Why we thank Jesus when we pray – John 16:23

“And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.” John 16:23

Sometimes it can seem very confusing when we ourselves pray, or hear other people pray and they use the terms God, Father, Lord, and Jesus interchangeably.

While I believe that He hears and answers our prayers because of Who He is and not because of how we ask… there is Biblical grounds for praying a specific way, and with that Biblical grounds for saying, “Thank You Jesus!”

In John 16:23 we see that Jesus tells us specifically not to ask Him but to ask the Father in his name.  We don’t have to feel bad or that we are dishonoring or disrespecting Jesus when we say, “Father, in Jesus Name I ask…” or “Father,… (insert prayer here)… In Jesus Name.”  We are honoring Him because He instructed us to do so.

It doesn’t make you less “Christian” to pray this way.

But to say, “Thank You Jesus!”…  that is a privilege.

Let me use and example of how we do this in the flesh and how it supports us doing it in the Spirit.

Imagine that you are out of work and you need a job.  You happen to mention it to a friend and they tell you about a job opening at their company.  They give you the name and number of the person doing the hiring and tell you, “Let them know I told you to call.”  They let you use their name to endorse the request.  You make the call, are asked for an interview, and ultimately get the job.  What do you say to your friend?

You say, “Thank You!” because it was because of them and the use of their name that you were able to get the job.

And we do the same. 

We are able to ask the Father for anything in the name of Jesus because Jesus took the cross, was obedient unto death, and fulfilled all the requirements.  Therefore, when we ask anything of the Father in Jesus’ name we can say thank you to Jesus out of recognition of the fact that it is because of Him that we can even ask!

So go ahead and ask the Father anything in Jesus Name.  And say, “Thank You Jesus!” for everything that you ask for.

SDG