If you've been in the church for any length of time, then you probably have the understanding that most of the prayers that we pray, we end them officially "in Jesus' Name". This of course is appropriate. There's no other Name under Heaven by which men may be saved (Acts 4). We also know that none cometh to the Father but by Jesus (John 14). So the Name of Jesus is the basis of our Salvation. However, you may have also noticed that, at times, when we pray in the name of Jesus, submitting our supplications to the Father, that "seemingly" nothing happens. Or better yet, we don't necessarily get the Divine results that we are looking for. Why is that? I would like to submit to you today that it's not just "the name of Jesus" that is able to access Divine Power from God, it's the Person of Jesus that allows the Power of God to be Manifested. And if you don't have the Person, even with the Name, you won't witness or experience Divine Power.
This is significant, because Jesus clearly says, "if ye shall ask anything in my Name, I will do it" (John 14). However, how many times have we closed our prayer with "in the name of Jesus I pray", and for all intents and purposes, your request to the Throne was not either received or manifested? There's a slight misunderstanding in the Body of Christ, that doesn't negate what we've been taught, but rather clarifies and hopefully amplifes our understanding in terms of how to get Divine results through prayer.
The key to the name of Jesus is not just the usage of His Name, it's the Manifestation of His Person. The Name simply identifies with the Divine Person of Jesus; but if you don't have the Person for whom the Name represents, then you won't get the Divine results. Why is this important? Because even though we have a lot of born again Christians who've had a genuine salvific experience in Jesus Christ, they still don't have, what I would describe as "full access" to the Person of Jesus Christ. Let me try to explain. Remember, Christianity is a relationship, and in every relationship, including our relationship with God, the relationship has to Grow. Which means, if you're a babe in Christ, or you're still walking in the flesh or spiritual immaturity, you can say "the Name of Jesus" all day long, it doesn't mean that you have "the relationship" to access the Person of Jesus for the manifestation of the miraculous. Sometimes we just think, "well, I said the name of Jesus, isn't that enough?". But deep down, we know it's not enough. That's why we look to preachers and other men and women of God to do what we know our faith can't seem to access. But the key is not the man or the woman or the office or the title, It's The Person! What we have to do now as the Body of Christ is encourage every born again believer to develop and nurture their relationship with Jesus to the point to where, when you call His Name, He will answer. Why will He answer? Because the relationship's been developed to that point. There are people I'm in relationship with, genuine relationships, where if they call me, I will "eventually" get back to them. But there are other people when they call, I call them back right away. You may judge this, but is a person going to respond the same way to an associate as they do their spouse? Do you see what I'm saying? Whether we're willing to admit it or not, Jesus is the same way. His response is contingent upon the quality and nurture of the Relationship. For this reason, we must begin to qualify our faith, and make sure we're not putting The Name over The Person.
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