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9 June 2009

More thoughts on praying in Jesus' name

Tagging a prayer with "in Jesus' name, Amen" is meaningless if we aren't praying "in Jesus name" in practice. And if we are praying in Jesus' name in practice, then (I assume) the words themselves are not really necessary.

But we need to be aware that adding "in Jesus name" to our public prayers is a powerful statement of what we believe and who we are. A prayer addressed simply to "God" will be acceptable to many, both from traditional religions and those with more new age ideas of spirituality. Even praying to "Our heavenly father" will be acceptable to some outside Christian circles.

When we add "in Jesus' name" to our prayers, however, we are effectively declaring our faith in Jesus as the only way to God. We are no longer praying to a generic God, but to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That will be deeply offensive to some. It has sometimes been deemed unacceptable to use this phrase in a multicultural setting. In 2005, for instance, a chaplain in the US navy was dismissed for (amongst other things) repeatedly using "in the name of Jesus" in public services where people of other faiths were present.

Whether or not we choose to use the words in our public prayers depends on what our purpose is. There will be times when not causing offence will be important in reaching others with the gospel, and other times when we need to declare our faith against all opposition. Either way, our prayers will still be "in Jesus name" if we are praying to God's glory.

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