Written by John Youngquist (JKwist)
john@fablesandtruths.org

I've said it hundreds, if not thousands of times to others, "Pray to the Father in Jesus Christ's name" when asked about prayer or correcting somebody making a statement along the lines of "When I pray to Jesus..."

One would think a statement so simple would be easy to follow, but it seems a lot of people were not taught that or how to pray at all!

Asking Jesus directly for something will not get you far, but if you read and understand scripture you will find there is a correct way to ask for things in His name and then His Father "will give it to you."

What Jesus said:

In the Gospels of Matthew (6:1-13) and Luke (11:1-4) Jesus teaches His disciples the Lord's Prayer and a number of important pieces of doctrine. In Matthew 6 Jesus is giving His famous "Sermon on the Mount" and He instructs His disciples:

⁵ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

¹⁰ Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Matthew 6:1-13 KJV

And Jesus also declared in the Gospel of John:

¹⁶ Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

John 15:16 KJV

Similarly, he declares:

²³ 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.

John 16:23 KJV

Key Points:

Jesus stresses the importance of not praying like the hypocrites out in the open in public: "for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."

The hypocrites are not praying to glorify God, they are praying to glorify themselves in the eyes of men and "They have their reward." The only reward they will receive out of prayer like that is temporary glory from men.

When Jesus states "when thou prayest, enter into thy closet", He is again stressing the importance of praying in seclusion, making sure others know not that you are praying.

And once you have shut the door to your secret place to "pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Jesus goes on to warn when praying to "use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." Repeating the same thing over and over again (like the "Hail Mary") will fall on deaf ears. Pray with your heart, He knows what it contains already...

"For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." Before you even ask Him, the Father already knows what you need! Does that mean you don't need to bother asking Him? God forbid! Pray to the Father, glorify Him, ask for what you truly need and ask for it in Jesus Christ's name, and you shall receive it!

In the Gospel of John, Jesus, multiple times makes reference to "ask the Father in my name." It is plain to see that He is telling His disciples to pray to His Father, in His(Jesus) name.

How about the Apostles?

Paul:

Paul, in his 1st letter to his disciple Timothy, addresses the importance of sound doctrine among other things:

⁵ For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

⁶ Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

⁷ Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

⁸ I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

1 Timothy 2:5-8 KJV

Paul further solidifies that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and men (Hebrews 8:6, 9:15 and 12:24 for more information on Jesus being mediator and Hebrews 10 for the end of animal sacrifice for the "covering" of sins).

Did people pray to Moses? God forbid. They prayed to God. Moses may have prayed on behalf of his people, but in his role as mediator he was not prayed to. In this sense, the only thing that has changed is that Jesus replaced Moses as mediator (there were mediators after Moses such as Joshua, Prophets, Priests, but that is another subject). We still pray to the LORD our GOD.

As an Apostle of Christ, Paul wishes "that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."

Paul is stressing the importance of praying frequently, throughout the day, though not in the form of the hypocrites that Jesus spoke of, but "without wrath and doubting."

Paul also writes "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV), further stressing the importance of a continual connection to the Father through prayer.

² Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

³ But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

⁴ Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.

⁵ But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

⁶ For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

⁷ For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

1 Corinthians 11:2-7 KJV

Paul's instructions here are pretty straight forward, if you are a man you need to uncover your head if you are praying or prophesying. If you are a woman you need to cover your head if you are praying or prophesying.

Man was made in God's image, so covering his head while praying would dishonoureth their head. Woman was made from man's rib and "is the glory of the man", "For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man." (1 Corinthians 11:8 KJV)

¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

²⁰ Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

²¹ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:18-21 KJV

Paul gives some more very clear instructions: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Further solidifying what Jesus had already taught, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

The above are very clear instructions, from Jesus and Paul, to pray to the Father in Jesus Christ's name.

⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:6 KJV

"Be careful for nothing" is speaking of anxiety and to not be anxious about anything but to "let your requests be made known unto God." You have no need for anxiety if you pray ceaselessly to God and let Him know of all things you need!

Peter:

Peter warned:

⁷But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

1 Peter 4:7 KJV

Though only the Father knows when Jesus will return, Peter is warning that it can happen at any time: "be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."

Peter stressed the need to always keep your mind focused as "the end of all things is at hand" and spiritual vigilance is needed. Keep your mind on God always; Walk like Christ lest you walk into Him on His return.

⁷Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

1 Peter 3:7 KJV

Here Peter is warning that mistreating your wife can lead to your prayers not being answered, that you need to be "heirs together of the grace of life" lest "your prayers be not hindered."

¹² For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

1 Peter 3:12 KJV

Those that are righteous (keep His commandments), "his ears are open unto their prayers." Those that do evil (sin, not follow His commandments), well, "the face of the Lord is against them."

God does not answer the prayers of sinners, so if the only thing you have is His grace, stop sinning so that your prayers may be answered. Grace is a beautiful gift, but remember: "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10 KJV)

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

This can seem like a lot to take in, especially if you haven't been an avid studier of the Bible, but I assure you the instructions are very clear and straightforward.

Firstly, as stated in the very beginning of this, pray to the Father in Jesus Christ's name. How do you do that? Simple, after you ask the Father for anything, simply say "I ask this in your son Jesus Christ's name." You can also start or end group prayers with "In Jesus name we pray." The words aren't that important as long as you are getting the point across that you are praying in the name of Jesus Christ and you are showing glory to God.

Pray! Talk to God all day. If you have a constant connection with our creator, the likelihood of Satan getting a hold on you is far less, but still possible, you must stay vigilant.

Don't take praying ceaselessly to a whole new level, being like the hypocrites hoping that they may be seen by men.

Rather, Jesus instructs "pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." "Dwelleth in the secret place of the most High" so that you may "abide under the shadow of the Almighty." That is the best protection you can ask for! (Psalm 91:1 KJV)

If you don't have a secret place, find one. A closet, a room with a closed door, somewhere quiet. In reality, your secret place is where you can be spiritually intimate with the Lord, distraction-free, focused solely on prayer.

If you are a man, pray with your head uncovered. If you are a woman, pray with your head covered.

Furthermore, if you are a married man, treat your wife justly, lest your prayers not be heard!

If you are a married woman, glorify your husband lest your prayers not be heard!

As we spoke about at the beginning of this, Jesus said, "Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking." Be clear and concise, give your utmost attention to the Father when you are praying. It is okay to recite a psalm when praying, but saying "Hail Mary" 10 times at the request of somebody else is not going to clear you of your sins! Simply ask the Father for forgiveness and repent in Jesus Christ's name!

"Go, and sin no more." Remember, the Lord does not answer the prayers of sinners, so an important part of prayer is to not sin, and what is sin? According to the Apostle John "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." And what is the law? The Lord's commandments as given to Moses, the same commandments that Jesus spake regarding: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Keep those commandments lest you become one of them that "the face of the Lord is against them" applies to!

Ultimately this is all about respecting the wishes of Jesus and glorifying His Father. Yes, Jesus can hear you, but he is our mediator between us and the Father. Again, Moses wasn't prayed to when he was God's mediator. If you aren't following His clear instructions and also following His commandments you would be better off not praying at all.

Glorify the Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV) Pray ceaselessly, follow His commandments, walk in the path of Christ. Treat your spouse right, sin no more, do no evil, pray in Jesus' name to the Father. Do all these things so that your prayers may be answered!

I hope we were able to edify you! Please send any questions or comments to feedback@fablesandtruths.org.