There are some Christian praise songs I really like that talk about the power in the name of Jesus. Thinking about them, though, got me wondering: how can there be power in a name? I mean, the thought of there being actual power in a name seems almost mystical to me.

So, let’s unpack a couple verses from the Bible to see if there’s anything to this.

In Exodus 3, Moses first encounters God from a burning bush. This is when God calls Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. Moses clearly does not want to answer this calling (it’s clear because Moses offers several excuses why he’s not the guy for the job). One thing Moses asks God is who he should say sent him to the Isrealites to lead them from bondage. This is God’s response:

Fast forward to the New Testament. In Matthew 18, right after the Last Supper, Jesus and 11 of His disciples are in the Garden of Gethsemane later that night. Jesus’ other disciple, Judas Iscariot, brings Jewish soldiers and officials to show them where Jesus is so they can arrest Him. Jesus asks them who they are looking for, and they respond that they are seeking “Jesus the Nazarene.” And here is how Jesus identifies Himself:

I realize that sometimes the way they talked in the Bible seems strange to us, so it’s possible to chalk this phrasing up to that and miss this entirely. But “this “I AM” is not some archaic phrase that everyone used to say, like “thee” and “thou”. On the contrary, it was phrasing that God had reserved for referring to Himself.

And we can see in the passage from John that when Jesus referred to Himself this way, everyone around Him was knocked to the ground.

To me, this is a great example of there being actual power in God’s name.

For an example that I’ve experienced in my own life, I’ll tell you that in times when I’ve felt darkness closing in all around me and I’ve thought to whisper, “Jesus, help me,” I have physically experienced the darkness running away from me. Simply by calling on the name of Jesus, I’ve been suddenly overcome by a peace that defies explanation. Of course, this begs the question why I don’t always call on His name when I’m under attack–my best guess is that it’s probably because I think I can handle it on my own. That seems ridiculous now as I write this, and I wish I could give a better explanation, but I’m trying to be honest with you so maybe you can learn from my dumb choices.

My suggestion to you (and to me) is that the next time you feel under attack–overwhelmed, tempted, stressed, greedy, etc.–simply call out the name of Jesus and see what happens. This isn’t an incantation, though. It’s an invitation.

When you invite Jesus into your heart, He will protect you. He fights our spiritual battles for us, and He knows how to win.