Christ Jesus said to his followers, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Many in the Christian church have taken these words literally and superficially; and most of the written as well as the extempore prayers therein have ended with the words "for Jesus Christ's sake."
Prayer has become largely ritualistic, sometimes affording a personal sense of comfort, and has often been but a salve to conscience. That prayer should have dropped to this level accounts for much of the lack of vitality in the Christianity of to-day. As people think this over, remembering that very few of their prayers seem to have been answered, although they have asked, as they thought, in Jesus' name, they become dissatisfied and uncertain whether the promise extends to the present time. This dissatisfaction has led to discouragement and doubt and, in some cases, to a downright disbelief in the Scriptures.
He who taught us how to pray, in what is known as the Lord's Prayer, did not make prayer a mere ritual or formula, but each sentence of that prayer in turn brought out worship, confidence, expectation of good, forgiveness, and love. To understand the meaning of praying in the name of Christ Jesus raises prayer to its true place in our lives, and changes and enriches the whole character of the individual.
