“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” (Philippians 2:10 & 11a). Some people pray straight to God the Father. I think it is presumptuous to pray straight to God. “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:7-9). “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). We should pray to Jesus because in so doing we are praying to God and the Holy Spirit also at the same time. In fact God won’t hear or answer prayers any other way, except going through his Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” (James 2:19). You can begin your prayer “Dear Jesus”, and end your prayer by saying in “Your Precious Name Jesus”. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12). “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Hebrew 13:8).Jesus told his disciples to pray to The Father in His Name, because if he told them to pray to him it would have been a “hard saying” and they couldn’t have handled it. They didn’t even believe in him fully yet, when he said this to them in Matthew 6:9 and John 15:16. They didn’t know totally who he was yet. Only after he was crucified and died and rose from the dead did they fully believe that he was the Only Begotten Son of God, and one with God. “I and my Father are One.” (John 10:30). There are a lot of people named Jesus, especially in Mexico. So you can say Jesus Christ. God knows your heart and he knows which Jesus you are praying too, but you should say, “Dear Jesus Christ” when you pray. Jesus made it clear how important names are in John 3:16 when he said, he was “The Only Begotten Son of God” There is only one “Only Begotten Son of God”. The rest of us are adopted sons and daughters of God when we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour. “But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name.” (John 1:12). “ For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”. (1Timothy 2:5). Jesus is not only our Lord and Saviour, and King of Kings, but also our High Priest. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) In the Old Testament the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies in the Temple where the Ark of The Covent was and the Shekinah Glory of God abode there, and if the Lord was angry at the people because of their sins he would strike the High Priest dead and the other lower Priests would pull his body out which had a rope tied to it, because they were afraid to go into the presence of God. Can you imagine some Jew just walking in to the Holy of Holies and flipping back the immense curtain which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple, and saying, Listen GOD, I want to talk to you about something. This is exactly what people are doing when they think that they can just pray straight to our Heavenly Father and not pray to Jesus our High Priest. You have to go through Jesus when you pray and praying to him is praying to God. ” he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; ” (John 14:9b). So if you want God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, (The Trinity) to hear and answer your prayers, then pray to Jesus Christ. I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel a whole lot closer to God, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, by praying without ceasing, and trying to listen and talk to Jesus, than going around thinking that I can go directly to God, and then saying “In Jesus Name” after praying. I have heard many preachers Self righteously start their prayers with “Heavenly Father, or Father God”, and say their whole prayer to God, and sometimes at the end of their prayer they will say, “In Jesus Name”. Who are we to go straight to God and pray to him? It would be better to start our prayers with “Dear Lord Jesus Christ”, and end our prayers with “In Your Precious Name Jesus”. God, and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit want us to get this right. It’s about time we did, don’t you think? “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30). Jesus did not say that he and the Father are one and the same. Jesus was saying that he is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit in Unity of Spirit, in heart and thought. But he is the Only way to the Father. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). Look, this is the way it is. Who do you think you are? You don’t just go around Self righteously spouting off your prayers to God especially if you want to have them answered. You have got to go through Jesus because that is the way God wants it. This is his terms and conditions. Sure Jesus told his Disciples to pray saying “Our Father which art in Heaven”, this is because they didn’t fully believe on him yet, and if he told them that they should just pray to him to reach the Father, they would not have been able to handle it. Like when Jesus said in John Chapter 6:54 “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” Many of Jesus’s followers left him and said, “this is an hard saying ,who can bear it.” If this is to much of a hard saying for you, and you can not bear it then go ahead and say your prayer to God, but you better say in The Name of Jesus Christ when you finish going straight to God the Father, and I hope he will have mercy on you and hear your prayer because you didn’t know any better, and this was to much of a hard saying for you to bear. Jesus told his disciples “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” ( John 16:12). Can you?
Say this prayer to be saved: Jesus, I want to know you, and to live forever in Heaven, I know I have made mistakes and done bad things- and I am sorry. I believe that you were crucified on the cross and died for all my sins, and rose from the dead. Please forgive me of all my sins. I know I don’t deserve it, but I accept your love and I accept you as my Saviour. Please come into my heart and life and fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me peace. In Jesus Christ Precious Name. Amen.