Flies are attracted to garbage . . .

“You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Psalm 23:5)

A sheep has limited ability to keep flies from buzzing around its head, but Christians are less helpless when it comes to troubling and unwanted thoughts. Flies like garbage and God gives us resources to keep our lives free from stuff that attracts and sustains sinful thoughts.

Our main resources is the anointing oil of the Shepherd. Sometimes He sees my distress and comes to my aid. Sometimes He waits to see how I will deal with the flies. My best option is to ask for His help. He makes a couple of promises in that regard . . .

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7–8)

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:22–24)

Yet He gives me some responsibility in this matter of unwanted thoughts. The oil is for after the flies are gathered, but as the psalmist says, there are some “I will not’s” that may keep them from buzzing and bothering in the first place . . .

I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. (Psalm 101:3–7)

For example, if I can’t get my mind off sinful lifestyles, but watch soap operas on television, can I expect victory? If I join in with those who gossip, can I expect to never have bad thoughts toward others? If I lift myself up over those who achieve, can I win over arrogance? If I spent time gobbling up the garbage of those who tell lies, can I expect no battles with deceit?

Some things must be avoided. Smut of course. Books and television filled with forbidden passion and violence do not do favors to a mind struggling to remain pure. While Jesus said we are defiled by what comes out of us, not by what goes in, feeding the sinful nature only adds to its power to defile. I need to feed the Spirit of God who lives in me with thoughts, words, and visuals that edify my spiritual well-being. No garbage.

Yet my best efforts cannot stop those corrupting ideas entirely. Sometimes I feel bombarded with temptations that seem impossible to escape. I ask God for help and they don’t stop. I try and try to avoid the buzzing flies but without success. Finally, God reveals that these pests were tests, not that He sent them, but that He wanted to show me something in my inner self that needs His renewing and redemptive power . . .

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:12–15)

Those inner desires can attract flies. My good Shepherd can deal with the flies, but sometimes I’ve had to learn the hard way to stop going where flies gather and stop putting out junk or being around junk that attracts them. Instead, I need to stay much closer to the One with the anointing oil.

Praying in Jesus’ Name

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13–14)

Even as a new creation in Christ and as a saved person who knows and follows Him, I am increasingly aware that I must pray in His name and not my own. Praying in the name of Jesus means coming to God as a representative. I am part of the Body of Christ, His sister by adoption, yet the prayers that God listens to must be presented on His behalf, not my own.

This has good reason. Even with a new nature, I am stuck with the old, at least until full redemption in eternity. That old nature is sinful and corrupt, so when I pray, it has a determination to have its say, to get its way. My prayers might start out selfless but so easily turn to reasons why the answers would benefit me rather than bringing glory to God. (Even when I pray in Jesus’ name and God gives me what I ask, my sin nature can turn that answer into a pat on my back instead of praise for what He has done.)

Other reasons come to mind, but praying in the name of Jesus is commanded and is important. Otherwise, God will not hear me. How could He answer prayer in any way that departs from who He is and what He wants? Impossible.

Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He would return, but the intervening time would not be easy so He told them to pray and God would answer and give them joy in their trials . . .

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:22–24)

His joy overcomes sorrow and is mine when I pray in Jesus’ name. This involves at least three things. One is knowing that His name is about who He is and what He has done. “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) Jesus is no ordinary man. He is God in human flesh who came to die for our sin. If anyone rejects either His deity or His reason for coming, then that person cannot pray in His name.

Two is realizing that He has the power to answer, particularly when we agree together on what it is we want done. The following verses are about church discipline. When another Christian sins, we are to love that person enough to take action, action that includes prayer. Jesus promises, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:18–20)

Not only is Jesus present with us in the Spirit and helping us take care of each other, He is also highly exalted. This means that when I pray in His name, I will have an attitude of humility and submission. Yes, the Bible says that I can come “boldly to the throne of grace” but that boldness is not about me, but about the One in whose name I come, leaving my list of “I wants” and remembering who He is . . .

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth . . .  (Philippians 2:9–10)

Sometimes I imagine approaching my Father with Jesus holding my hand, giving me His thoughts and words, and saying, “Listen to her, Father, for she is my child too.”

Praying this way keeps selfish thoughts where they belong and my attitude as it should be. It also focuses my heart on listening and praying according to the will of God, and deeply appreciating the privilege and assurance of praying in Jesus’ name. 

Pray in Jesus’ Name

One classic book on prayer affirms that prayer is the most important work that any Christian does. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult. 

The Bible tells me to pray without ceasing, but hours can go by when I do not think about praying. My life is too comfortable. Prayer is far easier when life is difficult, but I’m not ready to ask for trouble just so I can be more diligent. I’d rather practice this spiritual discipline because of promises like this one…

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:22–24)

Jesus was talking about His coming crucifixion and resurrection. Even though the disciples did not understand at that time, this promise remains for them and for us, for me. 

The first thing He speaks of is a joy that cannot be taken away. This is part of what makes my life comfortable. No matter what happens, His joy is there and ready to bubble up and overcome sorrow. When your soul is happy, events and circumstances mean very little. Joy overcomes all.

Then Jesus makes an incredible promise beginning with “whatever you ask” which covers everything. However, there is one caveat; I am to ask the Father in Jesus’ name. These are not words to be tacked on to the prayer, as if they are a magical incantation. They are an attitude of the heart.

In this life, I am an ambassador for God. I represent Jesus Christ while I walk this earth. This role seems too lofty and is also far too easy to forget, but the Bible declares it. I stand on this earth as God’s representative to others. Yet in the above verses about prayer, Jesus says that I also stand before God as His representative. I come to the Father in the name of Jesus, asking in that name (not my own) for those things that are on my heart. Incredible! How can this be?

In his second epistle, Peter explains how God has, in His divine power, given me all I need for life and godliness through the knowledge of the Lord. He has called me and granted to me His precious promises. Through all that He has given me, I have become a partaker of His divine nature and escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires. 

While I am not saved by works, Peter makes it clear that I’m to add to that gift of faith a disciplined life that includes virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. He says that if these qualities are mine and increasing, they keep me from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Goodness and good deeds are the marks of a saved person.

Yet even as a saved person, I can lag in spiritual disciplines and good deeds. For that, Peter says if I lack these qualities, I am nearsighted to the point of blindness and have forgotten that I was cleansed from former sins. That is, my assurance of my salvation can be muddied up by my behavior. Peter adds, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2 Peter 1:3–10) 

When I mess up my life by sin, or even by negligence to practice spiritual disciplines — including prayer — then I forget who I am in Christ. I even forget that I represent Him to others and to God. When that happens, I cannot pray in Jesus’ name for I’ve lost that sense of being His ambassador. I’ve also lost the fullness of joy that He promises to those who ask in His name. And who knows how much goes unanswered that I could have prayed?