The Merit of Another

"In Jesus Name, Amen."

If you're anything like me, you say the above phrase at the end of your prayers largely because you know you're supposed to. Am I right? (Don't worry, no judgement. ;) 

In my world, a lot of times I gloss over the "In Jesus Name" part.  It's something I say quickly to get to the "Amen" so I can move on with my day. It gets tacked on the end of my prayers with no real thought or appreciation. 

But then one day, I was listening to a sermon by Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. And I noticed something about his prayers. Most of the time, Alistair says "It's for Jesus sake we ask it" instead of "In Jesus Name". These two phrases really mean the same thing if we boil them down, but the uncommon wording caught my attention. And then I started to really think about what it is I'm saying at the end of my prayers- 

The God of the Universe came down to earth in the Person of Jesus. 
 
Jesus lived on this earth and led  perfect life. 

Then He chose to sacrifice Himself on the cross- a perfect, holy and righteous sacrifice.

Why? So that our sins could be covered by His blood. When He died on the cross, all my sins and failures were placed on Him and He received the punishment for them. When I put my trust in Jesus and believe that only His death could pay the punishment for my sin, then I receive His perfection as a free gift. 

When I say "In Jesus Name", I'm encapsulating all of those facts into one phrase. I'm asking God to answer my prayer because of what Jesus did on the cross. I'm claiming His perfection as the basis by which I can approach the God who dwells in unapproachable light.

Hmmm. Taking time to think it through really puts that whole "In Jesus Name" thing in a different light, huh? 


This was mind-blowing enough, and then one day I heard myself saying this at the end of my prayers- 

" In Jesus Name and on His merit I ask it..." 


WHOAA!!! 

I stopped praying to think about what I'd just said (which must have come out of my mouth simply because of the Holy Spirit's leading), and was astounded once again by the implications of it. 


I was talking to God because of Jesus. I could bank on God answering my prayers and fulfilling His promises because of Jesus. Not because:

• I'm a good person who tries really hard
• I serve God 
• I'm organized
• I'm good at my job
• I'm a good mom
• Or anything else I do!

 What really hit me that day was something I already knew, but that took on another layer of meaning for me. See, I can be a prideful person (I can feel all the eye-brow raising as people who know me really well are thinking "Can be?!") It's easy for me to start comparing myself to other people and see only how good I'm doing in comparison to them. This is folly for a few reasons, but the one that stuck out to me that day was this:

It doesn't matter how good I'm doing in comparison to other people. What matters is that I'm a sinner, and the only reason I can even talk to God is because of the merit of another. 


That "another" is Jesus!!!! And hallelujah, I can pray on His merit and not my own!


Now when I'm ending my prayers, I savor those final phrases. I let the impact of what I'm saying wash over me. "In Jesus Name, on His merit, and for His sake I ask it." And you know what? I always end my prayers with a smile on my face. :) 


Give it a try sometime! I promise, it will put all your prayers and worries into perspective and will leave you with a smile that just won't go away!

Here's my song version of everything I just said. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!