🧒 Children’s Devotional — Day 219

We Pray to the Father in Jesus’ Name

📖 “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.“
—John 16:23b (NKJV)

Jesus was preparing His disciples for the time after His death, resurrection, and return to the Father. Their relationship with Him was about to change. They would no longer walk beside Him as they had during His earthly ministry, but they would not be separated from God or left without help.

Jesus taught them that they could pray directly to the Father in His name.

What does that mean?

Praying in Jesus’ name is more than adding the words “in Jesus’ name” to the end of a prayer. Those words are good and remind us how we come to God, but they are not a magic phrase that guarantees we will receive anything we request.

To pray in Jesus’ name means that we come to the Father because we belong to Jesus and trust in what He has done for us.

Sin separates people from God. We cannot make ourselves righteous by performing enough good deeds. But Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. Everyone who repents and believes in Him is forgiven and brought near to God.

Jesus is the reason believers can approach the Father.

Praying in His name also means asking for things that agree with who Jesus is and what He desires. We should not ask God to help us sin, hurt someone, deceive our parents, or satisfy selfish desires. Jesus will never place His name upon something that contradicts His character or His Word.

That is why learning Scripture helps us learn how to pray.

The Bible teaches us to ask for wisdom, forgiveness, daily provision, strength against temptation, opportunities to help others, and courage to obey. We may also bring our fears, needs, disappointments, and ordinary concerns to God because He cares for us.

You can pray when you are worried about school.

You can pray when someone you love is sick.

You can pray when you need help making a wise decision.

You can pray after you have sinned, confessing what you did and asking for forgiveness.

You can pray simply to thank God for who He is and what He has done.

God may not always answer in the way you expect. Sometimes He says yes. Sometimes His answer is no because what you requested would not be best or would not agree with His will. Sometimes He requires you to wait.

A loving father does not give his child everything the child asks for simply because the child asks. He gives what is good. Our heavenly Father possesses perfect wisdom. He understands what we cannot see and knows what we truly need.

Later, John wrote, “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14, NKJV).

That means faithful prayer does not try to make God obey us.

Prayer teaches us to trust and depend upon Him.

The earliest Christian children could learn this at home. They may have heard their parents pray when food was scarce, when someone was ill, or when following Jesus became difficult. They also heard believers thank God, confess sin, and ask for courage to remain faithful.

Those children could discover that prayer was not only something adults did during a church gathering.

They could speak to the Father too.

So can you.

You do not need impressive words. You do not need to sound like someone else. You can speak truthfully and respectfully to God. He already knows what you need before you ask, but He invites you to come to Him.

Knowing Christ means I do not approach God because I have been good enough to earn His attention.

I come because Jesus has brought me near.

I pray in His name, trust the Father’s wisdom, and know that He hears His children.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing me to come to You through Jesus. Teach me what it truly means to pray in His name. Help me ask for things that agree with Your Word and trust Your wisdom when Your answer is different from what I hoped. Remind me that prayer is not a way to control You but a gift through which I can speak with You, depend upon You, and bring You every concern. Thank You for hearing me because I belong to Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.