Many Christians pray to Jesus, or even to a Trinity. Who did Jesus direct us to pray to? Who did the apostles pray to? Who should we pray to?

WHO DID JESUS PRAY TO?

Matthew 11:25 – “Jesus said, ‘I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth . . . Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do'” (NIV). Jesus, our perfect “example”, prayed exclusively  to the Father (1 Peter 2:21-22).

John 17:1 – “Jesus . . . looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father . . . Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you'” (NIV).  – Jesus prays to his Father, not to himself, and asks his Father to glorify his name, so that Jesus could glorify his Father.

Matthew 26:39,42,44 – “He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father . . . Yet not as I will, but as you will’. He went away a second time and prayed, My Father . . . may your will be done’. He . . . prayed the third time, saying the same thing” (NIV). Jesus always prayed exclusively to his Father, that he might do his Father’s will, not his will.

JESUS TOLD US TO PRAY TO “OUR FATHER  IN HEAVEN”

Matthew 6:9 – “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven . . . ” (NAB).  The Biblical record is quite clear that the early Christians prayed exclusively to God the Father, the  Sovereign Lord, who created everything’ (Acts 4:24). Praying to the Father, in verse 10, Jesus says your kingdom, your will, not our will, or our kingdom, which shows that God the Father is superior, and therefore, the only of being prayed to. 

Who did the early Christians pray to?

Acts 4:24 – “They raised their voices together in prayer to God, ‘Sovereign Lord,’ they said, ‘you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them'” (NIV). The Biblical record is quite clear that the early Christians prayed exclusively to God, the “Sovereign Lord,” who created everything’. God is called ‘Sovereign Lord’, and since Jesus is also called “Lord”, some claim that makes Jesus God, and worthy of prayer. However, the scriptures prove such assertion false, because in this prayer to God, the apostles twice refer to “your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:27,30 NIV). God’s servant obviously isn’t God, and unworthy of being prayed to.

Ephesians 3:14-15 – “For this reason I kneel in prayer to the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name” (REB). Paul ‘kneels’ in reverent submission and prayer to the heavenly Father, as superior, even over Jesus. In Ephesians, “God” is identified as “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Although many often pray to Jesus, there is no Biblical direction to do so, nor are there any Biblical examples of anyone doing so . Jesus himself directed his disciples, including us, to pray exclusively to “our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9).

PRAYER SHOULD BE IN JESUS’ NAME, NOT TO JESUS

John 14:13-14 – “Anything you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name I will do it” (REB). Jesus taught that Christian prayer should be directed to the “Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9), not to himself, and that these prayers to the Father should be ‘in his name’. We can further see the truth of this supported by other related scriptures.

 “Go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name he may give to you” (John 15:16 NAB). “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:23-24 NIV). Jesus indicated a change was taking place, and prayers from that time on should be to the Father in Jesus’ name. Christians are in “that day”, therefore, so we ‘no longer ask Jesus about anything’, much less pray to him! 

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Ephesians 3:17 NIV). In our prayers, we give should thanks to the Father, in Jesus’ name.

While many pray to Jesus, in Jesus’ name, such prayers are not in harmony with the scriptures. It really makes no sense to pray to Jesus, in Jesus’ name.

CHRISTIAN PRAYER SHOULD BE TO GOD THE FATHER

The scriptures are very clear that the only acceptable recipient of prayer is God the Father.