John 16:24

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full.

There are two ways of understanding this: (1) as a reprimand of the apostles because of their prior failure to pray in Jesus' name, or (2) a mere statement of their habit up to that time, and mentioned only with a view to changing it. Surely the latter is correct, because when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he did not at that time command them to pray in Jesus' name (Matthew 6:9-13). There is also here the mention of their joy being made full, and that hardly fits in with the idea of a reprimand.

Hendriksen observed that:

When a believer concludes his prayer by saying, "All this we ask in Jesus' name," he is not using a magic formula. What he means is, "We ask all this on the basis of Christ's merit and in harmony with his redemptive revelation."[21]

Now, of course, it is true that "in the name of Christ" is not a magic formula, but a prayer thus concluded is properly concluded. It might be stated in other ways, to be sure; but, however it might be stated, the point here is that there can never be any substitute for stating it. The sinful and fatal shortcoming of many prayers is that they are offered in no name at all, pleading no connection whatever with Christ who died for us, and having the effect of: "God, we want all this. Amen!" The holy Scriptures deny the efficacy of all such prayers. The great fact underlying the absolute necessity of praying in Jesus' name is that, apart from the soul's connection with Christ, no man has any right whatever to ask forgiveness of sins or any other blessing. No man has access except "in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).