Jn 16:23b-28
[Jesus said to his disciples,] 23“Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.24Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
“I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. 26On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. 27For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.> What’s in a name? To pray in Jesus’ name is not simply to give God a request list of the things we need, with Jesus as our bridge. Neither is it to drag Jesus to the complaints department. To pray is to ask the Father to grant us Jesus’ attitude and kindness, to open our hearts to his will—like Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane—and to put on the heart of Jesus who calls God, Abba, both in joy and on the cross.
The next time you pray, ask for nothing, for God knows what you need even before you ask. Ask rather that the name and heart of Jesus be etched in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.