¹⁴ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus promised to respond to prayer if it is done in His name.

¹⁴ If you ask anything in My name,

Because the promise of the prayer in the previous verse is so far reaching, He reiterated it again in this verse. The difference here is that the apostles were not only to pray in the “name” of Christ but also to Him. The idea is, “If you ask Me anything . . . ” There is also strong manuscript evidence that leaves out the “Me” in translations like the ESV: “If you ask Me anything . . . ” If the “Me” is included, the idea may be that the union of the Father and Son is so ineffable (Jn 10:30) that to pray to one is to pray to the other.

“Anything” here is not absolute. The qualifier is “in My name.” We can ask anything within the context of Jesus’ will. It is anything that is in harmony with what Jesus has revealed about Himself. Mere recitation of Jesus’ name is not adequate for answering of prayer. The word “name” indicates the self-revelation of who and what He is.  

I will do it.

Jesus will personally answer prayer Himself.

PRINCIPLE:

Praying in Jesus’ name is to appeal to His merit on our behalf.

APPLICATION:

Recitation of Jesus’ name in prayer is not magic. It is no promise to answer any desire a person may have. Neither is prayer in Jesus’ name a blank check to ask anything that may come to our minds. The idea is that we set aside our will and submit to God’s will in the matter of prayer.

Asking in Jesus’ name means far more than attaching “in Jesus’ name” at the end of our prayers. We plead the merits of the Son. When we do this, Jesus sees what He represents as the true petitioner.

Many people feel that they are unworthy to approach God in prayer. We are, in fact, unworthy; the issue is not our worth but Jesus’ worth. We have authority to make requests, not on the authority of who and what we are but on the authority of who and what Jesus is and did.