EASTER – WEEK 5 – WEDNESDAY 

LESSON: MATTHEW 7:7-12 

“If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14 

An important factor in our prayers is that we must pray to our heavenly Father in the name of Jesus. This is nothing else but to come to God with faith in Christ and to console ourselves with the confidence that He is our Mediator through whom all things are given to us. 

Without such faith and confidence in Christ and His work of salvation, we would merit nothing but wrath and displeasure. St. Paul reminds us of all this when he declares in Romans, “Through Christ we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). 

We are really asking in the name of Jesus when we rely on Jesus and believe that we shall be accepted and heard for His sake and not for our sakes. 

Those who ask in their own name—with the presumptuous idea that God will hear them and regard them because of their many great, devotional, and holy prayers—will merit and receive nothing but God’s wrath and disfavor. They do not regard a mediator as necessary. For them, Christ has no significance and is of no use. 

SL 11:922 (10) 

AE 77:255 

PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, never let us forget how much we need the work of our Savior and Mediator. On this basis, may our prayers be always pleasing and acceptable to You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.