A question was asked in our fellowship meeting a few weeks ago that has got me thinking a lot. I didn’t know how to answer that question at the time, so I just listened to the discussion. I wanted to get my facts straight before I gave an opinion. The question was, “Who should we be praying to? The Father or to Jesus?”
The sentiment among the fellowship followed this logic: Since we eventually become the sons and daughters of Jesus, He becomes our Father, we should pray to Him. The belief was also voiced that when we pray to the Father in the name of Christ, it is always the Savior who answers our prayers anyway, so we just as well pray to Him. I am not so sure, and below are my reasons for believing that we should continue to address our prayers to the Father, at least until the time we are instructed to change that.
- “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.” (Matthew 6:6)
- “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.” (Colossians 3:17)
- “And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.” (3 Nephi 18:20)
- “...Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.” (Moroni 7:26)
- “…pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of His Son, Jesus Christ…” (Moroni 7:48)
- Alma 34, in verse 14, differentiates between God and the Son of God. In verse 17, Alma teaches that we call upon His holy name – God, not the Son of God.
In Mathew 6:6 Christ says to “pray to thy Father” which can be problematic to some people. The argument could be presented that Christ is our Father since He purchased our parentage by His blood. But, it seems we are not His children until He personally accepts us as such, at which point we can then consider Him as our Father. This is one of those points, I believe, we should not be assuming if it has not been instructed to us explicitly. In 3 Nephi 19:18, the Nephites prayed directly to Jesus, “calling him their Lord and their God.” They were either told to pray to Him or felt the necessity to pray to Him while in His presence. This should be instructive to us.
As in all things let the Holy Spirit guide you, and don’t rely on anyone to tell you how it is supposed to be done without the Spirit’s confirmation.