Bits and Pieces
Miscellaneous Teachings & Testimonies
On Subjects Relevant To Intercessors

Praying In Jesus' Name

One day I had lunch with a Christian acquaintance. She asked me to say the blessing over the meal. So I gave a short prayer thanking the Lord for our time together and asking Him to come and be involved in our fellowship together. I also thanked Him for providing the food and asked His blessing on us as we ate it. Then I said "amen." She sat there for a few minutes longer, with her head bowed as though the prayer was not over. I assumed she was just praying silently. But after she finished, she looked at me uncertainly. This gave me the impression that she was uncomfortable because I did not end the prayer with the phrase "In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen." So I asked her and sure enough, she expected the prayer to end with that phrase.

But that is NOT what it means to pray in Jesus' name. It is not some "magic phrase" that we end our prayers with to improve our chances of getting them answered. Praying in Jesus' name is NOT a formula. It is a lifestyle.

To pray in Jesus' name means to wear His name constantly in our day-to- day life and walk. In other words, if we are His and we are living for Him, then we are called by His name. "Christians" is the modern term. To pray in Jesus' name means to make Him our Lord and to live for Him as best as we are able to. That is what wearing Jesus' name is all about -- letting Him live in us. If we are in that vital relationship with Him then our hearts and spirits become tuned to God's will and we are able to discern more of Who He is and what He desires to be doing in us and through us. As we become attuned with God (and with the principles and guidelines and commands laid down in His word) then we are able to pray prayers that line up with His will. And when we pray these, then He answers them.

That is what I believe Jesus was referring to when He said (in John 16:23-4) "In that day you will no longer ask Me for anything. I tell you the truth, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

God's Presence Can Bring Enemy Manifestations

Have you ever had people make really odd reactions to you for no particular reason? This has been happening to me a lot lately, usually when I'm in silent but intense prayer.

For instance, not long ago I was walking down the "main drag" of San Francisco's Financial District, on my way to work. This street is always very crowded with pedestrians, particularly when people are on their way to work. I was hardly paying attention to anyone around me, as I was very aware of the Lord's presence. In fact, His presence on me felt as strong as at most renewal meetings, but I was not manifesting in any way. I was praying in response to His presence, mostly worship. A very respectable looking woman was walking towards me, carrying a briefcase and a cup of coffee. Our eyes happened to meet as we got within about 6 feet of each other. All of the sudden, she got an expression on her face that looked like a snarl, stopped dead in her tracks and did an abrupt about face. She darted into the lobby of the nearest building and peered out at me through the glass door with a horrified look on her face. After I passed her, she exited the building and continued walking down the street in her original direction.

One morning I had an incredible devotion time with the Lord. My spirit felt so alive and so full of Him. He had given me a very encouraging verse from Psalm 21:2 about giving us the desires of our heart and hearing and answering our prayers. Of course, that encouraged me to intercede and pray even more excitedly for an upcoming missions trip to India. I was in prayer the whole 25 minute drive to the BART station. A wonderful oddity occurred, there were exactly two empty sets on the train (usually it is standing room only and seats are considered a valuable commodity). I was the first on the train from this station, having been in the front of the line. I took a seat, silently thanking the Lord for the wonderful surprise. The lady behind me started to take the seat next to me. Suddenly, she scowled at me and moved away. The person after her took the seat and sat down and smiled at me. The first lady (the one who would not sit next to me) kept glaring at me from across the train and giving me dirty looks. Usually something like that would have bothered me, but the intensity to intercede was on me so strongly that I soon became lost in silent prayer. I happened to notice the woman scowling at me again, so I silently began praying for her. She immediately stiffened and turned her back, and did not glance my direction again the rest of the trip.

One night I was coming home from work very late, and BART trains were only running every 20 minutes or so. I had been standing on the platform, waiting for a train, for about 15 minutes. It was about 10:30 at night. Several other people were on the platform also waiting for the train. Two women in their early twenties walked by me. I was lost in silent but fairly intense worship and intimacy prayer and hardly noticed them. All of the sudden, for no apparent reason, one of them looked right at me and let out a blood curdling scream. Every head on the platform turned to look at her. She immediately got embarrassed and scurried away. Her friend shrugged apologetically and followed her off.

So, I asked the Lord what was going on. He told me that His presence has been on me fairly heavily. Then He said that when His presence is this intense, that it will sometimes cause demons to manifest in people, which was why these people had been having those reactions to me.

What I heard seemed a bit unusual to me, so I went home and searched Scripture to see if I had heard right. I looked at the life of Jesus and at the lives of the early disciples and I discovered they had similar experiences. For instance, Mark 1:21-27 records how Jesus was trying to teach in a synagogue. A demonized man happened to be present. Jesus was not addressing the man or his demon, He was busy preaching a sermon to the congregation. But He carried the authority of God and it was evident as he preached. The demon sort of freaked out in the presence of God and began manifesting. Verses 25 to 27 record, "23Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24'What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!' 25'Be quiet!' said Jesus sternly. 'Come out of him!' 26The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek."

We see another example of demons manifesting in a healing meeting. This is recorded in Luke 4:38-41. Peter's mother-in-law had been sick and when Jesus came to Peter's home, he healed her. The neighbors all heard about that and started bringing their sick to him for healing. Jesus was moved with compassion for the people and He began to heal them. Verses 40 and 41 record, "When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them. 41Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, 'You are the Son of God!' But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ." In other words, demons were freaking out and manifesting when they got around Jesus. Jesus did not want them to manifest and he had to shut them down and tell them to be quiet.

The apostle Paul had a similar experience when they were just walking down the street to the synagogue to go pray. They weren't doing any ministry at the time, they were just walking. It is recorded in Acts 16:16-18: "16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.' 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, 'In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!' At that moment the spirit left her.

Apparently demons are not calm and collected when they get around God's presence -- they often freak out and manifest. So when you carry God's presence and you come in contact with someone who is demonized, don't be surprised if the demons have a negative response in your presence or manifest.