Prayer is a command. "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). Prayer is also a privilege; for mortal man to approach immortal God with the expectation of being heard is surely a privilege. To whom is this privilege extended? "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 - a quotation from Psalms 34:15). However, our purpose here is to find the answer to the question: To whom do we pray?

This is NOT a discussion of whom do we praise in song. Singing is one thing, prayer another. Remember that we teach one another in songs, and we should only teach what is in accordance with the Bible. Also, remember that songs are written by fallible men. Nor is this intended to be a denial of the Deity of Christ or the Holy Spirit. They, with God the Father, make up the Godhead, or Deity. However, circumstances and conditions which existed during the life of Christ on earth as a man, and during the time when the gospel was in the process of being revealed no longer exist. Since the gospel has now been fully revealed, they stand in separate and/or different relationships to mankind. That man made requests of Jesus during His personal ministry cannot be denied. Jesus had the power to grant those requests if he so desired, and could do so in any manner he saw fit to use. In Matthew 8, we read of a leper who sought healing. Jesus granted his request by touching him. In Luke 23:42-43, we find the request of one of the thieves crucified beside Jesus: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Jesus replied, "Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise." But these conditions do NOT exist today. Jesus no longer lives on earth as a man in a fleshly body. Today, we have the complete New Covenant as our guide.

Further, as this covenant was in the process of being delivered to man, there were circumstances and conditions which do not exist today. The Lord made an appearance to Saul on the Damascus road. Saul was personally instructed on that occasion by the Lord. The Lord also appeared to Stephen as he was being stoned to death. But Jesus does not personally appear to man today. The Holy Spirit does not personally, nor through dreams, visions, or voices, speak to men today. The circumstances under which these things were done no longer exist. This, of course, has nothing to do with prayer today, but it does teach us that as the word was being revealed, certain events occurred which were peculiar to that time. Since these conditions do not exist today, these things are not to be considered authority for our practice today.

Man, by sin, separated himself from God. For man to approach God, it requires a sacrifice for sin, and a mediator. God, the Father, made arrangements for both sacrifice and mediator in Jesus Christ. He became our sacrifice for sin when He died on the cross (1 Cor. 15:3), and is the only mediator between man and God (1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus can be our mediator, because He, as Deity, took upon himself a fleshly body, became a man, yet was also Divine. As such, he understood both God and man. Therefore, he is qualified to stand between God and man, to mediate. This is his unique position today. It can not be occupied by any other. Christ alone is our mediator, and without him man cannot approach God.

The New Covenant teaches us to pray to God through Christ (Phil. 4:6; Eph. 5:20; Col. 3:17; Eph. 2:18; Heb. 10:19-20; 1 John 2:1). When we pray to God the Father through our mediator (in His name), we approach God with the expectation of being acceptable to Him.

Jesus taught the disciples to pray to God: "After this manner therefor pray ye: Our Father, which art in heaven ..." (Matt. 6:9). Then later, He taught them saying, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:13-14). Later Jesus gave them additional information: "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. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:23-24).

Now, verse 26: "At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you." Twice in these passages Jesus referred to "that day". The context shows that he referred to a time after his resurrection and return to the Father. Jesus gave the apostles this instruction, who taught it as a part of the gospel they revealed.

Paul practiced this as he wrote to the various churches. "First, I think my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world" (Rom. 1:18). "I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord" (Rom. 7:25). "Giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:20). "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Col. 3:17). Paul gave thanks unto God, but he did it through Christ, our mediator.

In 1 John 2:1, we read: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous." True, "prayer" is not found here, but is implied by his naming the advocate we have with the Father when we sin. Further, "Behold, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight" (1 John 3:21-22).

1 John 5:13-15 is sometimes explained as authority to pray to Jesus. However, an examination of the context, and a reference to statements Jesus made to the apostles will lead to a better understanding. In verse 11, John says that God has given us eternal life, and that life is in his Son. John then says he who has the Son has life. He who has not the Son, has not life. Then John says these things are written to believers, that they may know that they have eternal life, and that they may believe on the name of Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 14: "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." The question to consider is: Does the "HIM" and "HIS" in verse 14 refer to God who hath given us eternal life, or the Son of God in whom eternal life is available for us? In view of what Jesus taught the apostles, John being one of them, we should carefully consider before making a decision.

Jesus told the apostles, "In that day ye shall ask me nothing. At that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you" (John 16:23-26). John had already taught that our advocate with the Father is Jesus Christ. Now, what is the will of the Father and the will of Christ? That we approach the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord!!!

For man to approach God, man must have an advocate, a mediator. When we pray to God, Jesus Christ is that mediator. Because he was a man, yet at the same time Deity, he is able to act as our mediator to God. Paul described Christ Jesus as the one mediator between God and man. But Jesus is also our Lord. Peter said, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Repeatedly, he is referred to in the New Testament as "The Lord Jesus Christ". We are to direct our prayers to God, the Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ. If we now pray to the "Lord", to whom are we praying, God the Father? No, for Christ is now Lord!

In conclusion, the New Testament teaches Christians to pray to God the Father through the Lord, Jesus Christ. The New Covenant reveals His purpose to us. This is God's plan, and even though many refuse it, man cannot change it. It will be the same in the day of judgment as it is today.

Have you accepted God's will?