In Jesus' Name

I can move a mountain. I can heal the sick. Give sight to the blind. Feed the hungry. Cast out demons. I can do anything.

A phrase that is taken to lightly. Usually the quickest part of any prayer. But what we don't get is that the prayer is made possible because of this phrase.

We have power in Jesus' name, just look at what it has done. The disciples used it to do all the things mentioned above (I don't know if they tried moving any mountains though, but they could definitely have done it). If using Jesus as a mediator wasn't as big of a deal most prayers would end like this

"Alright God, until next time!"

But what's funny is how we have come to use Jesus' name as a goodbye instead of a proclamation of our covenant with God.

Amen: uttered at the end of a prayer or hymn, meaning 'So be it.'

Not gonna lie... I never really knew the true meaning to Amen. For the longest time I thought it was some word used for "thanks for listening, please answer my prayers."

Do you know how much your prayer can change just because you know the meaning of Amen?

"In Jesus' Name, Amen,"  Until now may have meant very little to you. I know I never payed much attention to it. But think about it, although you may have known the power in Jesus' name, now you can effectively use it.

Acts 19:11-20

The Sons of Sceva

   

    ¹¹And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. ¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" ¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

So here are seven brothers.... who got beat up by one guy (demon possessed of course). This might be most of us. Just like our bedtime or pre-meal prayers, we just throw in a "Jesus" and assume it makes everything better. 

But notice one other thing from this passage, even after being totally humiliated everyone who saw what happened repented and became believers. 

Side Note: We have already won. The demons know this, and Satan knows this, and he does not want us to know this... 

So now go out and proclaim the name! We have victory in Jesus! 

Whether your praying for food, our country, protection of others, or even for confidence on stage or during trials and temptations; Know that you have power through Jesus. 

Halfway through the week, try to spread the word about the blog. And keep coming up with topics, thanks to those who have already contributed.

Blake J.