Not Praying in Jesus Name - a Sellout?

Originally Posted by Stephen Hoover

I have always thought every prayer, in every place should be "in Jesus Name".

This has never been a question in my personal life/church/family.

However, at times I am asked to pray in a group - as in asking a blessing where there are unbelievers or even those who may be of a non Christian religion and realize there could be offense. I have never shied away from saying, "In Jesus Name" or "in Your Name" we pray, Amen.

This past week I was in a meeting where a Spirit-filled Christian was asked to give invocation at a banquet dinner with a mix of several hundred people (I know some were Jewish) present. He entirely skipped the ending, making no reference to any "Name" at all.

I was offended a bit at first, then thought, perhaps it was the right thing to do here - knowing he was representing some who would not pray "In Jesus' Name".

How do you deal with these situations? If you are a chaplain and you know an individual will be offended if you pray to Jesus, what do you do?

If you don't pray in Jesus Name - what is the point?

Does merely saying the words "in Jesus' name" mean that you are praying with the authority Jesus gave you to pray? Since "in the name of" really means "in the authority of," do you cease to have the authority to pray just because you don't use a certain combination of words like some sort of magical incantation? If you start out your prayer by addressing it directly to Jesus, do you really need to say "in the name of Jesus I pray, amen"?