Do We Pray to God or Jesus?

FaultySurplus said:

I wouldn't think so. He already knows how screwed up we are and I'm quite sure He's used to it.

Sometimes I think of Him sitting up there when I pray and I say, "Lord, it's me again. You know, the screw-up", He's just sighs, rolls the eyes, and says "No kidding".

(Of course being an occasionally sarcastic fellow myself, I can easily attribute such a fine and beautiful quality to others.)

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I think He reads our hearts.....

i didn't know you ever got sarcastic, Faulty

arielette said:

A question Ladies and Gentlemen:

Do we pray to God or Jesus? I find myself unsure on the subject. Jesus is God, but in the Lords Prayer he directs us to pray to our Father in Heaven. Thanks!

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Both. How could one claim to have a relationship with Jesus without talking to him? The Gospels are full of examples of people talking with Jesus - why would we stop at the moment of ascension? Of course the penultimate verse of the bible is a prayer to Jesus. Seems good enough reasons to me.


The reasons sometimes given for not praying to Jesus strike me absurd:

• Jesus prayed to the father. Well yes, people say funny things if you talk to yourself.
• Jesus told us to pray to the father. Yes, but he didn't say "... and stop talking to me".
• The N.T. only includes prayers to the father. Simply untrue. Most of the prayers in Acts, the Epistles and Revelations are ambiguous in who they directed two. Some do appear to be directed to Jesus specifically including Acts 1:24 and Rev22:20,

Anyway, it strikes me that anyone who says "I only pray to the father" and "I have a relationship with Jesus" must be wrong about one of those two.

zaksmummy said:

When Jesus prayed it was always directed at the Father. Jesus' use of the "Father" was so that he didnt have to use the sacred name of God. That is why you will also see the "the Name" or in Hebrew, "HaShem" as another example. In English translations it is translated as "LORD".

Basically, pray to the Father through the name of Jesus the Messiah as the mediator.

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No, the sacred Name of God is: I AM WHO I AM.

That is self-evident why people do not use that Name.

What foolishness.

God IS Our Father.

As for the various other posts I have seen which disagree with the very simple teaching of Jesus:

Jesus clearly taught people how to pray. There should be no question about this matter.

You glorify the Father by obeying Jesus.

Jesus ONLY wants to glorify the Father.

Anyone who does not listen to what Jesus said does not honor the Son nor the Father: and by this they show they have never known the Son.

And yes, Jesus and the Father are One.

arielette said:

A question Ladies and Gentlemen:

Do we pray to God or Jesus? I find myself unsure on the subject. Jesus is God, but in the Lords Prayer he directs us to pray to our Father in Heaven. Thanks!

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These verses come to mind.

Pro 30:4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!

Job 9:33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both,
Job 9:34 someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.
Job 9:35 Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
Hbr 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
Hbr 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.

Call on God out of a pure heart. The rest is up to Him.

lismore said:

John 14:14 NIV
You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

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I would say that the large majority of prayers in Scripture are directed to the Father. But to me, this verse is sufficient to prove that praying to Jesus is not "wrong."

And based on the "prophesy to the Spirit/breath" stuff in Ezekiel, and the places in Acts that said things along the lines of, "it seemed good to the Spirit and to us," it seems like it is also not "wrong" to talk to the Spirit, whether inviting Him to come, or to ask Him guidance.

It's impossible to get this wrong really, isn't it?

Prayer to either the Father, the Spirit or the Son is ALL prayer to ONE GOD anyway. How can we tie ourselves in knots wondering if we might have overstepped some hidden, mysterious protocol?!

arielette said:

A question Ladies and Gentlemen:

Do we pray to God or Jesus? I find myself unsure on the subject. Jesus is God, but in the Lords Prayer he directs us to pray to our Father in Heaven. Thanks!

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It doesn't matter.

Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

We are able to call out to God by the Spirit of His Son. The relation of the Spirit to Jesus is underscored here.

Matthew 19:17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Jesus directs attention to God, the final norm of goodness. Only God can answer the question of goodness and Jesus has just answered the question in the following verse. Thus, Jesus is God.

Trinity is the answer.

I'm rather curious about the John 14:14 thing. I wonder if it may have been transposed in the translation, i.e., I, Myself will do it, re placed with "ask me, anything in my name". But, that sounds kind of weak, since the NASB also interprets it as the NIV does, so, my idea may be wrong. But, the American Standard Version has it without the first 'me' as does Young's literal translation. And, of course, the KJV doesn't have it, so, I'll go with it. Just a few verses later, however, he says 'in that day, ye shall ask ME nothing," and, 'Because the Father Himself loveth you..."
Paul, IIRC, never mentioned praying to Jesus, and only mentioned praying to the Father.
In short, I only pray to the Father, but, I can always learn!

Best wishes,
goldenboy

I hear a lot of people who pray to Father Weejus.

"Father Weejus come to you today to ask your blessing..."





Silliness aside, I agree with many of those posting above. Most of the examples we have, both from Scripture and the early Church, show prayers addressed to God the Father AND prayers addressed to God the Savior Jesus Christ. It doesn't seem to matter which. Personally, I tend to address either the Father in Christ's name, or just use "Lord" to address the Three-In-One without distinction of persons.

goldenboy said:

I'm rather curious about the John 14:14 thing. I wonder if it may have been transposed in the translation, i.e., I, Myself will do it, re placed with "ask me, anything in my name". But, that sounds kind of weak, since the NASB also interprets it as the NIV does, so, my idea may be wrong. But, the American Standard Version has it without the first 'me' as does Young's literal translation. And, of course, the KJV doesn't have it, so, I'll go with it. Just a few verses later, however, he says 'in that day, ye shall ask ME nothing," and, 'Because the Father Himself loveth you..." . I wish we had a Greek scholar to interpret this appropriately!
Paul, IIRC, never mentioned praying to Jesus, and only mentioned praying to the Father.
In short, I only pray to the Father, but, I can always learn!

Best wishes,
goldenboy

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I seem to recall, upon reflection, that the John 14:14 thing 'ask Me...my name.." is a mistranslation, and it really says 'ask anything in My name. "Anybody have new light on this matter?

Best wishes,
goldenboy

arielette said:

A question Ladies and Gentlemen:

Do we pray to God or Jesus? I find myself unsure on the subject. Jesus is God, but in the Lords Prayer he directs us to pray to our Father in Heaven. Thanks!

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They are ONE!!!

arielette said:

Thats an interesting point. I didn't have a father and at times I find myself approaching God as I imagine a child does his parent. When I wanted to talk like a friend, person to person, it was to Jesus. It should be one or the other shouldn't it?

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Since Jesus taught his chosen twelve to pray to the Power or Divine Source we have the pattern for prayer. We confess Jesus is Lord and has risen from the dead. We confess he is the Great Shepherd who opens the gate {the Door} to the Heavenly Father. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. We pray in His name when we go to the Father. We accept the interecession and redemption of Jesus as our Lord and Savior, however when we pray, we pray to the Heavenly Father, with whom we have a divine relationship.

CRNative said:

They are ONE!!!

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I agree totally. Jesus IS God, therefore we can quite freely pray to Him. Actually, He was the Jehovah of the Old Testament. The Scripture says that no-one has seen the Father at any time. But this would be inconsistent with the appearances of God at Sinai to Moses, the Angel of the Lord to Abraham, and other manifestations of God in the Old Testament. All these manifestations are of the Son of God, the Second Person in the Trinity. So there is no doubt that we can pray to Jesus, as well as to the Father.

I told a Jehovah's Witness that Jesus was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and he was not sure how to answer me so he changed the subject!!

Deba said:

but I pray to any one of The Three depending on what I'm praying about. I don't think They have a communication problem

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Amen, and Amen.

I usually address my prayers to Father God, and end it in the name of Jesus. As I have studied the Bible I have come to believe this is the correct way to pray.

What I mean is. I will usually ask my request saying Father God help me with this or that, and then end the prayer by asking all this in the name of Jesus. Sometimes mentionally Jesus name several times.

When I am asking for forgiveness I will also ask Jesus in the middle of my prayer to.

Remember Jesus said if we ask anything in his name we would grant it. So we certainly need to ask in the name Jesus.

Sometimes I will also ask the Holy Spirit to fill me up. Or annoint my singing when I am leading songs.

So depending on the situation and it can be different. How you should pray also depends on the situation.

Tough Question, sort of...........................

Jesus said he came in his Father's name which the Father gave him before the world was made. So I think you could say Father Jesus and be OK. If you don't have the faith of doubting Thomas before Jesus visited him and corrected him, you could pray Father God in Jesus' name.

Jesus, the precious and wonderful name of Jesus

I found the title to this post a bit of a giggle, though I did read the intent of the poster.

Arielette, you are quite correct, Jesus always encouraged his disciples to pray to the Father. In fact John records Jesus' instruction to this disciples to, "Ask the Father in my name."

Jesus himself asks the Father for everything - including the Holy Spirit which he has poured out in these last days.

I suppose if you asked Jesus, he'd simply pass the message on, but it is always good to do things the way he told us to.

[I just heard someone asking in my mind, "God or Jesus? Isn't Jesus God?" That's the giggle.]

The Word says:

"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. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."
John 16:23-24 (KJV)

However Jesus is with us and never leaves, so I often speak to Jesus. I pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and understanding, and as the best teacher we can have, and He honors that.

Without thinking in some situations I pray to the Father as a result of the work of Jesus. Jesus is right there at the right hand and is our high priest as we ask.

If we're hesitant to approach the Father, we just need our Father relationship restored which He very much wants to do.

"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him."
Matt 11:25-27 (KJV)

I see them so much as one. I tend to be scriptural when asking to the Father in Jesus' name.

arielette said:

A question Ladies and Gentlemen:

Do we pray to God or Jesus? I find myself unsure on the subject. Jesus is God, but in the Lords Prayer he directs us to pray to our Father in Heaven. Thanks!

Click to expand...

I think that we pray to the Father.

What i find puzzling is the omission of recognizing our Father in heaven, Who was the very One Who gave His only begotten Son so that we could be re-united with Him. As He walked with Adam in a garden, loooong loooong ago, He wishes to walk with us, now. His only begotten Son was sacrificed to accomplish that. Jesus Himself points us to our FATHER in prayer. We are to commune with Him, and rejoice in His presence. In return, He rejoices over us, with singing. Is ANYTHING more delightful than that? This verse is very clear. It is written:

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" ~Micah 6:8

Jesus the Christ, God's only begotten Son, has now made it possible to walk with God. Just as Enoch walked with God, we can also now do so. Is that NOT the most glorious thing? Is that not cause for rejoicing?