Jesus gave His disciples several important promises in the Upper Room Discourse, but one of them has been very commonly misunderstood.

Here it is: "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:13-14).

Now, this promise tells believers how we'll be able to do the greater works He had promised previously. "He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do" (v. 12).

Jesus talked about how those greater works were going to be done when He said, "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." What He wanted them—and us—to know is this: Absent doesn't mean unavailable. "Just because you can't see Me physically, doesn't mean I'm unavailable to you spiritually."

And the thing that removes the distance between heaven and earth is simple: prayer. As soon as you pray, it removes that gap and opens the floodgates for the resources of God. That's how the greater works are able to be accomplished.

But part of that promise has been greatly misunderstood. Some people treat "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it" like it's a magical formula. They seem to think that you can just say the words "in Jesus' name" at the end of a prayer and it's like "Abracadabra!" But Jesus didn't mean that you could just tack a phrase on to the end of a prayer, as if you were waving a wand and expect things to happen.

To pray in Jesus' name is like the song we sometimes sing: "Here in your presence, Lord, I surrender to Your glory, for Your glory." It's captured right there in that little worship song. That's what it means to pray in the name of Jesus. It means that you're praying according to all that His name embodies—according to the character of Jesus, to seek the glory and will of Jesus. It doesn't mean you just add His name at the end so the Father says, "OK, you said the magic words. Now I'm going to do it," as if it was a blank check.

We pray according to the name of Jesus when we pray, "Lord, I want to find out what you are up to in this world. I want to find out what you want, and be a part of that." That's the start of a prayer in accord with the character and the will of Jesus.

"If you ask anything in My name, according to My will, with My purpose, with My character and reputation and glory in mind," is a qualifying statement. And I tell you what, our prayers would dramatically change if we said, "Lord I'm praying this for Your sake, for the glory of God to be expanded."

You might even discover there are certain things you would have a hard time praying. Like, "Lord, I need a brand-new television for Your glory, for Your kingdom to be expanded, and Your name to be upheld."

So, remember that the qualifying statement is "If you ask anything in My name, for My sake." Fully grasping that concept will counteract all those "give me" prayers that we pray.

Now your prayers will be focused on His will, His glory, His character.