Topic 2: Praying the right way – who should we pray to?
Pastor Maselo Mosomane
Praying the right way – who should we pray to? “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” John 16:23-24
Who should we pray to? Many times we are puzzled by this question. There are those who say; it does not matter who you pray to for God is a Triune. They say we can pray to the Father or Jesus or the Holy Spirit; it does not matter. Praying to any of them is the same as praying to all of them for they form the Holy Trinity.
There is a lot of sense in this kind of approach especially when we base our argument of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one. We cannot separate them and no one should attempt to do so. We must however realize that the foundation upon which we should build our faith must not be on how much something makes sense or not. The word of God must be our only source. What the word says must supersede what we think or figure out. We may make sense but God does not have to make sense. He is the absolute truth whether He makes sense to us or not. The final authority on any subject that has anything to do with God should always be the word of God.
Few days before Jesus went to the cross He uttered these words; “And in that day you will ask Me nothing.” Jesus said “in that day.” Which day did He refer to? Did He refer to that day when He will be coming back to set up a millennial kingdom? Or was He perhaps referring to the day when He would still be in the grave? In the first place; I don’t believe Jesus was referring to a particular day. I believe He was referring to a period in time – a dispensation. It would do us good to remember that “…with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” 2 Peter 3:8. I don’t believe He was referring to a specific day on the calendar.
“And in that day you will ask Me nothing.” You see while He was on earth with His disciples they could ask Him anything any time the occasion arose. They asked Him face to face. For example; “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Matthew 13:10. “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” John 14: 8. “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6. There are many other questions they asked Him; space won’t allow us to mention them all.
“Until now you have asked nothing in My name.” Was there any need for them to ask Him anything in His Name? No; they did not have to since He was there with them physically. You don’t ask anyone anything from himself in his name. When Jesus was with His disciples they could ask Him any question without a mediator. However; after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension He became absent with them. This is the period He was referring to when He said “in that day.”He had to die and rose from the dead and received up into heaven before the new dispensation could come into effect. The new covenant begins with Jesus at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Until Jesus left the earth, the new covenant would not have come. That’s why He said “nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go way, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” John 16:7.
We must also understand that the dispensation of the new covenant is now. We are living in the time of the new covenant. We are living in the very day Jesus was referring to when He said “in that day.” What do we understand about that day? First; Jesus is not with us physically as He was with the disciples. Second; He said when this day arrives we will have to stop asking Him anything for He shall have changed positions. We must understand that Jesus has now assumed His mediatory position at the right hand of the Father. He said when this day comes, we will not ask Him anything. Whatever we need we will ask the Father in Jesus’ Name and He (the Father) will give to us.
I believe the scriptural way to pray is to pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus aided by the Holy Spirit. Every prayer we offer in this manner gets the whole Trinity involved. Paul wrote this when inspired by the Holy Spirit; “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” Romans 8:26-27. The Holy Spirit helps us pray to the Father according to the Father’s will. We do so in the Name of Jesus for He is the mediator of a new covenant which is better than the first one. “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” Hebrews 8:6.
God has put in place this communication line and it will remain until Jesus comes back. The Holy Spirit helps us formulate the right words to speak to the Father in the Name of Jesus. It is like the Holy Spirit helps us draft an application letter to the Father. Jesus endorses it with His stamp. God attends to the application letter because it is properly drafted and has Jesus’ stamp of approval on it.
We are living in a new covenant and there are rules in that covenant to operate by. Like in the old covenant; Jesus stands as the High Priest whose duty is to present to God our offerings. The offerings are not made to Him; they are made to God and He passes them to God. Anything that comes into the holy of holies has to be presented by the High Priest. The offering is made to God and is presented by the high priest. The old covenant people knew this. They never made any offering to the high priest. They made their offering to God through the high priest. We do the same today. Our prayers and petitions are made to God through our High Priest – Jesus.
“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” Hebrews 8:1-2. We don’t pray to Jesus; we pray to God in Jesus’ Name. He is the Mediator of a new covenant.
Therefore; “…in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full”
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