Note well:

The Word for today:
John 14:14-24





mark this: John 14:14 --
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

and this: John 14:20 --
At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

What does it mean--to pray in Jesus' name?

Many say the phrase "in Jesus' name" at the end of prayers, but what does it mean? Is it a magic formula to get whatever we wish?

We cannot stand in the presence of God on the basis of our own merit.
But when we pray in Jesus' name, it means that
1. We stand in Jesus' place, fully identified with him. When we do, we are heard on the basis of Jesus' blood and merit.
2. It means that we make our requests according to Christ's will, not our own,
in harmony with Jesus' character.
No matter how many “In Jesus’ name’s” I attach to my prayer, I am not praying in Jesus' name unless my prayer is in line with his grace, his truth, and his plan.
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There is no more profound statement in scripture than Jesus' mono-syllabic promise in John 14:20:
"you in Me, and I in you"

“you in Me”—that is salvation. To be saved means to be in Christ. God sees everyone as either in Christ or out of Christ. You are either in Him by faith or you are out of Him with your sins still upon you. If you are in Christ, then God sees you in Christ, and His righteousness is your righteousness. You stand complete in Him. God sees the end from the beginning (1), so before we even begin to act like Jesus, God sees us just as if we did! That's salvation. See 2 Corinthians 5:21.

“I in you”—is sanctification. That is Christian living down here. Is Christ living in you? Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (2).
Sanctification is when we become, by degrees, ever more and more like Jesus in our actions and attitudes. See 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29.

Salvation is our destiny, already achieved by Christ. We are in Christ.

Sanctification is the process of getting where God already knows we are! Christ is in us.

(1) Isaiah 46:10; (2) Galatians 2:20