# 426 In the Name of Jesus

The Book of Genesis

Day 426

Ge 46:1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

Jacob (Israel) packs up all his belongings and heads to Egypt. Along the way he stops at Beersheba. This was the southernmost city in Palestine, and if you look at a map, you’ll see it was along the trade route to Egypt. I picture it almost like St. Louis in the early days of America. It was the gateway to the west. It was at St Louis that many went all in with new chapters in their lives, and that’s what Jacob is doing at Beersheba. No wonder he stopped and made sacrifices. (Don’t forget that it was at Beersheba that Abraham worshiped, and it was the place where the Lord reaffirmed His covenant with Isaac. .

Stepping out of the Promised land and into Egypt, it seems only fitting that Jacob would pause and make a sacrifice to God in remembrance of that covenant. These sacrifices in the Old Testament were ways of honoring God, and touching base with Him. We may think it strange, but hold on!

When we pray, when we seek to “touch base with God,” through prayer, it’s the same thing. Virtually every Christian wraps up his time of prayer with God by saying, “In Jesus Name I pray.” Okay, what was Jesus but not the ultimate sacrifice?

So you see, even today, when we pray, when we seek God’s face, when we petition Him, when we seek assurance from Him, we too offer up a sacrifice in the sense that we remember the sacrifice of Jesus for us! And in the power of that sacrifice and through the blood of Jesus we may come boldly to the throne of grace bearing our needs.

When we pray, “In the name of Jesus,” we are telling God that we remember the sacrifice of his only Son for our sins. We reaffirm our love for Him, acknowledging that He is the only way we can approach a holy God! Such prayers catch the ear of the Father, because we ask in the name of His Son, in whom He is well pleased.