The Name of Jesus
How much do you know about the Name of Jesus? You and I need to be asking all things in Jesus' Name - just like the first disciples and apostles did. It was in the Name of Jesus that they acted. Jesus gave us His Name as our authority for asking in. He gave us His Name as the Name of authority to command in, and drive off the enemy in.

And I will do whatever you ask in My Name so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in the Son. Yes I will grant whatever you shall ask in My Name. John 14:13-14

He also gave us His Name to make requests to the Father in. He told us that by asking in His Name the Father would grant our request.

And when that time comes, you will need to ask Me no questions. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that My Father will grant whatever you ask in My Name. Up to this time you have not ask a single thing in My Name; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy may be full and complete. John 16:23-24

The Marriage Name
We ask and receive in the Name of Jesus simply because we are eternally linked to Him. We have a Life-Union with Him. Jesus came to this world to find His Bride. Those of us who comprise the Church responded by calling Him Lord. Everyone that has ever come to Jesus has responded by calling Him Lord. This Life-Union that we have entered into with Jesus is a marriage that God the Father has blessed. As a result, we have given up living in our own name in order to live in His Name.

But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. I Corinthians 6:17

You have been joined to the Lord. Jesus chose you and you responded by calling Him Lord. Somehow you sensed His deep Love for you and you responded to it. You may not have fully realized at the time what you were getting into - what man or woman does at their marriage - but you committed yourself to a spiritual Life-Union with Him. Now every time you use the Name of Jesus you are expressing your relationship to Him. When you pray in the Name of Jesus you are declaring who He is to you and you are proclaiming what He has done for you. When you pray in the Name of Jesus you are announcing that He lives as the Head of His Body, His Church, of which you are a part. We are married to Jesus. As His Bride, He counts on us to care for His interests in the earth. As His Bride, He has given us His Name. In His Name we make requests in Heaven and we make declarations on the earth.

Jesus is expecting us to not only make requests in His Name but also to live and act in His Name. This means to live and act in His Character. In so doing we can know that our requests are always acknowledged and our petitions always granted. (See Colossians 3:17) The Name of Jesus is not a formula to use or an incantation to chant for a believer. A believer uses the Name of Jesus to declare their relationship to Jesus. The Name of Jesus has authority for the believer because the believer calls Jesus, "My Lord".

No other Name
Without the Name of Jesus we have nothing in the way of salvation.

And there is salvation in and through no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given among men by and in which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Consider the Supreme Authority given to the Name of Jesus. A Name to which everything in every realm must submit. The absolute obedience of Jesus all the way through to His death made the way for God to set His Name above every name.

And after He had appeared in human form, He abased Himself still further and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name. That at the Name of Jesus every knee must bow, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth. And every tongue frankly and openly confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2: 8-11

The time came when the Name of Jesus was granted all Authority over all things in heaven, in the earth and under the earth. It was in the knowledge that His Name was to have such Authority that He gave His Name to us. He gave the Church His Name to ask and to act in. Nothing is able to resist the Name of Jesus! It is now as it was spoken by the Prophet Joel,

And whoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered and saved. Joel 2:32

Pray in His Name
This is all absolutely fundamental to our prayer life. It is so fundamental that we could rightly say that praying without praying in the Name of Jesus is like writing a check without signing it! The Name of Jesus is to prayer as a signature is to a check... it validates it... it authorizes it. The Name of Jesus authorizes prayer ensuring that it's spoken request comes to pass. Study the Name of Jesus in action. Take time to read the Book of Acts, then follow the Apostles into action using the Name of Jesus as they and the other disciples did. Use the Name of Jesus!