How Excellent Is the Name of Jesus!

Yesterday, I filled an application form for a position as a counsellor at a Christian organization. And the form asked for the names of three references, which I gave. One of them was the name of a very prominent person in the community who happens to be a long-time school chum of mine. Previously, I had asked her permission to use her name for that purpose and she had gladly given it

As I wrote this person’s name, thinking about the impact it would most likely bring to the readers of the form, I thought of how this was very much like Jesus giving us authority to use His name when asking the Father anything (John 16:23).

This brought to my mind the incident of Peter and John who were about to enter the temple called Beautiful and met a lame man at the gate, asking alms. The man asked Peter and John for a handout but Peter said to him: "Silver and gold have I none, but...in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And the man was instantly healed.

What made Peter so confident in the name of Jesus to heal the lame man? Firstly, it was Peter's understanding of the mystery of the Kingdom of God as Jesus had taught it to him and other disciples and secondly, it was the authority given by Jesus to use His name when asking anything of His Father.

We can be just as confident as Peter in asking anything of the Father because we can trust Jesus to tell us the truth. Jesus had healed the sick, made the lame to walk, cleansed the leper and raised the dead. His nature was compassion at its best. And when we ask anything of the Father in the name of Jesus we are also asking His nature to be manifest again on earth.

Jesus’ giving us authority to use His name was in order that we become channels for the glories of the Kingdom of God to be poured into the lives of the sick and the needy we would come into contact with. It meant that whenever we ministered to people in the name of Jesus we would be standing in for Him and His power.

In the Hebrew, the name Jesus is “Yeshua” which means Saviour, and when we ask, pray or declare truth in the name of Jesus we would be honouring Him for who He is and calling forth His nature and manifest presence. And when we call on the name of Jesus, we are calling on His nature which is also peace, truth, salvation and redemption to be made manifest.

Most of all, praying in the name of Jesus helps us maintain a sound relationship with Him. And whenever we ask our Father for anything in the name of Jesus, we bring a bit of heaven to earth.

Have you made it a practice to ask our Father for what you need in the name of Jesus? I hope you have.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY: There is strength, power and healing in the name of Jesus.

PRAYER: "Heavenly Father, thank you for giving your Son to be our Saviour. Amen."

I invite you to visit my blog about breaking through barriers in our lives and becoming new: www.monicahernandez.wordpress.com.