Live in Union with the Lord and Pray in the Name of the Lord to Accomplish God’s Will

As those learning to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, we need to pray in the name of the Lord, that is, live in union with Him and allow God to be manifested through us, thus praying what He prays and uttering prayer in accordance to God’s will. Amen!

This week we have been enjoying the matter of doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, and day by day we are learning what it means to do all things in the Lord’s name.

In Christianity there may be some who add “I pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus” or “I do this in the name of Jesus” when many times they pray in their own name and do things in their own name.

What does it mean to do all things in the name of the Lord?

We can’t just put a stamp on our own doing and say “in the name of Jesus”; we need to be one with the Lord, even be organically joined to Him, so that we do all things in oneness with Him.

The Lord Jesus did all things in the name of the Father, being joined to the Father and doing everything that the Father wanted Him to do.

The Son came in the Father’s name, and the Son and the Father send the Spirit; everything that the Triune God does is in oneness, in the oneness that results from their coinhering – dwelling in one another.

Today we can do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus because we and Him are one; He is in us and we are in Him.

As John 15 says, we are the branches, and He is the vine; we simply need to abide in Him and let Him abide in us, and everything we ask for in His name, He will do it.

In our daily life and in our service in the church we need to do everything – both big and small things – in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Even in the ordinary things of our daily life and in the smallest service we do in the church, we need to be able to say that we do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus.

We need to remain in the organic union with the Lord as we do things and do not do things.

We need to remain in our spirit and live in spirit so that our living would be Christ’s living, our doing would be His doing, and our speaking would be His speaking.

Even our words, such an ordinary thing, something that we are so used to doing without the Lord, even our speaking needs to be in the Lord’s name.

This doesn’t mean that we speak our own thing and then conclude with, In the name of Jesus I pray and say this. No. The name of Jesus is not a stamp or an approval we give to what we want to do or say.

Being in the name of the Lord means that we’re organically joined to Him – we are crucified with Him and it is no longer us who live but Christ who lives in us.

May the Lord save us from speaking from ourselves and from speaking our own thing; may we be saved from speaking idle words, which will have to be accounted for in the day of judgment. Oh Lord Jesus!

We need to Pray in the Name of the Lord by Living in Union with Him for Him to be Manifested through us

The Gospel of John makes it clear to us that we should pray in the name of the Lord; if you read portions such as John 14:13; 15:16; 16:24, and 26 you will see that this is what the Lord tells us.

Praying in the name of the Lord is a great matter, and it is something we must learn and practice in our Christian life.

Praying in the name of the Lord is part of our living and doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Unfortunately, there are many Christians today who don’t know that it is necessary for believers to pray in the name of the Lord.

And if some of them do, they often end their prayer with, I pray this in the name of Jesus.

Others may pray by the precious blood of the Lord or by the Lord’s merits, but the Bible clearly tells us that we should pray in the name of the Lord.

What does it mean for us to pray in the name of the Lord? The name denotes the person; for us to pray in the name of the Lord is for us to be one with Him.

It means that we are united with the Lord and we allow God to be manifested through us.

It is not us uttering our own prayers and desires and then saying that we pray in the name of the Lord; it is being one with the Lord and living in union with Him so that He prays in us.

Some think that praying in the name of the Lord is something quite broad, but the more we consider it in the light of the Lord’s word, we will realize that it is something quite narrow.

It is not merely adding “in the name of the Lord I pray” as a phrase or form that we conclude our prayer with.

Simply saying this doesn’t mean that we are in the reality of the Lord’s name, and not mentioning this doesn’t mean that the reality is not there.

This is not a formality: it is a reality.

Those who truly pray in the name of the Lord are one with the Lord.

They live in an organic union with Him in spirit, and the Lord has a way to manifest Himself through them.

Praying in the Lord’s name means that we are living in union with the Lord, we are united with Him, and we allow God to be manifested through us (John 15:4-5, 7; 13:31-32).

If we live in union with the Lord, there will be a prayer in us; we will ask something in the Lord’s name, and the Lord will do it.

When we abide in the Lord and allow Him to abide in us, we are one with Him, and our prayer is actually His prayer.

When we pray in the name of the Lord, the Lord prays together with us.

We pray, but actually, He prays; He prays, but we utter the words because we and Him are one.

The Lord prays in our prayer, and we are one with Him to pray what He prays.

The one who prays is us, but we’re one with the Lord, and the Lord prays together with us.

In John 15:7 we are told that if we abide in the Lord and His words abide in us, we can ask whatever we will and it shall be done for us.

Wow, if we abide in the Lord and His words abide in us, we can really ask whatever we will, and the Lord will do it for us!

What do you think we will ask when we abide in the Lord?

Will we ask for our own prosperity, for more money, for a better life, for health, or for peace and love in the family life?

If we abide in the Lord and are one with Him, if we live in union with the Lord, we will pray and utter what is in His heart, and He will do it.

Unfortunately, many times our prayer is not in the Lord’s name, for it is still us who pray, not the Lord who prays in our prayer.

Many times when we pray we are not able to say that we prayed in the Lord’s name, for we know it was just our prayer; the Lord may have not prayed in that way.

We could even pray at the end, Lord, we pray in our own name, for in practice, this is what we actually did.

In order for us to be in reality praying in the name of the Lord, we need to be praying in the Lord.

We need to be one with Him and have Him be one with us. May we be before the Lord regarding this matter and be honest with Him,

Lord Jesus, teach us to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. Teach us what it means for us to pray in the name of the Lord. Save us from praying prayers that are not the echo of Your prayer. We want to live in union with You today. Keep us in our spirit. Keep us contacting You today, Lord, so that we may live in You and You may live in us. We want to abide in You and let Your word abide in us. Dwell in us as the word, Lord, and saturate us with Your living speaking. We just want to abide in You and live in union with You so that You may be manifested through us. May our prayer and asking be in the Lord’s name, thus echoing what You are asking and praying. Amen, Lord, we want to abide in You and let Your words abide in us so that, whatever we ask for, it will be done for us!

Prayers in the Name of the Lord by those who Live in the Lord Accomplish God’s Will

According to the Lord’s word in John 14-16, prayers in the name of the Lord by those who live in the Lord are prayers that accomplish God’s will (John 14:13; 15:16; 16:24, 26; 4:34; 5:30; 6:38).

If we live in oneness with the Lord today and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, our prayer accomplishes the will of God.

If we really learn what it means for us to pray in the name of the Lord, we will realize that, out of ten things we may want to pray, only two of them may be the Lord’s will.

All real prayers in the Lord’s name are in accordance with God’s will (see Matt. 6:10; 12:50; 26:39, 42).

Prayer is not just the desire of a sincere heart before God; prayer is much more than that.

Prayer is the echo of what is on God’s heart by our living in union with Him so that, when we pray, He prays in us.

Many times we simply say, Lord, Your will be done and Your kingdom come.

We do not want to pray for the Lord to do this or to do that, nor do we instruct Him to change this person and affect that situation; we simply ask for His will to be done and for His kingdom to come.

All real prayers in the Lord’s name are in accordance with God’s will.

How much of our prayer, both personally and in the church life, is real prayer?

How much of our prayer in the prayer meeting is in the name of the Lord for the accomplishing of God’s will?

We may pray a lot of prayers, but so many of our prayers may be focused on our needs, on the needs of our family, on the needs of the church, and on others’ needs.

But how much do we live in an organic union with the Lord day by day, even moment by moment?

We have the Lord’s name, the highest name in the universe, but we still live, speak, do things and pray in our own name.

May the Lord uplift our view of what prayer is and may we be those who live in the Lord to utter prayers in the name of the Lord to accomplish the will of God.

When we pray in the name of the Lord, we accomplish God’s will. Wow!

What God wants is not primarily that we do this or that in His name; He wants us to live in union with Him, one with Him, and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Such prayer accomplishes God’s will. And we are vessels or channels for the Lord to utter the prayers that He needs.

We can simply be one with the Lord to pray on earth what He prays in heavens – and what He prays in our spirit.

When we live in the Lord and by the Lord, when we abide in Him and allow His word to abide in us, we will not have our own desires and inclinations; rather, we will be fully one with Him.

We will not have our own goals and preferences; we will take Christ as our life and person.

So when we pray, we will pray what He prays, for we’re in Him and He is in us, we live in Him and He lives in us.

We will experience what it means “Ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7).

When our prayer is in the Lord, when we pray in the name of the Lord, the Lord will do it, for our prayer matches His desire.

We may think that, if the Lord promises to do everything we ask for if we pray in His name, we can pray for many things, and He will do it.

But in our experience, we realize that, when we live in union with the Lord, we pray in His name, and we are restricted in our prayer.

We cannot just ask for everything we want, for the Lord does not want many things we think we want.

So we are restricted yet we are so free; we abide in the Lord and He abides in us, we pray in the organic union with Him, and He prays in our prayer.

May the Lord gain the reality of this in our daily living and in our church life so that we may pray in the name of the Lord in the genuine church life for the accomplishing of God’s will.

Lord Jesus, we want to live in the Lord and pray prayers in the name of the Lord so that God’s will may be accomplished! Amen, Lord, Your will be done and Your kingdom come! We may not know what is going on and what we should do, but we open to You, we want to live in the organic union with You, and we pray for Your will to be done! Keep us abiding in You today. Keep us in You in all things. May we all learn to live in the organic union with the Lord so that we may pray in the name of the Lord for the will of God to be done on earth even as it is in the heavens! Amen, Lord, we want to live in the Lord and by the Lord so that our living may be the Lord’s living. Live in us today. Keep us living in You and with You. Hallelujah, whatever we ask in the Lord’s name, He will do it, for our prayer will be for the accomplishing of God’s will!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 212-214, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life (2023 spring ITERO), week 5, entitled, Doing All Things in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Praying always in the spirit / Is the secret we are told! / In the spirit, God to contact, / Is the secret we must hold! / Praying always in the spirit, / Never by our human thought! / Fellowship with God the Spirit / Only thus to us is brought. (Hymns #780 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – Lord, teach us how to pray, / Not as the nations do in vain, / But turn us from our way, / And cause us, Lord, to call on You each day— / Lord Jesus, grow in us… / Lord Jesus, soften us; / You know the source from which we came. / By calling on Your name, / Lord, let no earth unturned nor rocks remain— / Lord Jesus, grow in us. (Hymns #1132 stanzas 1 and 3)
  – Pray to touch the throne of God, / Touch the throne of power too; / In the name of Jesus Christ / Deal with what you have to do. / Pray to touch the throne of God / By the hand of living faith; / Exercise authority / Over all the pow’r of death. (Hymns #783 stanzas 4-5)