I love Christmas carols. As I was humming one of my favorites, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” I reflected on the significance of the word Emmanuel (or Immanuel as it appears in the Bible) and how it relates to prayer. After an angel foretells the birth of Jesus to Joseph, the book of Matthew tells us what Immanuel means: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:23).

How does our understanding of Jesus as Immanuel affect our prayer life? Significantly. We trust that Jesus restores our relationship with God the Father, letting us pray with confidence, knowing God will listen. We even include a reference to Immanuel when we conclude our prayers “in Jesus’ name.”

Praying with submission

We pray in the name of Jesus for two main reasons: to pray in submission and to pray with authority. At first glance, these two reasons might seem to contradict each other, but they go hand-in-hand. When we pray in the name of Jesus we communicate our requests to God, trusting that he answers and gives us what is best for us. In part of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray that God’s will be done, not ours (Matthew 6:10). When we submit to God’s will, we surrender our demands, and we come to a place of helplessness, acknowledging our utter dependence on God’s grace and love. In his book Prayer, Tim Keller, explains this concept well: “To pray in Jesus’ name means to come to God in prayer consciously trusting in Christ for our salvation and acceptance and not relying on our own credibility or record. It is, essentially, to reground our relationship with God in the saving work of Jesus over and over again” (p. 105). My actions, my flowery words, and my good intentions aren’t the reason that God listens to me. He listens to me because of Jesus.

Praying with authority

When we pray in the name of Jesus we also pray with the authority of Christ. Many references in Scripture speak to this truth. Jesus tells us, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14). Paul gives us another powerful example, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). God empowers our ministry of reconciliation by the authoritative work of prayer.

Reconciliation of Jesus

These two seemingly contradictory concepts—praying in submission and praying in authority—are connected through the reconciling work of Jesus. Because we’ve experienced God’s self-sacrificing love for us, we know that we can submit to him in trust. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Likewise, because God has made us a new creation, we can pray powerfully as we put on the mind of Christ.

When you pray, remember that Immanuel is God with you. May you pray with a heart of submission and with a voice of authority as you claim the name of Jesus. May you enjoy God’s presence knowing that he listens and responds in your best interest. May you wrap your heart around the beautiful mystery of the incarnation and prayer. O come, O Come, Immanuel!