Prayer is to the Father in the name of the Son.
length: 67:37 - taught on Oct, 11 2022
Class Outline:
Tuesday October 11, 2022
Every believer in Christ is a royal priest in this age and so all of us are qualified to approach the throne of grace with confidence and boldness.
Prayer is to the Father.
There are some passages that seem to indicate that we can pray to God the Son, and I am aware that many Christians do so, but by far the majority of passages on prayer are directed to the Father.
I think that most convincing in the Bible that we should pray to the Father is that when asked how to pray, Jesus addressed prayer directly to the Father alone. Also, the passages in which Jesus told us to pray in His name, He tells us to pray to the Father. There is one exception to this, but we’ll see that it is not a proof-text. And further, during His first advent Jesus always prayed to the Father.
A few passages seem like prayer to the Son, JOH 14:14; ACT 7:60; 1CO 1:2. An overwhelming amount address the Father.
Steven seems to pray to the Son of Man.
They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" 60 Then 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.
“as he called” is a present adverbial participle meaning that he called out during the time of the stoning, which the translation brings out. While he does “cry out” to the Lord, this word (epikaleo) is not one of the common words for praying. Though in some passages it is used for calling on the Father and the Lord Jesus, and also Caesar.
Whether a prayer or not, it should not detract from the incredible spiritual courage of Steven who instead of crying out and begging for the crowd to stop stoning him, he is crying out to the Lord.
A point that is often made about this prayer is how closely it resembles Jesus’ prayers from the cross, both “do not hold this sin against them,” and, “receive My spirit.”
You are a priest unto God and our authority is the word of God. We each have to wrestle with some parts of the word.
“If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
In Joh 14-16, Jesus uses the same Greek word that is common for asking, rather than the words most often associated with prayer, however it is more than obvious that He is referring to prayer.
In My name means that we can only pray based on His work, but that’s not all that it means. We will get to this.
The mystery for us is why Jesus is saying that they ask Him. Jesus may have meant that they could ask Him for anything in those final hours before His death. Some expositors think that the Lord was implying that they should have asked for the Holy Spirit, since Jesus seems to have told them that they could (“how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” LUK 11:13).
He later tells them that they have yet to ask Him for anything in His name.
“Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.”
I personally wonder if they were actually able to do so at the time, after looking into what the Scripture says about asking in His name. It is more than just saying the words, “in Christ’s name,” and I don’t think they were ready to understand it.
Whatever the reason He says “Ask Me for anything in My name,” in JOH 14:14 or not, Jesus then states a short time later,
whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
“And in that day you will ask Me no question. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name.”
Anything and whatever and “in My name” tie all of them together, but His later instruction (just hours later at most) have the Father as the recipient. It may due to His departure.
Uncertainties aside on this issue in Joh 14-16, what we should really take away from the upper-room discourse is the number of times He tells us to pray. It is significant. Prayer should not be a sideshow or some extra thing that we might get to.
The salutation in 1Co is often used as justification for praying to the Son, but this is far from explicit.
all who in every place call upon [epikaleo; ACT 7:60] the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
Also, “Come Lord Jesus” at the end of the Book of Revelation.
He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Desiring His return is not a call to pray to Him rather than the Father. Not to mention that He is not wait for us to ask Him to return, as is true in the petition “Your kingdom come” that they Lord taught us.
The overwhelming majority of texts on prayer that address the recipient indicate that we pray to the Father.
'Our Father who is in heaven,
for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
We pray in the name of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“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.”
“whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
In the name of the Son is more than just saying, “in Jesus name, Amen.” We are to remember this every time we pray.
Praying in the name of the Son means:
- We can only pray because of the cross.
The NT abounds with Scripture that proves that the cross of Christ made all believers sons and daughters of God who are fully reconciled to the Father, made righteous, and justified. Jesus Christ’s salvation also made all believers royal priests who have full, bold, and confident access to the Father. When we say, “in the name of Christ,” we need to remember this. “Our Father” holds all of this truth of salvation.
- We are before the Father as representatives of the Son.
In the ancient world, you could never approach a king without a letter of introduction. You had to be in the king’s court in someone’s name. As for us, we come to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great honor to carry His name with us.
And, in carrying that name, we represent Him as we are His ambassadors. We are ambassadors to the world and represent the Lord Jesus to the world, but it is also true that before the Father we are there in the name of Jesus Christ and so are responsible to act accordingly. If you set up a meeting for something like a job interview for a person who was a stranger to the interviewer, and at the interview he acted foolish and bad mannered and insulting, it would reflect on you. There is a level of protocol, reverence, respect, humility, and honor before the Father. Prayer shouldn’t be wooden and mechanical, but nor should it be flippant and disrespectful. With some reflection and study of the Word, we can find the right blend of reverence and intimacy in a respectful but personal prayer life.
- Obedience to the will of the Father.
Names mean much more in the Bible than they do in our modern world, and that is much more true with God’s names. The Son of God has many titles; many names. His name refers to His Person and therefore His character and will. This is easily seen in the Word of God. It is not “Will work for prayer.” Praying our own will, selfishly, sinfully, etc., outside of the will of the Lord is not effective prayer.
We will develop this.
But then again, a lot of people, it seems, just tack on Jesus’ name at the end without much feeling. So is saying something to the Father in Jesus’ name a sort of incantation, if the name of Jesus is said, then the Father has to do whatever we want?
The fact that we pray in Jesus’ name comes entirely from the upper room discourse in Joh 14-16. I was shocked to find out that explicit reference to praying or doing in His name is only found one other time in the NT.
Therefore be careful how you walk [going all the way back to 4:1], not as unwise men, but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
And we get a hint here as to what it is to be praying in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ because we are to do everything in His name and that can mean nothing else than obedience.
Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord would certainly be one aspect of prayer - adoration and thanksgiving.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is obedience to Him.
And before we move further in this truth, we will want to address the grace of God and the fact that we are all sinners. Can I not come to the Father in the name of Christ if I have sinned?
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