If you’re like me you were raised both to use God’s name repeatedly and to avoid it like the plague. Every prayer must end with, “In Jesus’ name” (or, “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”). But you must never “take God’s name in vain.”

There are good biblical reasons for both rules. The first is based on John 14:14. The second comes from Exodus 20:7.

The question is, what do they mean?

I. Doing Things (Like Praying) in Jesus’ Name

Praying Isn’t the Only Thing
In the Gospels you’ll see you can do other things besides praying in Jesus’ name:

You can welcome people (Matthew 18:5).
You can get together in a group (Matthew 18:20).
You can come as a leader (Mark 13:6).
You can do miracles (Mark 9:39).

So, “in Jesus’ name” isn’t just a tag you put on the end of a prayer. It’s not just a phrase. It’s a way of doing things.

Having Jesus’ “Power of Attorney”
Think about “representatives.” Agents, lawyers, and politicians are all supposed to “represent” us, to speak for us. They are allowed to do certain things for us, and it counts as if we ourselves had done them.

(This is why some people get so worked up over politics. They don’t like what politicians do “in their name.” But it’s also why people hire agents and lawyers. You act smarter if someone smart is acting for you.)

“With Great Power . . .”
We’re in the same situation when it comes to Jesus. We’re His agents. We have His power of attorney. So when we say, “in Jesus’ name” at the end of our prayers, we mean, “And I speak for Jesus when I say all the stuff I just said. Those are Jesus’ requests.”

This means we have the responsibility to say what Jesus would actually say, to ask what He would actually ask, to continue Jesus’ work, to do what He would do. What a responsibility!

II. Taking God’s Name “In Vain”

What It Means:
Once you see that you may not only pray “in Jesus’ name,” but act in Jesus name — and once you see that this means that you can “speak for” or “act on behalf of” Jesus — you understand what it means to “take God’s name in vain”:

(a) Saying Jesus Wants What He Doesn’t
What if you prayed for something Jesus really doesn’t want, and yet you claim you’re praying “in Jesus’ name”? (Imagine if you prayed for all the puppies in the world to spontaneously combust, or something.) You would be taking Jesus’ name — “wrapping yourself in it” — as your authority for asking what you asked. But you would actually be lying.

(b) Saying Jesus Does What He Doesn’t
Or what if you tried to do something bad “in Jesus’ name”? (Imagine if you kicked a puppy, or something.) You would be saying, “I am acting on Jesus’ behalf. This is what Jesus would do.” But you would be lying.

(c) “Take” = Take Up/Bear/Carry; “Vain” = Empty
If you check the literal meanings of the words “take” and “vain” in Exodus 20:7, you see that together they mean “to bear or carry or take up in an empty or false way.” Any time someone takes up God’s name to give themselves an air of authority for saying (or doing) something that God would not actually say (or do), they are using God’s name without authorization — in an empty way.

(d) Lying About God
To take God’s name in vain, therefore, is to lie about what God says, does, or desires. It is to speak or act for God without authorization.

III. What a Privilege (and Responsibility)!

We Can Speak and Act for God
Jesus told us to ask in His name. He said we can welcome people in His name and act in His name. When we pray, we are actually speaking for God to God. And when we act, we are acting for God.

(For instance, while talking about doing things in His name, Jesus said, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).)

From what I can tell, then, if we are speaking and acting rightly (see James 4:3), God speaks God acts with us

But to Do So We Must Become Christlike . . .
Imagine the kind of love that God must have for humanity to give us this privilege and task. And imagine how much we must actually be Christlike to be worthy of it, to carry it out correctly.

This is why we are constantly reminded in Scripture to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), to have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16), to be “conformed to [His] image” (Romans 8:29, 1 Corinthians 15:49, Colossians 3:10), to be “imitators” of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1, NRSV).

. . . And That Takes Practice
If we are not like Christ, we are not likely to speak as Christ would speak, or act as Christ would act. And that means we are very likely to take God’s name in vain through our words and actions.

To fulfill our responsibility, therefore, we must become like Christ. And to become like Christ, we must practice speaking, thinking, and acting as Christ does (see Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, and Dallas Willard’s Spirit of the Disciplines).

So, We Must Be Careful
And that means we must be constantly learning Christ (Ephesians 4:20), rather than assuming we already know how Christ would act, think, and speak. We must be careful about what we claim, do, or ask in Christ’s name.

In other words, let’s be careful not lie to ourselves, each other, the world, or God about what it is God wants, or how it is God would (have us) act. Let’s be careful with the privilege and task we’ve been given (Matthew 25:14-30).

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