Servant
School
March
3, 2022
In The Name
Introduction
Welcome to our Servant School class on Prayer
This week, our lesson is titled “In The Name”
The phrase, “in the name of Jesus” is almost akin to something magical
among some Christians.
Many of us use it like part of a magical formula, as if our prayers must
include those magic words if we want God to hear our prayers.
Some of us are very careful to end every prayer with “in the name of
Jesus”. I’m one of those folks.
But what does that phrase mean?
We’ll take our study from John 14:12-14
John 14:12-14 Greater Works
(John 14:12–14
NKJV) —12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works
that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do,
because I go to My Father.
Wow, how in the world could WE do “greater” works than Jesus?
It seems that Jesus answers that question in the next verse…
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I
will do it.
:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I
do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My
Father.
:12 Most assuredly – the Greek here is amen, amen, or, “truly, truly”.
This is something Jesus says when He is saying something important. Take
notes, boys.
:12 greater works – megas – great; of
size or quantity
How can we do “greater works” than Jesus?
I have to admit that I’m not sure I know of anyone
who has done things greater than Jesus. Raising a guy from the dead four days
after he dies? I think the key to understanding these “greater works” is
looking at the last phrase.
:12 because I go to My Father
What impact does this phrase have on the works we do?
After He rose from the dead, Jesus going to the Father in heaven was the
thing that would bring the Holy Spirit.
(Jn 16:7
NKJV) Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go
away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I
depart, I will send Him to you.
This is what would happen in the book of Acts on the day of Pentecost, when
the early church was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lesson
Greater Works
How could we do greater works?
1) Greater in number.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the early church, it was no longer just one
miracle worker, but a whole bunch of miracle-workers, there were a greater
number of miracles.
(Ac 5:12 NKJV) And through the hands of the apostles many
signs and wonders were done among the people.
Does God still do miracles today?
Absolutely. We pray for miracles. We should not be
surprised when God does miracles.
2) The greatness of conversion.
Look at what Jesus said would happen when the Holy Spirit came on the early
church:
(Ac 1:8 NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Because of the Holy Spirit’s power, the disciples would
have power to be His witnesses. They
would preach.
Healing a blind person is a good and awesome thing. I don’t want to
minimize how awesome a healing can be.
But think about it. Isn’t it greater when someone is born
again, had their sins forgiven, given a new life, and is now going to heaven?
Forever?
When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), 3,000 people got saved.
That’s pretty cool.
Billy Graham has brought hundreds of thousands to Christ.
:13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son.
:13 that the Father may be glorified in the Son
The reason why Jesus will answer prayer.
:14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
:14 If you ask anything in My name
This is how miracles take place. Prayer is how the “greater work” takes
place.
E.M.Bounds (The
Possibilities of Prayer, pg.131) wrote:
“And when the records of eternity are read out to an assembled world, then
will it appear how much prayer has wrought in this world. Little is now seen of
the fruits of prayer compared to all that it has accomplished and is
accomplishing.”
E.M.Bounds (The
Possibilities of Prayer, pg.118):
“Our Gospel belongs to the miraculous.
It was projected on the miraculous plane. It cannot be maintained except by the
supernatural. Take the supernatural out
of our holy religion, and its life and power are gone, and it degenerates into
a mere mode of morals. The miraculous is
divine power. Prayer has in it this same
power. Prayer brings this divine power
into the ranks of men and puts it to work.
Prayer brings into the affairs of earth a supernatural element. Our Gospel when truly presented is the power
of God.”
Lesson
Answered Prayer
Praying is a little like cooking. It
helps to get the recipe right.
Now does that sound appetizing? When our prayers don’t follow the right
“recipe”, they aren’t all that appealing to God.
We’ll talk about the “recipe” of prayer found in John 14.
1) Faith
These promises come to those who believe in Jesus (vs. 12)
The Bible says,
(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He
is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
I have a hard time seeing “faith” as some kind of compound
that God measures to see if you have enough of it.
You either believe in Him or you don’t.
If you don’t believe in Him, this particular
promise about prayer doesn’t belong to you.
Without faith, you have no connection with God.
It would be like trying to make a cell phone call without
having a battery or a sim card in your phone.
You can dial the right numbers.
You can say the right things into the phone.
But the message isn’t going to make it.
2) Ask
ask – aiteo – to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire,
require; a request of the will
This is you expressing your desires, your “will” to God.
It might sound obvious, but sometime we still
don’t get it.
How many times have we gone without the very things that God wants for us,
simply because we never bothered to ask?
The Bible says:
(James 4:2 NKJV) …Yet you do not have because you do
not ask.
That old hymn:
“Oh what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear, All
because we do not carry everything to God in prayer”
In our crazy, fast-paced world, we sometimes get into the mode where we
want to have things done for us to make life easier.
We hire a gardener so we don't
have to spend so much time mowing the lawn.
We hire a housekeeper so we don't
have to spend so much time cleaning the house.
We buy computers … and end up spending so much time
learning, fixing, and playing games that I’m not sure it all really helps that
much …
But nobody can do your praying for you.
Only you can pray your prayers.
3) The Name
Too often we take this phrase of praying “in His name” as some sort of
magic formula. We can think that as long as we tack on
the phrase, “in Jesus’ name”, then we will have our prayers answers.
What does this phrase mean?
His representative
A representative displays “authority”
If the President sends the Secretary of State to Russia to
negotiate a new treaty, he sends him in “his name”, as his representative.
The Secretary of State is supposed to negotiate just as if
the President himself were there doing the talking.
It’s the idea of standing in His place, asking what He
would ask
The disciples are His representatives.
You see the sense of “authority” conveyed when Peter and
John defended themselves before the Sanhedrin for that evil act of healing a
lame man in “Jesus’ name”.
(Acts
4:7–10 NKJV) —7 And when they had set them in the
midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” 8 Then Peter,
filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of
Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless
man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be
known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by
Him this man stands here before you whole.
The disciples acted in “Jesus’ name”, in His authority.
A representative should also display the “character”
of the one he represents.
One of the Ten Commandments is…
(Exodus
20:7 NKJV) “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in
vain.
God wants us to hold His name as special.
He wants us to represent His name well.
Later in Exodus, God gives us a clue to what His name is
all about …
(Exodus
33:19 NKJV) Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I
will proclaim the name of the Lord
before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
God explains that His name is about grace and compassion.
One aspect of representing God is that we should be just a
little bit like Him. If He is gracious
and compassionate, so should we.
Jesus said,
(John 13:35 NKJV) By this all will know that you are
My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
When we pray “in Jesus’ name”, are we asking in His
authority, and are we asking as someone who represents His character?
Jesus said that if we claim to belong to Him, if we loved
Him, we would keep His commandments (John 14:15), we would act like Him.
(John 14:15 NKJV) “If you love Me, keep My
commandments.
See if you can tell who this dog belongs to…
Play “Smart
Dog”
Can you tell who that dog belongs to? Who is its master?
Don’t misunderstand – don’t think that you “earn” God’s
answers to prayer by doing good things or earning brownie points.
But doing the right things, learning to walk in obedience
to Christ, shows that you love Him, and it shows that you are authorized to
take advantage of this promise.
Identity Theft is one of the biggest crimes these days.
Somebody “steals” your identity and tries to buy lots of
stuff using your name and you get charged for it.
Some people “steal” God’s identity by claiming to be
Christians, misusing God’s name, by not taking His commands seriously.
They should not be surprised when God doesn’t answer
prayer.
You may have screwed things up in your life, but if you
repent and turn to Jesus, you will find yourself authorized.
If you continue to walk in rebellion to God, don’t expect
God to pay much attention to your prayers.
4) Glory
Jesus said that His whole reason for answering our
prayers this way was so that glory would go to God.
Will this prayer and its answer really bring glory to God?
Or will is just make you a little more comfortable for awhile?
Will God be glorified?
Or is it your name that people will remember?
Are you willing to place God’s desires and will above your own?
Illustration:
George Atley served with the Central African Mission.
There were no witnesses, but the evidence indicates that
Atley was confronted by a band of hostile tribesmen. He was carrying a fully
loaded, 10-chamber Winchester rifle and had to choose either to shoot his
attackers and run the risk of negating the work of the mission in that area, or
not to defend himself and be killed.
How must he have prayed? Lord, deliver me?
When his body was later found in a stream, it was evident
that he had chosen not to shoot. Nearby lay his rifle—all 10 chambers still
loaded. He had made the supreme sacrifice, motivated by his burden for lost
souls and his answering devotion to his Savior. With the apostle Paul, he
wanted Christ to be glorified in his body, “whether by life or by death.”
These are some of the elements that make up a healthy prayer.
Am I always going to
get it right? No. Prayer is a lifelong growing discipline. But you can’t grow if you don’t keep praying.
I hope that helps…
In Class
Any comments from tonight’s teaching video?
Questions?
Do you have a “prayer list”?
Do you have a list of things you pray for every day?
If you’ve been reading with us in our Daily Bible Reading, there have been
lots of passages about prayer this week.
I’d like for you to memorize a Bible verse for next week – Numbers 6:24.
We will be eventually memorizing Num. 6:24-26, but
here’s the passage it’s from:
(Numbers 6:22–27
NKJV) —22 And the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons,
saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: 24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be
gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His
countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ 27 “So they shall put My name on the
children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Let’s take time tonight and pray for Pastor Caleb, and the events taking
place in Ukraine.
I’d like for each of us to pray out loud.
Keep your prayers short.
Use regular language (no “King James” language)
I am not “grading” you on your prayers.
I just want you to pray.
One of our classes will be on praying for people and praying out loud …
Unused verses
(Genesis 4:26 NKJV)
—26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him
Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.
(Genesis 12:8 NKJV)
—8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he
pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he
built an altar to the Lord and
called on the name of the Lord.
Abraham was the first specific man recorded to “call on the name”
(Deuteronomy 21:5
NKJV) —5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to
minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall
be settled.
The priests were called to bless the people “in the name…”
(1 Kings 8:17 NKJV)
—17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for
the name of the Lord God of
Israel.
The Temple was for “the name …”
(2 Samuel 6:18
NKJV) —18 And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace
offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.
Like the priests, David blessed the people in the name…
(Joel 2:32 NKJV) —32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be
saved. For in Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord
calls.
(Mark 11:9 NKJV) —9 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out,
saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He
who comes in the name of the Lord!’
(Acts 2:38 NKJV) —38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 9:29 NKJV) —29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed
against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.
Shortly after his conversion, Paul was preaching “in the name of the Lord
Jesus”
(Romans 10:13 NKJV)
—13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(James 5:14 NKJV) —14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the
church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord.
Healing comes when we pray and anoint “in the name”, as His representative.
(Luke 10:17 NKJV) —17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons
are subject to us in Your name.”
Speaks of authority
(Matthew 18:20
NKJV) —20 For where two or three are gathered together
in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Authority? Character? Formula?
(Matthew 24:5 NKJV)
—5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will
deceive many.
(John 1:12 NKJV) —12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name:
(John 14:13 NKJV) —13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son.
(John 14:26 NKJV) —26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I said to you.
(John 20:30–31
NKJV) —30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His
disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing you may have life in His name.
(Acts 3:6 NKJV) —6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have
I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
(1 Corinthians
5:4–5 NKJV) —4 In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of
our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus.
(Mark 9:38–41 NKJV)
—38 Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does
not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he
does not follow us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him,
for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is on our side. 41 For whoever
gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ,
assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.