Pray in Jesus’ Name, January 7

My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1, NKJV.BLJ 14.1

We have an advocate at the throne of God, which is encircled by the bow of promise, and we are invited to present our petitions in the name of Christ before the Father. Jesus says: Ask what ye will in My name, and it shall be done unto you. In presenting My name, you bear witness that you belong to Me, that you are My sons and daughters, and the Father will treat you as His own, and love you as He loveth Me.BLJ 14.2

Your faith in Me will lead you to exercise close, filial affection toward Me and the Father. I am the golden chain by which your heart and soul are bound in love and obedience to My Father. Express to My Father the fact that My name is dear to you, that you respect and love Me, and you may ask what you will. He will pardon your transgressions, and adopt you into His royal family—make you a child of God, a joint heir with His only-begotten Son.BLJ 14.3

Through faith in My name He will impart to you the sanctification and holiness which will fit you for His work in a world of sin, and qualify you for an immortal inheritance in His kingdom. The Father has thrown open, not only all heaven, but all His heart, to those who manifest faith in the sacrifice of Christ, and who through faith in the love of God return unto their loyalty. Those who believe in Christ as the sin-bearer, the propitiation for their sins, the intercessor in their behalf, may through the riches of the grace of God lay claim to the treasures of heaven....BLJ 14.4

The prayer of the contrite heart unlocks the treasure-house of supplies, and lays hold of omnipotent power. This kind of prayer enables the suppliant to understand what it means to lay hold of the strength of God, and to make peace with Him. This kind of prayer causes us to have an influence over those with whom we associate.... It is our privilege and duty to bring the efficacy of the name of Christ into our petitions, and use the very arguments that Christ has used in our behalf. Our prayers will then be in complete harmony with the will of God.—The Signs of the Times, June 18, 1896.BLJ 14.5