The Authority of Jesus’
Name
Kenneth E. Hagin, Sr.
Mark 16:17-18
Jesus gave us the power
of attorney, the right to use His Name
God
hears and answers prayer. We might as well settle that.
It
works. Too often people just make a stab in the dark at praying. They call it
praying and let it go at that. They hope something works out some way or
another.
But
we need to take our stand on God’s Word and let Heaven, hell, and earth know
that God’s Word is true and we believe it. We need to grow in prayer. Many
times God
condescends
to meet us on an elementary level, but it is better that we grow spiritually
and meet Him on His level.
The
Bible teaches there is a similarity between physical growth and spiritual
growth. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may
grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).
No
one is born a fully grown adult. We are born as babies and grow up. No one is
born a fully grown Christian either. Christians are newborn babes and grow up.
As we mature in the Word, our prayer life should improve.
When
I was a child I prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep…”, but I don’t pray that
way anymore. I’ve grown beyond that. When we were spiritual babes we may have
prayed certain ways, but God wants us to grow spiritually. God requires more of
us now than a few years ago.
Believers Rights in the
Name of Jesus
Mark
16:17-18
And
these signs shall follow them that believe; In My Name they shall cast out
devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the
sick and they shall recover.
Prayer
should be addressed to the Father in Jesus’ Name. This is the key to seeing our
prayers answered.
In
this lesson, we will look at the rights we have in Jesus’ Name.
Jesus
gave us the power of attorney, or the right to use His Name. We use His Name
when we pray for our individual needs and when we deal with the devil. He said,
“In My Name they shall cast out devils.”
When
Jesus appointed the seventy disciples and sent them forth, “The seventy
returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us
through thy Name.” Luke 10:17
In
Acts 16:16-18 we read where Paul cast an evil spirit out of a girl. “But Paul,
being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, “I command thee in the Name of
Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour (vs 18).
I
once knew of a woman whose daughter was in a mental institution. This mother
decided to pray the prayer of faith for her daughter—exercising her authority
in Jesus’ Name and casting out the devil who kept her bound.
She
asked twelve women who were strong in faith to go with her to the mental
institution.
When
they arrived at the padded cell where her daughter was being kept, the mother
said to the attendant, “I want you to open the door and let me in, because I
want to pray for my daughter.”
“You
can’t do that”, he answered. “She’ll kill you. She’s violently insane.”
He
argued he wouldn’t let her in because he would lose his job, but all the time
he was unlocking the door. The mother stepped in and he locked the door again.
The
insane daughter looked more like an animal than a human being. Her hair and
nails had grown long, and she hissed and spat as an animal would.
While
the twelve women outside prayed silently, the mother prayed out loud,
commanding the devil to come out of her daughter in the Name of Jesus. She
prayed like this for about ten minutes.
Suddenly
the daughter relaxed, looked up and said, “Momma! Is that you Momma?” She threw
her arms around her and hugged her and kissed her. That day she was released
from the institution as being well. This mother knew her rights. She knew the
authority that was hers to cast out devils in Jesus’ Name.
Jesus
also said in Mark 16:17, “In My Name…they shall speak with new tongues.” Every
believer has the right to speak with tongues.
The
next verse says that in Jesus’ Name, “They shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.”
Again,
this doesn’t mean we are to take up serpents and handle them just to try to
prove something. It means if we are accidently bitten, as Paul was on the
island of Melita, we can shake off the snake and claim immunity in the Name of Jesus.
We
read in Acts 28:3-6 how Paul was shipwrecked. He picked up some sticks to build
a fire and a viper came out and fastened on his hand.
The
people who saw this expected him to fall dead. When he didn’t die and his hand
did not become swollen from the venom, the people knew they had witnessed a
miracle.
I
have heard of similar experiences in our day. A woman missionary in a foreign
country was stung by a deadly scorpion. There was no antidote for the bite in
those days; its sting always was fatal.
The
missionary was shopping on the street when the scorpion stung her, and people
watching expected her to swell up and die. But she just shook it off in Jesus’
Name and didn’t even get sick to her stomach.
As
a result, many of these people were saved.
Again,
Mark 16:18 says, “And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.
Again, this doesn’t mean we can drink something poisonous to try to prove a
point. It means if we do accidently, we can claim immunity in the Name of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Using the Name of Jesus
A
number of years ago a religious denomination was holding a convention in Corpus
Christi, Texas. After the people began to gather at the grounds where they were
having the convention, some of them began to fall ill.
Soon
about 20 or 30 people were desperately sick, and they began praying for one
another.
As
they prayed, someone had a revelation the water in one of the hotels was
poisonous.
This
was in the days when they didn’t have running water. They had a pitcher and
bowl on a washstand in each room. This person cautioned the rest of the people
not to drink any more water. The Lord answered prayer, and everyone was healed.
They
took a sample of the water to a nearby naval station. Laboratory tests showed
there was enough poison in the water to kill a regiment of men. Under such
circumstances we have a right to claim immunity in Jesus’ Name.
Jesus
said, “They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” (vs18).
Don’t
lay hands on someone and say, “If it be the Lord’s will”. Lay your hands on
them and claim their deliverance in the Name of Jesus. You have solid ground to
stand on.
Jesus
said, “In My Name.” It is in His Name we can cast out devils. It is in His Name
we can speak with new tongues. It is in His Name we can claim immunity if we
accidentally are bitten by a poisonous snake or if we drink any deadly thing.
It's
in His Name we can lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.
It
is His Name that gives us authority to claim these things.
Notice
He said, that “we” lay hands on the sick, not Jesus or the Holy Spirit. We lay
hands on the sick person in Jesus’ Name.
We
are the ones who talk in tongues. I have heard people say, “I’m afraid it was
just me.” Certainly that was you! You have the right to speak in tongues in
Jesus’ Name. You do the talking just as much as you lay hands on the sick
person in Jesus’ Name. The Holy Spirit gives you the utterance and you do the
talking.
This
is our right in the Name of Jesus. It belongs to everyone, not just someone
especially called. The ordinary child of God has as much right to use the Name
of Jesus as anyone.
Let
me call your attention to something else here. We do not have to struggle for
faith. Some people think if they just had enough faith, they could do those
things. But notice this passage of Scripture does not say a word about faith.
Jesus didn’t say, “If they had enough faith”. He said, “These signs shall
follow them that believe; In My Name they shall …” He went on to enumerate our
rights through His Name.
We
do not have to struggle for faith. It is simply a matter of claiming our rights
and boldly using what we know belongs to us.
The
Name of Jesus belongs to me as much as my hands and feet belong to me. When I
awaken in the morning, I don’t pray for God to give me faith to get up and
walk. I just get up and walk because I know my feet are there! The Name of
Jesus is as much mine as my hands and feet are mine, and I can use His Name.
There
are people who pray and pray, but the results do not prove their prayers are of
any value. If you don’t get results when you pray, you need to re-examine your
methods. If you aren’t expecting results when you pray, there is no need to
pray.
The Business of Prayer
Just
as businesses expect to make a profit, so we should expect a profit when we
pray. If a business was not making a profit, its management would immediately
begin to evaluate its methods and make necessary changes. Industry demands the
best technical education. It demands that people are trained to do their jobs.
Christians too, should make a business of prayer—the greatest business there
is—God’s business.
Prayer
is of the utmost importance. From a practical side, Christianity is a living
faith in touch with the living God who hears and answers prayers.
Simply
talking into the air is not prayer. Taking up 20 minutes on Sunday morning
giving God a homily on what His duties are toward the church is not prayer.
Giving the congregation a lecture is not prayer.
We
should pray for results. If we pray and see no results, it shows we have the
form without the power.
All
things God has provided are offered to us through prayer, and if we do not have
them, it is because we have not made our prayer connection.
If
you are praying without seeing any results, seek to find the trouble. Is God
untrue? No, He’s not! Is the day of prayer and miracles over? Have we been
depending on the promises of a God who has gone bankrupt? No! There is
something wrong somewhere, isn’t there? Is it because we are not known in the
Bank of Heaven?
Let’s
seek to find the cause and uproot any doubt and unbelief. Let’s pray to the
Father as Jesus taught us to pray—in Jesus’ Name—because Jesus stands behind
His Word.
When
we come according to God’s Word, our prayers cannot fail.
Memory Text
“If you shall ask
anything in My Name,
I will do it.” John
14:14
