Question
Hello Christina I’ve been following you for the past month and I am very inspired with your teachings. I do have a question that I feel you may know the answer to. I know Jesus is God in human flesh but I get confused. Who do I go to in prayer and worship overall my day to day conversations. Some people say God (which is how I was raised) then I hear others say Jesus. Who do I go to? Who do send my prayers to? One minute I hear someone say God then in the following sentence it’s Jesus. I always thought I am suppose to go to God and now I feel as if I’m leaving out Jesus. But if Jesus is God how can I be leaving him out. I’m in need of a straight up answer so I can have some form of
understanding. I’ve been on my spiritual journey since oct 2014 and still feel super confused about this. Hope to hear from you soon! Sherry
-bronx nyc
understanding. I’ve been on my spiritual journey since oct 2014 and still feel super confused about this. Hope to hear from you soon! Sherry
-bronx nyc
Answer
Well Hello Sherry from the Bronx! First, welcome to Beloved! Thank you so much for joining us! Second, I absolutely LOVE this question. I’ve wondered this myself before. Here’s the short answer: We pray to God the Father, in the name of the Son Jesus Christ.
So let me explain what that actually means.
You are right, Jesus is God so when you pray to God you are essentially praying to both Jesus and God. Although God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one, they do play different roles in our prayer life.
Like I said, we pray to God. But since we are imperfect speaking to a holy God, we need an intercessor to cover for us you could say. Jesus is that someone that vouches for us. Jesus is the reason we can confidently approach God in the first place because of His sacrifice on the cross that forgives us of our sins and clears us of unrighteousness before God. (Hebrews 4:15-16) Without Jesus we have no relationship with God and cannot even talk to Him in prayer. Just like we can’t just go talk to the President unless invited, the same is true with God, so Jesus invited us to do so. So when we approach God we do so in the authority of Jesus Christ. This is why you will hear many people say “In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.” at the end of their prayers.
However, just because you say “In the name of Jesus” at the end of your prayer does not mean you get whatever you want. Someone might pray “Dear God, please hurt Sally because I don’t like her. In the Name of Jesus. Amen”. God is not going to honor a prayer like that.
So the Bible also tells us to pray in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:1) This means that when we do pray we are not praying for selfish things but for what God wills. The Holy Spirit will guide us in our prayers to help us to do this. Praying in the Spirit means desiring the things God wants, not only what we want. It’s matching our will with God’s.
Now, we can still tell God how we feel. The Bible tells us to cast our anxiety on Him. (1 Peter 5:7) But the point of prayer is to get us on the same track as God. A great example of this is Jesus’ prayer in the garden before He is about to be crucified. He casts out His anxiety on the Lord by asking God to take this cup, or situation from Him but in the end He ultimately asks for God’s will to be done. (Luke 22:42) Jesus also offers us the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 as an example for us to pray.
Again, this is an excellent question I pray I was able to answer. Thank you for trusting me with your question. I’m also going to list more scriptures on this topic in the description box below that I think will add to this conversation. And if you have a question you would like me to answer visit belovedwomen.org/question to submit it! I post new videos every week so be sure to subscribe so you never miss a video. Then I want to invite you to visit belovedwomen.org and sign up to have my weekly devotional called “Hello Beloved” sent directly to your inbox. Thanks so much for watching and until next time be beautiful, be blessed and be loved.
MORE SCRIPTURES ON PRAYER:
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.” Romans 1:8 NIV (emphasis mine)
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17 NIV
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” – Romans 8:26-27 NIV
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” – Ephesians 6:18 NIV
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” – John 4:24 NIV
10 responses to “Should I Pray to Jesus or God?”
Thank you!
I have been looking for an answer to this same question and now I have it!
I feel so much better!
Thank you again!
Have a wonderful and blessed day!
Paul
Thank you for explaining this topic for me. I have been so confused about this for some time.
Blessings To You and your Ministry !
Ann
Thank you! I come across this blog via Google and found this extremely helpful. Thank you for helping others to understand. God be with you always.
Emma
Thank you i myself was confused
I am 66 years old and have not lived a life pleasing to God or my Savior Jesus Christ. I have let so many opportunities to witness pass me by (I am not ashamed of Jesus) I want to hear God say well done good and faithful servant, but I don’t think i will because I because I wasn’t faithful with a few things.
I am retired and am a stay at home wife.
Can I still be of service to my God and Savior?
Jean
Thanks for the clarification! I am no longer confused about this now. I am wondering what the verse John 4:24 means. Could you elaborate?
Thank you for clarifying this! You have helpless tremendously o my new walk with Christ
Hi Tay,
Thanks so much for watching and we are glad that the video ministered to you. Have a great week!
Blessings,
Kirstyn-Team Beloved
Wow! Beautifully explained. I was so confused by this and was honestly sort of embarrassed (or maybe too prideful — yikes) to ask other Christians in my life most likely to know the answer. Now I can proceed in deepening my prayer life with a true (and clear) understanding. Keep doing God’s work! Thank you! 🙂
I pray the the God in the name of jesus christ in the holy spirit amen.