Being found mortal and human with all our weaknesses and imperfections, we naturally want to be a part of something larger than us. When we go on an important errand and have important work to do, we do not want to represent only our fallible selves, but we want to represent a higher more powerful, more believable authority. When we are in trouble, we want to call upon a higher power who has the means to save us. Jesus found himself as a man and humbled himself before the Father and did all things in his name. So even He, the greatest of all (D&C 19:18) humbled himself to call upon a higher power. He invites us to do the same humbling unto obedience to a higher power:
Philip 2:5-11
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;
11 And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The apostle Paul also humbled himself and called upon a higher power in his appeal unto Ceasar:
Acts 25:11
11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
Paul had earlier been acting distantly by the authority of the chief priests:
Acts 9:14,21
14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
21 But all that heard [him] were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
Because Christ humbled himself he received a name which is above every name. He represented the Father on earth, had the Father’s power, did the Father’s works, spoke the Father’s words. He said unto Philip, who asked him to show the Father to them, “If you have seen me ye have seen the Father.”
John 14:8-9
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?
He also raised the importance of what he was doing by appealing to the Father’s name:
John 5:43
43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
John 5:20-23
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth [them]; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
23 That all [men] should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
John 7:16
16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
John 7:29
29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.
John 10:18
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
So, even in the end, the giving of his life was a humble obedience to the Father in whose name he was acting. Just as he was acting in the Father’s name, he invites us to act in his name. However, we do not feel worthy or perfect like he was and shrink to act in his name. That is the main reason for the atonement. In Hebrew, the atonement means to cover one’s sins from God’s eyes. When we come to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, the Father sees us representing Christ, just as a prince represents the king when sent on important business far away. He sees us perfected in Christ. He sees the atonement but not the sins covered over by the robe of righteousness from the atonement.
When we are doing the Father’s work in the name of Jesus Christ, the Father sees us as saviors on mount Zion. So we really do not come to the Father on our own, but with Christ as our advocate and by our side pleading our case before the Father. In coming to the Father as children go to their father and asking for his help in doing his work and will, we are treated as if we were the Son. Literally we are all sons and daughters of God:
Rom 8:14-17
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together
Eph 1:5
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
The following is a list a scriptures confirming the power of the Father to do whatsoever is asked in the name of the Son:
John 14:13-14
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it].
John 15:16
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
John 16:23-24,26
23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
This last scripture emphasizes the role Christ plays in this. He wants us to pray to the Father directly in his name and not pray to him for him to deliver our prayers to the Father. All the translations have the word “not” here to help us understand this crucial point. We do not need an intermediary to pray to the Father like Jesus himself prayed to his own Father. We are to come on our own to an intimate dialogue with God the Father in the name of Christ. When we do so, the promise of the Savior is that we will get results.
This act of calling upon the Father as if we were Jesus Christ himself for help in doing all the Father’s will changes us forever and is part of the perfection process. In Acts these kind of prayers are what will save us.
Acts 2:21
21 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Paul reiterates this promise in Romans:
Rom 10:11-15
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Paul further tells us that calling upon God in the name of Jesus sanctifies us:
1 Cor 1:2
2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called [to be] saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Since Jesus Christ was the God, the Jehovah, of the Old Testament, it is not suprising to see his name recommended by the prophets for use in time of need. See:
1 Sam 17:45
45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
Ps 8:1
1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Ps 103:1
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, [bless] his holy name.
Ps 113:1-3
1 PRAISE ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.
3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name [is] to be praised.
Ps 148:13
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory [is] above the earth and heaven.
Joel 2:32
32 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
In Zephaniah, the future Zion oneness of language and heart and mind will be accomplished by calling on the name of the Lord:
Zeph 3:9
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
More blessings come for praying in His holy name, such as blessings for our families. Jesus taught the Nephites:
3Nephi 18
19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;
20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.
21 Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.
The words in the Sacrament Prayers, “In the name of thy Son”, are not just an idle set of words that we hear so much and ignore. They are not there to be pretty and make the prayer sound nice. Being in Christ, becoming like the Savior, praying like Him with power, having faith in His Name that our prayer will be heard, receiving and be able to receive the requesting blessing, blessing us and our families with His Spirit, are just some of the many blessings associated with praying in the only Name under Heaven with power to save us.