The Bible does not teach to pray to Jesus
- Thread starter Runningman
- Start date
You haven't refuted the evidence I supplied that the Lord refers to Jesus in Acts 1:24.
TibiasDad
Well-known member
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2).
Doug
civic
Well-known member
Amen !!!
Good find for the discussion. That verse specifically uses the word prayer (προσεύχομαι).
Acts 1:24 (NKJV)
24And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen
101G
Well-known member
Matthew 8:5 "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,"
Beseeching is also translated as "Pray".
G3870 παρακαλέω parakaleo (pa-ra-ka-le'-ō) v.
1. (properly) to call near (as to receive or give help).
2. to implore, entreat (to urgently ask (for mercy or help)).
3. to exhort (to urgently counsel, encourage or admonish).
4. to comfort.
[from G3844 and G2564]
KJV: beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort(-ation), intreat, pray
Root(s): G3844, G2564
notice definition 1 and 2 ... is this not what the Holy Spirit do intercede in prayer.
Mark 7:32 "And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him."
Luke 8:26 "And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee." Luke 8:27 "And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs." Luke 8:28 "When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not." Luke 8:29 "(For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)"
Luke 9:37 "And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him." Luke 9:38 "And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child." Luke 9:39 "And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him."
Now to sure that this is Prayer, John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;"
and pray here is,
G2065 ἐρωτάω erotao (e-rō-taō') v.
1. to interrogate.
2. (by implication) to request.
[apparently from G2046]
KJV: ask, beseech, desire, intreat, pray
Root(s): G2046
Compare: G2045, G4441
BINGO, beseech ..... that was easy. so at 107 that is ended.
in much GL.
101G.
civic
Well-known member
John 14:14
14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
Acts 1:24-26
And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen 25to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." 26And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles
Acts 7:55-60
5 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." 57But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" 60Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 8:22
"Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you
1 Corinthians 1:1-2
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
2 Cor 12:8-10
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three timesthat it might leave me. 9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
James 1:1-8
James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,8being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
1 John 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
Acts 1:24-26
And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen 25to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." 26And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles
Acts 7:55-60
5 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." 57But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" 60Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 8:22
"Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you
1 Corinthians 1:1-2
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
2 Cor 12:8-10
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three timesthat it might leave me. 9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
James 1:1-8
James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,8being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
1 John 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
civic
Well-known member
It is appropriate to pray to the Father directly; the Lord’s Prayer clearly shows that. However, just because we are permitted to pray, and even commanded to pray to the Father, doesn’t mean that we are not permitted to pray to the Son.
Some might say that prayers of praise to Jesus are legitimate while prayers of petition are not. I will argue that Jesus accepted and still accepts both kinds of prayer. Take note of both in the examples shown below.
According to the apostle Paul, New Testament Christians were everywhere praying to Jesus. “Paul. . . to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on3 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1:1–2).”4 It appears that Paul includes himself among those who called upon the name of Jesus. These prayers directed to Jesus were universal. And the present tense of “call” suggests that the prayers were on-going.5
Paul also prayed to Jesus when he “besought the Lord” to remove his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8). Why do we believe that the reference to “the Lord” here refers to Jesus instead of the Father? In the Pauline epistles, the term “Lord” (kurios) usually signifies Jesus,6 while “God” usually denotes to the Father. And look at the response of Paul when the Lord said to him, “[My] strength is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul tells us that he would glory in his weakness that the “power of Christ” (the Lord) would be revealed in him. So the referent for “the Lord” is Jesus. Paul prayed to Jesus, and Jesus responded. Notice that these were prayers of petition, not praise. These were not spontaneous petitions or petitions given in response to the voice of the Lord or a vision, but a prayer prayed three times, as Paul persisted in his request to Jesus. If it were inappropriate for someone to offer supplication to Jesus, Paul would not have asked Jesus three times to answer a specific request. Jesus did not rebuke Paul for praying the prayer, but He did inform Paul that he was better off without the request being granted.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17, Paul blessed the Thessalonians with these words: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father. . . encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” Even though this benedictory prayer is in a different form than other prayers, it implies a request to Jesus (and the Father), and this suggests the legitimacy of prayer to Jesus.7 Paul expected Jesus to answer this request. A similar benedictory prayer (invoking the name of Jesus) is found in 1 Thessalonians 3:11–14.
In the Gospels, Jesus was worshipped, and He accepted it (John 9:38). Surely this involved verbal communication to Jesus or prayer. The Gospels are not the only place where worship of Jesus occurs. The angels are told to worship Jesus.8 There is worship of Jesus (the Lamb) in Revelation by both angels and humans (Revelation 5:8–13).
Since all three members of the Trinity are God, then worship is due to each of them, collectively and individually, because of the nature of the Trinity. Worship involves praise and adoration. It would be wrong to discourage people from addressing each member of the Trinity in praise and adoration. God expects us to worship Jesus. The Jehovah’s Witnesses will not pray to Jesus because they think that He is not worthy of worship. We pray to Jesus because we know He is worthy of worship, and that He even demands worship. Jesus commanded us to honor the Son just as we honor the Father (John 5:23). If we fail to give praise to the Son in our prayers, as we give praise the Father, would we really be honoring the Son as we do the Father?
The early church recognized the importance of worshipping Jesus through prayer. In fact, when Athanasius made his case against Arianism in the early 300’s, he pointed out that Christians had prayed to Jesus from the beginning. Athanasius argued that if Jesus was not of the same substance as the Father (homoousios) and was instead only a creature—only of like substance with the Father (homoiousios), then Christians from the beginning would have been committing idolatry by praying to Jesus.9
In the Gospels, many people asked Jesus for miracles. In a survey of the New Testament, I counted at least seven distinct times when people cried out to Jesus for mercy, treating him as a divine person, and they expected an answer. Should not these requests be considered prayers? Surely, Christ’s departure into Heaven does not mean that his followers can no longer bring petitions to Him.
There are other examples of appropriate prayers to Jesus in the New Testament.10Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit” (Acts 7:59). At Paul’s conversion, he prayed to Jesus: “Lord, what wilt thou have me do?” (Acts 9:6). Ananias conversed with Jesus when Jesus spoke to him in a vision (Acts 9:10–14). And the very last prayer in the New Testament is addressed to Jesus by the Apostle John: “Even so come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). If it were wrong to petition Christ, John the inspired writer may have said, “Father, may the Son come.” But instead he gave us these words to also cry out to Jesus: “Even so, come!”
The last verse referred to may allude to the phrase, “Maranatha” (found in 1 Corinthians 16:22), which is usually translated as the petition, “Come, O Lord.” “Maranatha” is an Aramaic expression that originated before Christians had filtered throughout the Gentile community. It seems that very early on, the Christians were crying out to Jesus, “Come, O Lord!”11 This was a prayer of petition.
A verse in John 14 strongly encourages prayers of petition to Jesus. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”12 Jesus here says that he would answer prayer when we asked him anything in his name. So Jesus authorizes us to address him in prayer when we come in his name—in his own authority, and in his will. And he promised that he would answer.
Prayers to Jesus are permitted and encouraged by Christ’s teaching in John 14:14, and by any passage in which Jesus says that we are to pray in His name. When Jesus told us to pray in His name, He wasn’t asking us to use a particular phrase at the end of each of our prayers, though the expression “in Jesus’ name, Amen” is certainly appropriate, and God-honored. Jesus was actually asking us to come to God (therefore any member of the Trinity) in His authority. We have the right to come to God and receive grace and help because of who Christ is, what He did for us, and what He promised. He has given us “great and exceeding promises” (2 Peter 1:1–4) and when we come to God with our requests, we have been authorized to come in faith, believing that He will fulfill what He has promised. It is like the note I wrote to my girls to motivate them to clean their room,
There is a sense in which all of our prayers, even ones we pray to the Spirit or the Son, are ultimately directed to the Father, who is the Head of the Trinity (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 11:3). It is through Christ that we have access to the Father. And we pray in the Spirit to the Father. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). The Spirit’s role is important. Romans 8:26 says that the Spirit helps us in our weakness: “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.” So we are to pray in the Spirit and through Jesus (on the basis of what He has done for us, and in His authority). However, to actually pray to the Spirit or to the Son while praying in the Spirit does not delegitimize our prayer. When we pray to the Spirit we are still praying to God. And when we pray to Jesus in His authority, we are still praying to God, and in a sense to the Father Himself.
Because prayers directed to the Father are so common in the New Testament, it is certainly appropriate to address the Father on a regular basis (we should pray to him often). But I am confident that God is not counting our prayers to each member of the Trinity to make sure we have prayed to each one in proper proportion. The Trinity is not “jealous” of one another. Of course, if we are leaving one member of the Trinity out completely, then there may be a problem with our view of that member of the Trinity. Communicating to each Person in the Godhead is important for having fellowship with our tri-personal God.
Think about the fact that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all divine persons. Since they are persons, they are all capable of having relationships not just with each other, but also with humans. Does God want us to have a personal relationship with each of the divine persons in the Trinity? If so, how could we develop a relationship specifically with Jesus without verbally communicating with Him? How could we develop a relationship with anyone we don’t talk to? Personal relationships must involve communication. If we communicate with God the Son, we are praying to Him.
In John 10, Jesus claims that He knows his followers, His “sheep,” and that He calls them all by name. If our Shepherd calls us by our name (a most comforting thought), then why shouldn’t we also call Him by His name? At the very least, this passage indicates that real Christians have a personal, one-on-one, intimate relationship with Jesus. This must involve talking to Jesus and listening for His voice.
What about the Holy Spirit? Are prayers to Him legitimate too? The Apostle Paul refers to our communion with the Holy Spirit13 and to our fellowship with the Spirit.14 Again, how can we have communion or fellowship with someone we don’t talk to? Even the Holy Spirit desires to have fellowship with us. Dr. Bill Ury asks, “When’s the last time, in prayer, that you spoke to the Holy Spirit with the same tenderness, intimacy, and trust as you do the Father and Son?”15 If prayers to the Holy Spirit are legitimate, then of course it is appropriate to pray to Jesus.
If you have ever prayed with someone to receive Christ, you may have quoted John 1:12(“But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he the right to become the Sons of God”). You may have encouraged the sinner to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and ask Him for forgiveness of sins. This is very important for the sinner to do. If you believed it were inappropriate to pray to Jesus, you would not ask the sinner to pray to Jesus.16 But believing it is proper to pray to Christ, you encourage the sinner to say a prayer to Him. This prayer to Jesus will be the beginning of a lifetime of fellowship between this new Christian and his Savior, whom he can commune with every day.
In Ephesians 5:19 Paul wrote that believers should “[Speak] to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Paul is likely telling us to sing to Jesus (“the Lord”). Since songs addressed to a divine Person are simply prayers set to rhyme and music, we could take it as a command: We are to pray to Jesus in the form of singing.
There is early evidence from church history that Christians took this command seriously. For example, proof of early hymns to Jesus is found in a letter from the Roman Governor Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan (about A.D. 110). Pliny accused the Christians of “singing hymns to Christ as to a god.” This demonstrates that Christians worshiped Christ very close to the time the church began. These early Christians verbalized their adoration of Christ in hymns of praise, and risked their lives in doing so.
A hymn that developed perhaps in the later decades of the second century is called the Phos Hilaron. It lauds Jesus as “Joyous light of the holy glory of the immortal Father,” and says to Jesus, “at all times you should be praised with auspicious voices, Son of God, Giver of life.”17 https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/jesus-is-god/can-we-pray-to-jesus/
hope this helps !!!
Some might say that prayers of praise to Jesus are legitimate while prayers of petition are not. I will argue that Jesus accepted and still accepts both kinds of prayer. Take note of both in the examples shown below.
According to the apostle Paul, New Testament Christians were everywhere praying to Jesus. “Paul. . . to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on3 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1:1–2).”4 It appears that Paul includes himself among those who called upon the name of Jesus. These prayers directed to Jesus were universal. And the present tense of “call” suggests that the prayers were on-going.5
Paul also prayed to Jesus when he “besought the Lord” to remove his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8). Why do we believe that the reference to “the Lord” here refers to Jesus instead of the Father? In the Pauline epistles, the term “Lord” (kurios) usually signifies Jesus,6 while “God” usually denotes to the Father. And look at the response of Paul when the Lord said to him, “[My] strength is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul tells us that he would glory in his weakness that the “power of Christ” (the Lord) would be revealed in him. So the referent for “the Lord” is Jesus. Paul prayed to Jesus, and Jesus responded. Notice that these were prayers of petition, not praise. These were not spontaneous petitions or petitions given in response to the voice of the Lord or a vision, but a prayer prayed three times, as Paul persisted in his request to Jesus. If it were inappropriate for someone to offer supplication to Jesus, Paul would not have asked Jesus three times to answer a specific request. Jesus did not rebuke Paul for praying the prayer, but He did inform Paul that he was better off without the request being granted.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17, Paul blessed the Thessalonians with these words: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father. . . encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” Even though this benedictory prayer is in a different form than other prayers, it implies a request to Jesus (and the Father), and this suggests the legitimacy of prayer to Jesus.7 Paul expected Jesus to answer this request. A similar benedictory prayer (invoking the name of Jesus) is found in 1 Thessalonians 3:11–14.
In the Gospels, Jesus was worshipped, and He accepted it (John 9:38). Surely this involved verbal communication to Jesus or prayer. The Gospels are not the only place where worship of Jesus occurs. The angels are told to worship Jesus.8 There is worship of Jesus (the Lamb) in Revelation by both angels and humans (Revelation 5:8–13).
Since all three members of the Trinity are God, then worship is due to each of them, collectively and individually, because of the nature of the Trinity. Worship involves praise and adoration. It would be wrong to discourage people from addressing each member of the Trinity in praise and adoration. God expects us to worship Jesus. The Jehovah’s Witnesses will not pray to Jesus because they think that He is not worthy of worship. We pray to Jesus because we know He is worthy of worship, and that He even demands worship. Jesus commanded us to honor the Son just as we honor the Father (John 5:23). If we fail to give praise to the Son in our prayers, as we give praise the Father, would we really be honoring the Son as we do the Father?
The early church recognized the importance of worshipping Jesus through prayer. In fact, when Athanasius made his case against Arianism in the early 300’s, he pointed out that Christians had prayed to Jesus from the beginning. Athanasius argued that if Jesus was not of the same substance as the Father (homoousios) and was instead only a creature—only of like substance with the Father (homoiousios), then Christians from the beginning would have been committing idolatry by praying to Jesus.9
In the Gospels, many people asked Jesus for miracles. In a survey of the New Testament, I counted at least seven distinct times when people cried out to Jesus for mercy, treating him as a divine person, and they expected an answer. Should not these requests be considered prayers? Surely, Christ’s departure into Heaven does not mean that his followers can no longer bring petitions to Him.
There are other examples of appropriate prayers to Jesus in the New Testament.10Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit” (Acts 7:59). At Paul’s conversion, he prayed to Jesus: “Lord, what wilt thou have me do?” (Acts 9:6). Ananias conversed with Jesus when Jesus spoke to him in a vision (Acts 9:10–14). And the very last prayer in the New Testament is addressed to Jesus by the Apostle John: “Even so come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). If it were wrong to petition Christ, John the inspired writer may have said, “Father, may the Son come.” But instead he gave us these words to also cry out to Jesus: “Even so, come!”
The last verse referred to may allude to the phrase, “Maranatha” (found in 1 Corinthians 16:22), which is usually translated as the petition, “Come, O Lord.” “Maranatha” is an Aramaic expression that originated before Christians had filtered throughout the Gentile community. It seems that very early on, the Christians were crying out to Jesus, “Come, O Lord!”11 This was a prayer of petition.
A verse in John 14 strongly encourages prayers of petition to Jesus. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”12 Jesus here says that he would answer prayer when we asked him anything in his name. So Jesus authorizes us to address him in prayer when we come in his name—in his own authority, and in his will. And he promised that he would answer.
Prayers to Jesus are permitted and encouraged by Christ’s teaching in John 14:14, and by any passage in which Jesus says that we are to pray in His name. When Jesus told us to pray in His name, He wasn’t asking us to use a particular phrase at the end of each of our prayers, though the expression “in Jesus’ name, Amen” is certainly appropriate, and God-honored. Jesus was actually asking us to come to God (therefore any member of the Trinity) in His authority. We have the right to come to God and receive grace and help because of who Christ is, what He did for us, and what He promised. He has given us “great and exceeding promises” (2 Peter 1:1–4) and when we come to God with our requests, we have been authorized to come in faith, believing that He will fulfill what He has promised. It is like the note I wrote to my girls to motivate them to clean their room,
This note was a promissory note with my signature. When one of the girls came to present the note to me, she was coming in my name, or authority. The girls had every right to expect that I would take them out for ice cream when they brought back the note with my promise and my name on it. Jesus gave us some promises as a divine being with the authority to make much greater promises than I could make. We come to Him or to the Father in His authority. He has given us the “promissory note” with His “signature” so that we can be assured of the answer to our prayers. Praying in His name is praying with faith that He will keep his promises as the good, faithful, and all-powerful God. Whether those faith-filled words are directed to the Son or to the Father makes little difference, since both Father and Son are the one true God. (If one wants to use the phrase “in Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer prayed to Jesus, “in your name, Amen” can be used instead.)
There is a sense in which all of our prayers, even ones we pray to the Spirit or the Son, are ultimately directed to the Father, who is the Head of the Trinity (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 11:3). It is through Christ that we have access to the Father. And we pray in the Spirit to the Father. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). The Spirit’s role is important. Romans 8:26 says that the Spirit helps us in our weakness: “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.” So we are to pray in the Spirit and through Jesus (on the basis of what He has done for us, and in His authority). However, to actually pray to the Spirit or to the Son while praying in the Spirit does not delegitimize our prayer. When we pray to the Spirit we are still praying to God. And when we pray to Jesus in His authority, we are still praying to God, and in a sense to the Father Himself.
Because prayers directed to the Father are so common in the New Testament, it is certainly appropriate to address the Father on a regular basis (we should pray to him often). But I am confident that God is not counting our prayers to each member of the Trinity to make sure we have prayed to each one in proper proportion. The Trinity is not “jealous” of one another. Of course, if we are leaving one member of the Trinity out completely, then there may be a problem with our view of that member of the Trinity. Communicating to each Person in the Godhead is important for having fellowship with our tri-personal God.
Think about the fact that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all divine persons. Since they are persons, they are all capable of having relationships not just with each other, but also with humans. Does God want us to have a personal relationship with each of the divine persons in the Trinity? If so, how could we develop a relationship specifically with Jesus without verbally communicating with Him? How could we develop a relationship with anyone we don’t talk to? Personal relationships must involve communication. If we communicate with God the Son, we are praying to Him.
In John 10, Jesus claims that He knows his followers, His “sheep,” and that He calls them all by name. If our Shepherd calls us by our name (a most comforting thought), then why shouldn’t we also call Him by His name? At the very least, this passage indicates that real Christians have a personal, one-on-one, intimate relationship with Jesus. This must involve talking to Jesus and listening for His voice.
What about the Holy Spirit? Are prayers to Him legitimate too? The Apostle Paul refers to our communion with the Holy Spirit13 and to our fellowship with the Spirit.14 Again, how can we have communion or fellowship with someone we don’t talk to? Even the Holy Spirit desires to have fellowship with us. Dr. Bill Ury asks, “When’s the last time, in prayer, that you spoke to the Holy Spirit with the same tenderness, intimacy, and trust as you do the Father and Son?”15 If prayers to the Holy Spirit are legitimate, then of course it is appropriate to pray to Jesus.
If you have ever prayed with someone to receive Christ, you may have quoted John 1:12(“But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he the right to become the Sons of God”). You may have encouraged the sinner to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and ask Him for forgiveness of sins. This is very important for the sinner to do. If you believed it were inappropriate to pray to Jesus, you would not ask the sinner to pray to Jesus.16 But believing it is proper to pray to Christ, you encourage the sinner to say a prayer to Him. This prayer to Jesus will be the beginning of a lifetime of fellowship between this new Christian and his Savior, whom he can commune with every day.
In Ephesians 5:19 Paul wrote that believers should “[Speak] to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Paul is likely telling us to sing to Jesus (“the Lord”). Since songs addressed to a divine Person are simply prayers set to rhyme and music, we could take it as a command: We are to pray to Jesus in the form of singing.
There is early evidence from church history that Christians took this command seriously. For example, proof of early hymns to Jesus is found in a letter from the Roman Governor Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan (about A.D. 110). Pliny accused the Christians of “singing hymns to Christ as to a god.” This demonstrates that Christians worshiped Christ very close to the time the church began. These early Christians verbalized their adoration of Christ in hymns of praise, and risked their lives in doing so.
A hymn that developed perhaps in the later decades of the second century is called the Phos Hilaron. It lauds Jesus as “Joyous light of the holy glory of the immortal Father,” and says to Jesus, “at all times you should be praised with auspicious voices, Son of God, Giver of life.”17 https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/jesus-is-god/can-we-pray-to-jesus/
hope this helps !!!
Runningman
Well-known member
My OP will never be refuted because there aren't any teachings on praying to Jesus in the Bible.
Runningman
Well-known member
This is a non sequitur. The same word for "call upon" just means appeal and it is used for a variety of people who are not Jesus in Scripture. It doesn't directly relate to prayer.
Acts 28
19But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.
It is a nonsensical limitation. You simply narrow the question in a way where you think you can get the results you want. In fact the Acts 1:23-24 is fine showing the acceptability of praying to Christ. Your question fails to make any argument against the deity of Christ. If you have something substantial for your denial of scriptural testimony of Christ as part of the Godhead, share that directly.
You can believe nonsense if you want.
civic
Well-known member
It’s been buried 6 feet under. A dead concept
TibiasDad
Well-known member
To appeal to Jesus is to pray to Jesus, to seek Jesus’s help. To call upon the name of the Lord is to pray.
Doug
MTMattie
Well-known member
John 14: 13-14
13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Runningman
Well-known member
Please quote the teaching on praying to Jesus. 107 pages and none of you people have found it yet.
Runningman
Well-known member
The only teaching in the Bible about who to pray to is the Father. Matt 6:6-9It’s been buried 6 feet under. A dead concept
Runningman
Well-known member
Then you believe Caesar was prayed to just because someone appealed to him?
Runningman
Well-known member
This verse says to not pray to Jesus then.
John 16
23And 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.
civic
Well-known member
Strawman
