What do the Holy Bible and the Fathers say about the power of the name of our Lord Jesus?

The Lord Christ granted His name to His disciples, not only so they could perform wonders, heal the sick, and cast out demons — He assured them of the power of His name when He said, “Whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you” (John 16:23). Thus, by His name we approach the Father and enjoy His eternal glories. Indeed, the seventy apostles came to understand the power of the name of Jesus, as is evident from their words upon their return from their mission: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!” (Luke 10:17). Isaiah the prophet , in his song of thanksgiving, expressed the power of the name of God, saying, “The desire of our soul is for Your name, and for the remembrance of You. With my soul I have desired You in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek you early” (Isa. 26:8–9).

St. John Climacus (of the ladder) says, “Flog your enemies with the name of Jesus, for there is no stronger weapon in heaven or earth.”³⁰⁶

St. Cyril the Great says, “He among those who do not yet believe in God and who despises the name of God confesses the power of the Most Holy One when the rays of the truth shine upon him.”

306 St. John Climacus: Ladder of Divine Ascent , trans., Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell (Paulist Press, 1982) 21.7: p. 172.

St. Barsanuphius and St. John say, “The remembrance of God’s name utterly destroys all that is evil and wicked.”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “If any disbelieve the power of the Crucified, let him ask the devils.”³⁰⁷

St. Ephrem the Syrian says,

“Jesus, glorious name, Secret bridge which leads across from death to life, to you I have come and stopped, at yod your letter I am held. Be a bridge for my speech, that it may cross to the truth. Make your love a bridge for your servant: by you let me cross to your Father. Let me cross and say ‘Blessed be he who made his might gentle through his Child.’”³⁰⁸

St. Isaac the Syrian speaks of the practice of the Jesus Prayer, saying, “It is not becoming that great things should fall into our hands easily: lest the gift of God should be thought to be cheap because of its being acquired without difficulty. All that is acquired with labour, is guarded with caution. Thirst after Jesus; then he will satisfy you with his love. Shut your eyes to the precious things of the world; then you will be deemed worthy of a peace given by God to reign in your heart.”³⁰⁹

St. Gregory the Theologian says that all Christians should repeat the name of the Lord in their prayer, more times than the number of their breaths: “Not only should we pray the name of Jesus Christ without ceasing, but we must also practice it and teach it others, to every person on the face of the earth, for it is fitting and beneficial for all.”

St. John Cassian says, “It is not some kind of imagination, conversation, or mere words — it is like a spark that flies off that burning coal which is the movement of the heart, and from the activity of the inextinguishable Spirit who raises the mind above every materialistic thing which can be seen or touched; and thus he pours out his prayers with groanings and sorrows which cannot be uttered.”

307 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 13.3 (NPNF II/7:82).

308 Robert Murray, St. Ephrem’s Dialogue of Reason and Love, in Sobornost , vol 2, no 2 (1980): p 30. See St. Ephrem’s “The Pearl, or Seven Rhythms on Faith” in Rhythms: Select Works of S. Ephrem the Syrian , trans., J. B. Morris (London: John Henry Parker; F. and J. Rivington, 1847) 6.6: pp. 130–131.

309 St. Isaac of Nineveh, Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh , trans., A. J. Wensinck (Amsterdam: Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, 1923) 3 (33–34): p. 24 amended.

St. John Chrysostom says , “I implore you, brethren, never to neglect the rule of this prayer. Whenever you eat, drink, travel, or do anything, cry without ceasing: ‘Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me!’” He also says, “Do not estrange your heart from God, but abide in Him and guard your heart always by remembering the Lord Jesus Christ, until the name of the Lord becomes rooted in the heart and it ceases to think of anything else. May Christ be glorified in you.”³¹⁰

Abba Agathon says, “There is no labor greater than praying to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies the demons try to prevent him; for they know that nothing obstructs them so much as prayer to God. In everything else that a man undertakes, if he perseveres he will attain rest. But in order to pray a man must struggle to his last breath.”³¹¹

St. Athanasius says, “Christ did not command us to fill our prayers with ten thousand phrases and to come before Him merely to recite them … We do not come to teach Him, but to wrestle with Him; that we may cling to Him with the persistent cry: ‘Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!’ He is living and active, working day after day for the salvation of all.”