Praying in the name of Jesus
The phrase “in my name” is the important condition to the wonderful promise about prayer which Jesus made several times to his disciples that night (13-14; 15:16; 16:23; 16:26). Often, we reduce “praying in the name of Jesus” to a formula which we attach to the end of a prayer, perhaps thinking if we say it loudly or fervently enough it then ought to be answered! But that’s not what it means.
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Praying in the name of Jesus is not a rubber-stamp or a magic word that Christians can use to get anything they ask for. Rather, it means to pray in accordance with what Jesus himself wants. All of Jesus’s work on earth was rooted in his union with the Father (14:10-11) and was done for the Father’s glory (11:4; 17:4). In the same way Christians are able to pray in Jesus’s name because of their union with Jesus, and therefore our prayers will not be determined by self-interest but by the same concern for God’s kingdom to come and for God’s will to be done.
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It's prayers like this which Jesus promises to answer, so that he may continue to bring glory to the Father (13), just as he did while on earth. Here too we need the help of the Holy Spirit who will lead us into praying that kind of prayer (Rom.8:26).