Sharing the Keys

 

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

—Matthew 16:19

“You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.”

—John 14:14

Do you remember, perhaps many years ago when you had just earned your driver’s license, how very grown up you felt? You likely felt care-free and in charge. Whenever your dad or mom handed you the keys to the family car, you knew you were trusted with great responsibility. You knew that you now must be especially careful because of the tremendous confidence your parent had placed in you.

To those us whom God has called to Himself and redeemed through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, God has handed us the “keys” to His kingdom. One of those keys He has given us is His precious Name that He has given us to use in prayer.

I like what Andrew Murray wrote in his little book, With Christ in the School of Prayer:¹

What is a person’s name? That word or expression in which the person is called up or represented to us. When I mention or hear a name, it calls up before me the whole man, what I know of him, and also the impression he has made on me. The name of a king includes his honor, his power, his kingdom. His name is the symbol of his power. And so each name of God embodies and represents some part of the glory of the Unseen One… Jesus solemnly gives to all His disciples a general and unlimited power of the free use of His Name at all times for all they desire. He could not do this if He did not know that He could trust us with His interests, that His honor would be safe in our hands. The free use of the name of another is always the token of great confidence or close union.

When I took my father’s car out for a drive or to attend a meeting, I knew that nearly everyone in our small town knew to whom that car belonged. Would I want people to see me driving recklessly, or parking in a no-parking zone, or parking in front of an establishment my father himself wouldn’t frequent? Of course not!

Again, here’s Andrew Murray:¹

When the Lord Jesus went to heaven, He left His work, the management of His kingdom on earth, in the hands of His servants. He could not do otherwise than also give them His Name to draw all the supplies they needed for the due conduct of His business… The use of the Name always supposes the surrender of our interests to Him whom we represent.

If my father needed a part for a broken piece of farm equipment, since I was his oldest child, he would often ask me to go to town for that part. Since we lived several miles from town, it would have been useless for him to have asked me and not allowed me the use of his car. Likewise, Jesus gives us His work to do in the world. When He ascended to heaven, He equipped us with His Holy Spirit and the power of prayer, using His Name, to do His work.

Once my father asked me to go on an errand, I never decided to take his car and, rather than doing that errand, chose instead to hang out with my friends. No! I knew the purpose for which I had been given the keys. Likewise, we should clearly know the purposes for which God has given us His Name. We need to stay in constant touch with our Father and, relying on the Holy Spirit, ascertain truthfully His will in our prayers. The more we understand God’s purposes, the more readily we will pray for that which He wills.

Let us intentionally remember the responsibility of “the keys” that God has given us. And, let us take that memory to heart every time we go to God in prayer. We should ask ourselves:

• Am I praying for that which my Father would have me pray?
  
  
• Do I represent my Father in this prayer?
  
  
• As led by the Holy Spirit, have I determined that what I am asking matches His divine will in this situation?

As God’s grown up children, we need to understand the grave nature of prayer. And, we must use that power to do His work in the world to the glory of His matchless Name.

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1 Murray, Andrew. With Christ in the School of Prayer. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming Revell Co., 1953. Pp. 133-134.