we pray.  When he first became king of Israel, the Lord told him to ask for whatever he wanted.  Solomon did not ask for riches or long life or the death of his enemies.  Instead, faced with the daunting task of ruling God's people Israel, and being only a young man, Solomon asked for a wise and understanding heart, that he might rule well as king.  His request was focused not on himself but on what would be faithful to God and loving toward his people.

 Jesus Himself teaches us to pray this way in the Lord's Prayer.  You've probably noticed that the first three petitions of the Our Father are focused on God.  "Hallowed be Thy name.  Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done."  Only then do we get to the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread."  First pray for those weightier spiritual matters, that God's name would be hallowed among us by what we teach and how we live, that His kingdom of grace in Christ would flourish among us and throughout the world, that His will would be done in hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature.  Then you will be rightly prepared to pray for your daily bread, your bodily needs and material desires.

 Secondly, James has this to say about Christian prayer, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:4-8) To pray in Jesus' name means to pray with faith in Christ, believing in Him as Savior and Lord, confident that He will surely hear and answer you according to His good and gracious will.

 This is what distinguishes Christian prayer from all other prayer.  We need to realize that not all prayer is Christian or God-pleasing.  For today's Epistle shows us there is only one way truly to come to the Father, and that is through Jesus, by faith in Him.  Every other way focuses on man and leads to uncertainty.  Every other way ultimately runs into a brick wall.  For "there is only one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all."  Jesus is the only way to gain access to the Father.  For only He was able to break through the sin-barrier that we had erected which cut us off from God.  By coming down from heaven and taking on our flesh, Jesus reunited God and man in Himself.  And by His sin-destroying death and resurrection and ascension He has now cleared the way for us to come to the throne of heaven.

 To pray in Jesus' name, then, means to pray with faith in Him as the only Mediator, the only way back to the Father.  And ultimately, to pray in Jesus' name means that you pray as if you were Jesus Himself!  When you call God "Father," you are certainly praying as though you were Christ.  For He is, as we know, the only Son of the Father. The only way legitimately to call God our Father is to gain Christ's permission to pray in His stead.  That privilege is granted to you by your Baptism in Jesus' name.

 There is an ancient custom which we still use at baptism, where the pastor lays his hands upon the child's head while praying the Lord's Prayer.  That is meant as a visual declaration that the gift of calling God "Father" is being given to the one baptized. Now he, too, is given permission to pray the Lord's Prayer.  It's as if Jesus is giving you His ID card and social security number at the font.  In Jesus you are counted as sons of God with all the benefits that entails.  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.

 When you pray as a Christian, you are never praying alone, even if you're by yourself.  For you are always praying in and with Christ.  And if you are praying with Christ, you are also praying together with everyone else who is baptized into Him.  That's why we pray "Our Father who art in heaven . . ." even when we are praying in private.  Jesus includes Himself in that "Our."

 Indeed, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father always to intercede and pray for us to the Father and bring Him our petitions and thanksgivings.  Jesus is our go-between with God the Father, the One who prays our prayers to Him and who thereby gives us the certainty that our prayers are heard.  Romans 8 even teaches us that the Spirit of Christ intercedes for us with groans that are too deep for words.  Sometimes when we are not able to formulate the words as we like, when we come before God with nothing more than our deepest needs and yearnings, the Spirit fills in the blanks with unutterable divine language.

 Prayer, then, is as much God's action as it is yours.  When we talk about the power of prayer, we're really talking about the power of God who teaches and moves us to pray, who hears our prayers through Christ, and who answers them as a loving Father.  When we say prayer changes things, what we really mean is that the Lord changes things and changes us as He leads us to trust in Him.  The One whom you are praying to counts more than what you say or who you are.  For the true God, the Holy Trinity hears your prayers not because of your merits and qualifications, but for the sake of Jesus alone.

 Prayer begins and ends with God.  He speaks His words of life into you; and then by those very words He gives you the words to pray and speak back to Him in faith, like a child who learns to speak by listening to His parents.  Through the Lord's coming to you, He enables you to make requests based on what He has spoken and promised, to praise and thank Him for His goodness and mercy toward you.  This is why Jesus comes forth from the Father into the world and then returns to the Father, so that He might reach out to draw you into Himself and His divine life.

 And to keep you steadfast in that divine faith and life, Jesus gives you many encouragements to pray.  In the Gospel He says, "Ask, and you will receive."  Come in my name as dear children of a dear Father in heaven.  St. James reminds us that very often we do not have because we simply do not ask.  We are always looking to our own solutions before we ever give a thought to petitioning the Lord of our life.  And so Jesus gently and lovingly invites us, "Ask, and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened."

 And Jesus even gives us two illustrations to show us what a tremendous privilege it is to pray and how eagerly we should make use of this precious gift.  First of all He says something like this in Luke 11:  It's midnight.  You and your family are already in bed and asleep.  Then suddenly you hear a knocking on the door.  It's a friend of yours who wants to borrow some food because an unexpected guest has come to his house.  Now you were sound asleep and are a little ticked off that he woke you up.  Even though he's your friend, you tell him to hit the road and come back in the morning.  You can't give him what he wants right now.  But your friend is persistent and keeps asking and won't leave.  Finally, even though you may not really want to, you give him what he wants just so he'll get off your back and let you go back to sleep.  Now, Jesus says, if such persistence is answered by someone who doesn't really want to help, how much more will our persistent prayer be answered for our good by our Lord who does desire to help us and who has even invited us to pray and to ask.

 Likewise, Jesus says this, "What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things and the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

 So ask.  In this world you will have trouble.  But be of good cheer.  Christ has overcome the world by His holy cross.  So ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  For by asking you are believing in Christ.  And believing in Christ you are receiving Him who is joy in the flesh, who cheers your heart even now with His life-giving body and blood.  In Him your joy is truly full.

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