RENEWING OUR MIND

Up until the early 1900s, scientists believed that the universe was made up of separate bits of matter which interacted with each other. Separateness was the foundation of their world view. However, this is in direct contrast with the spiritual teaching of the Bible which – even before Jesus came – describes the Spirit of God as being present everywhere. Psalm 139, which was written over 3,000 years ago, is King David’s glorious declaration of God’s omnipresence: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there” (Ps. 139: 7-8). And in the book of Jeremiah we read: ““Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord” (Jer. 23:24).

“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge” (Psalm 91:4)

“He has never failed me … I delight in speaking well of His name”. This is the beautiful way in which George Müller concluded a letter of encouragement that he had written to Hudson Taylor, who lived by faith as a missionary in China for over 50 years. Clearly, George Müller was not using the word “name” as a label of identification but rather as an expression of the character and nature of His Lord, whom he had come to know as an utterly faithful, tender and wise Father who is unfailingly true to all His promises. It stirs my heart to read this expression of delight. It also leads me to reflect more deeply on the meaning of the word “name” in the Bible and – in particular – on the use of the phrase “in Jesus’ name” in our prayer lives. Jesus Himself indicates, in several instances, that we are to pray and make requests to the Father “in My name” (for example, in John 14:13,14 & 16, among other verses). The word “name” in both the Old and New Testaments generally means authority and character. It is never simply a form of identification; rather, in biblical culture, a name always conveys the bearer’s whole nature, character and qualities. So how do these two biblical meanings of the word “name” apply to us when we pray and act? Praying and acting in the authority of Jesus As believers, we are given authority to pray and to act in Jesus’ name because of His sacrifice on our behalf. His death and resurrection set us free from the penalty of sin and enable us to approach the Father with boldness, because we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. His righteousness is now our own righteousness: “For He [God the Father] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Praying and acting in the character of Jesus In my own experience, it is much more challenging to pray and act in the character of Jesus because it requires us to have (or to work towards having) the qualities and characteristics of Jesus flowing in our own lives.  It is worth mentioning here that aiming to have His character – founded upon Love – is vital because without the foundational characteristic of love, the exercise of authority can sometimes be unhelpful and even damaging.