Should I Pray To Jesus or Through Jesus?

Mike Leake 2 Comments

“Ye must always pray unto the Father in my name” –3 Nephi 18:19

That quotes comes from the Book of Mormon. Mormon’s believe that the pattern of faith is to pray to God the Father only through Jesus Christ. It’s not only the Book of Mormon that they use, though. They also cite the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. Here Jesus taught us to pray to “Our Father”. The model prayer has our prayer directed to the Father, and later verses help us to see that our prayer to the Father is mediated through Jesus our Redeemer.

One Mormon commentator boldly refers to praying to Jesus as an “apostate practice”. Today, I want to consider whether or not this is an apostate practice or if it is in fact an apostolic practice.

References to “the Lord”

In the New Testament, references to “the Lord” are almost always a reference to the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 12:8 is one of these instances. Here we see that Paul, “pleaded with the Lord” to remove the thorn in his flesh. The word for “pleaded” is one that refers to praying in earnest. Here, the apostle Paul is praying to the Lord Jesus.

In Acts 7:59-60, Stephen clearly is praying to the Lord Jesus. Here as he is being stoned, Stephen “calls out”. This again is a term that refers to prayer. And who does he pray to? “Lord, Jesus receive my spirit.” And again in verse 60 he refers to the Lord, asking Jesus to forgive his persecutors.

In fact the Bible ends with a prayer to Jesus as the apostle John, seeing this vision and the coming of the holy city, cries out “Come, Lord Jesus!” He is not beseeching the Father to send His Son. The apostle John is praying directly to the Lord Jesus and begging him to come. It is a prayer that is echoed in 1 Corinthians 16:22, “marana tha”.

There are more instances of praying to the Lord, but these will suffice to show that it was indeed apostolic practice to pray to—and not merely through—the Lord Jesus.

What does Jesus say?

While it is true that Jesus’ model prayer is a prayer to the Father, this does not mean that this is the only prayer that we are to pray.

In John 14, Jesus is comforting his disciples upon His departure. After saying that He is “going to the Father”, Jesus tells the disciples, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son”. That certainly sounds that we pray through Jesus to the Father. But notice how Jesus continues. “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it”.

Now it would be dishonest of me to not mention that some of the earlier manuscripts do not include the word “me”. It is possible that this word is a scribal addition to the text. But even if this were so, I believe it still proves the point that it was apostolic practice to pray to the Lord Jesus. Why else would a scribe have added the word “me”. You don’t add something to make it less clear—you add something to make it more clear.

This leaves us with two options. First, that “me” ought to be part of the text and the issue is settled—the Lord Jesus encouraged the disciples to pray to Him. Or secondly, that this was incorrectly added. But such an addition would not have been welcome or have spread if this was not the early church practice. That alone does not make the practice biblical, but that coupled with the references to Lord helps us to see that the early church did indeed pray to Jesus and not simply through Him to the Father.

Conclusion

In my opinion this is not a hill to die on. If somebody is not convinced that we ought to pray to the Lord Jesus, and by conviction they only pray through Jesus to the Father, I don’t know that I would be overly concerned. The bigger concern with Mormonism is their view of Jesus. If you aren’t praying to Jesus because you don’t think He is God, there are bigger concerns than the One your prayer is directed towards.

For Christians, prayer to Jesus is a practice that holds up in Scripture. So does prayer to the Father through Jesus. For an excellent book on praying in Jesus’ name, I recommend Praying Backwards by Bryan Chapell (only $3.99 on the Kindle).

The ultimate answer to the question is actually, “Yes”. You certainly must pray through Jesus and it fits the Scriptures to pray to Jesus as well. 

Pray ‘For Your Son: 31 Day Challenge—Day Four

Mike Leake 3 Comments

Today’s prayer comes from Mark Mincy

Day Four: That he would be kept in peace

Isaiah 26:3 – You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (ESV)

Peace is perhaps the most elusive thing in the world. Everybody wants it and yet few claim to have it. We search and search, but anxiety seems to rule the day. In the Scriptures, anxiety is set as an antonym to peace. The word for anxiety literally means “to be pulled in many different directions”. Being pulled in many different directions is how many of us would define life. In such a world the only way to know peace is to seek the face of our peace-giving God through prayer and thanksgiving. Therefore, let us pray that God will give to our sons His peace.

Dear Father, I praise you that You are the Author of peace. I praise You that Jesus brought true peace to this fallen world through the shedding of His blood. In His name, I ask You to give our sons true and lasting peace. Protect them from things – even good things – that call them away from You. Give them faith that they might trust You and not their own strength or ability. Give them a desire to cast themselves upon Your mercy and know the joy of Your peace continually flooding their souls. Keep them in Your perfect peace – for Your glory and their good. Amen

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Mark Mincy: Husband to the beautiful Tricia, and father to Justin, Jake, Jenna, and Jarynne.  Privileged to shepherd the congregation of Waterville Baptist Church.

An Idiot’s Guide to Week 5 #NFL Predictions

Mike Leake

Another mediocre week at 8-7. My crazy picks were terrible and if you had Eli Manning and Ryan Broyles on your fantasy team then you likely lost. This week I’m confident that I will pick every game perfectly.

Bills over Browns (just can’t see them over .500)
Bengals over Patriots (upset of the week)
Packers over Lions
Colts over Seahawks
Ravens over Dolphins
Saints over Bears
Eagles over Giants
Chiefs over Titans
Rams over Jaguars
Panthers over Cardinals (blowout)
Broncos over Cowboys
49ers over Texans
Chargers over Raiders
Falcons over Jets

Fantasy Stud of the Week: Ray Rice
Fantasy Sleeper of the Week: Robert Woods, Buffalo WR

Other Crazy Picks:

Peyton Manning with a mediocre game. Only 1 TD, 2 INT’s, 300 yards
Ray Rice bounces back with 150 yards and 2 scores
Reggie Bush is cooled down—under 100 yards
Vick leads the Eagles to a 4th quarter comeback
I’m feeling a big game for Donnie Avery
Late Stafford pick seals the Lions fate
Colts D saves the day. Bad week for Russell Wilson.

What Is the Most Important Quality For a Pastor?

Mike Leake 1 Comment

How would you answer that question?

Some would say that the most important quality for a pastor is that he is faithful in preaching God’s Word. This means that he stands before the congregation and faithfully declares to them what the Lord says to us through His Word. We want men that accurately teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Others might use a little different word. Occasionally, I’ll have younger guys asking me if I know of any churches that are hiring pastors. Since I have access to a few ministry placement sites I’ll scan through some of the ads for them. When I do, one word is almost always present: DYNAMIC. Churches today want dynamic pastors. I think that means energetic, winsome, passionate, and a host of other things–like spiky hair.

I wonder what your word is? Give it some thought…

Samuel Davies’ answer

The one word that Samuel Davies used was “piety”. He defined it as “having a firm belief of that gospel he is called to preach, and a lively sense of religion upon his own heart.”

Davies was not alone in this. I would venture to say that almost every Puritan would give a similar answer, as would Calvin and Luther. But more significantly I believe you could make a case that this would also be the answer given by the God in His Word. Note that in Acts 20:28 Paul urges the elders to “pay careful attention to yourselves” before he says anything about caring for the flock. This is what Davies and others meant by piety.

Davies noted:

It is an easy thing to make a noise in the world, to flourish and harangue, to dazzle the crowd and set them all agape; but deeply to imbibe the Spirit of Christianity, to maintain a secret walk with God, to be holy, as he is holy—this is the labor, this is the work

This passion for piety would be a filter by which every minister would work. Piety will direct a man in what to study and drive him in how he studies. Furthermore, it will “give unspeakable force to what a minister says”.

If you want a “dynamic pastor” I think what you are really saying is that you want a man that is set on fire by the living God. What you really need is a man that stands before a congregation and boldly proclaims an unadulterated gospel. What you need is a pious pastor.

If you are looking for a man that faithfully preaches God’s Word I hope that you are looking for more than a man that can faithfully exposit. I hope that what you really mean by that is a man that not only is striving to master the Word of God but a man that is mastered by the Living Word. Demons could give you a theologically accurate sermon and stand before you saying, “Thus says Yahweh”. But demons don’t tremble. You want a pastor that trembles.

Pastor’s let us pursue piety. Congregation’s let us pursue and encourage pious pastors.

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Those Samuel Davies quotes comes from Iain Murray’s phenomenal biography Revival and Revivalism.