Is it Jesus we pray to now?

In John 14:13-14, Jesus says, “I will do whatever you ask in my name,” and “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” So is it Jesus we pray to now?

But Jesus also says in John 15:16 that “the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name,” so is it the Father we pray to? On the other hand, Jesus says in John 16:15, “All that belongs to the Father is mine,” so does that mean the Father has passed everything on to Jesus, and therefore we’re back to Jesus being the one we pray to?

John doesn’t make things any clearer in 1 John 3:21-22 either, when he writes that “we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask.” No mention of whether it’s the Father or Jesus we pray to – just “God.” And just “God” again in 1 John 5:14, when John writes of “the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

John doesn’t separate the Father and Jesus as to who answers. But the process by which our prayers are answered does separate them, because in John 15:16 Jesus directs us to the Father as the source of every answer, but in John 3:35, “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.” All answers to our prayers, therefore, originate with the Father, but the Father has given Jesus the power and authority to make the answers happen.

So when Jesus says in John 15:16, “the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name,” we’re acknowledging the part they both play in answering our requests. 

It also shows that the Father and Jesus are in this together – not only for us, but for each other as well. Jesus, for instance, wants to give all glory to the Father by answering us exactly as his Father wishes, so we come to love the Father like he does. The Father, meanwhile, wants to give all glory to his beloved Son by giving Jesus full power and authority to make his wishes happen, so we come to love his Son like he does. In our prayers to the Father and Jesus, therefore, we’re being drawn into their world – of their love for each other and their love for us. 

But what about the Holy Spirit? “Do we pray to the Holy Spirit too?”….(next blog)