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Objections to praying to/worshiping the Lord Jesus answered

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  • Objections to praying to/worshiping the Lord Jesus answered

    A. Matthew 6:9 and John 16:23 have often been cited by some to prove that the Lord Jesus should not be prayed to.

    1. Matthew 6:9
    Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name (Matthew 6:9, NASB)
    a. Mark Bird: In light of the scriptural data that support all sorts of prayer to Jesus, what do we do with Jesus’ instructions to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9)? Does the fact that the model prayer addresses the Father and not the Son mean that we are never to address the Son (or the Spirit) in prayer? No. By giving us the model prayer, Jesus was not limiting our prayers to a certain structure or verbiage. Otherwise, we would need to eliminate using the expression “in Jesus’ name” in prayer since that is not in the Lord’s Prayer. We would also need to eliminate thanksgiving from our prayers, since that does not show up in the Lord’s Prayer. But obviously, we should give thanks to God (I Thess. 5:19). Christ's words, "Our Father which art in Heaven" do not keep us from praying to Jesus any more than his words "Give us our daily bread" keep us from praying for something to drink. And the Lord’s Prayer does not keep us from petitioning the Son any more than Christ’s instructions to “enter into the closet and pray to your Father in secret” (Matt 6:6) keep us from praying in a public setting. We learn a great deal about prayer from the model prayer, but it does not teach us everything we should know about talking to God. It is appropriate to pray to the Father directly; the Lord’s Prayer clearly shows that. However, just because we are permitted to pray, and even commanded to pray to the Father, that doesn’t mean we are not permitted to pray to the Son.
    http://www.wesleyantheology.com/shou...-to-jesus.html
    b. We also see that the Lord's Prayer is recorded by Luke (11:2 f.) and we know that Luke records several prayers to the Lord Jesus so it does not mean that prayers are not to be rendered unto the Lord Jesus.
    See "Acts 1:24-25 is a prayer to the Lord Jesus": http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/sh...the-Lord-Jesus
    See also "Call upon the name of the Lord - Praying to Jesus" (Acts 7:59-60; 9:14, 21; 22:16): http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/sh...the-Lord-Jesus
    c. The same Greek word for "hallowed" (ἁγιάζω) as it applies to the Father in worship is also applied to the Lord Jesus in worship (See "Peter: The Worship of the Lord Jesus"): http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/sh...the-Lord-Jesus

    2. John 16:23
    In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you (John 16:23, NASB).
    a. The context has to do with the apostles not asking Him anymore questions concerning His figurative teachings concerning His resurrection (John 16:18, 30).
    So they were saying, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about" (John 16:18, NASB).
    "Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God" (John 16:30, NASB).
    b. Vine: The Lord did not mean that no prayer must be offered to Him afterwards. They did address Him in prayer, Acts 1:24; 7:59 (John - His Record of Christ, W. E. Vine, page 154).
    c. Alford: It has been supposed wrongly that the words me and the Father are in opposition in this verse, and thence gathered that it is not lawful to address prayer to Christ. But such an opposition is contrary to the whole spirit of these discourses (The New Testament for English Readers, page 602).
    http://archive.org/stream/newtestame.../n212/mode/1up
    d. Vine: If the Holy Spirit had been given, the time for asking questions from the Lord would have ceased (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Ask - erwtaw, page 71).
    e. C.K. Barrett: It seems however more probable that in this verse erwtan and aitein are to be distinguished. John always used aitein with the meaning 'to ask for something' (see 4.9f.; 11.22; 14.13f.; 15.7, 16; 16.23f., 26) and does upon occasion use erwtan with the meaning 'to ask a question' (see 1.19, 21, 25; 9.2, 19, 21; 16.5, 19, 30). This is, in particular, the prevailing usage in this chapter. Moreover, John is drawing out a contrast between the present (the time of the ministry) and the future ('in that day'). The disciples have not asked Jesus for anything, but in chs. 13-16 they have asked many questions (13.24f., 37; 14.5, 8, 22; 16.17f). John's meaning seems to be that in the time when the Holy Spirit is given and guides the believers in all the truth they will no longer ask such questions as, What is the meaning of the 'little while' of which Jesus speaks? (The Gospel According to St. John, Second Edition, page 494).
    f. Henry: By way of enquiry, they should not need to ask (John 16:23): "In that day you shall ask me nothing" ouk erotesete ouden--you shall ask no questions "you shall have such a clear knowledge of gospel mysteries, by the opening of your understandings, that you shall not need to enquire" (as Hebrews 8:11, they shall not teach) "you shall have more knowledge on a sudden than hitherto you have had by diligent attendance." They had asked some ignorant questions (as John 9:2), some ambitious questions (as Matthew 18:1), some distrustful ones (as Matthew 19:27), some impertinent ones, (as John 21:21), some curious ones (as Acts 1:6) but after the Spirit was poured out, nothing of all this.
    http://www.studylight.org/com/mhm/view.cgi?bk=42&ch=16
    g. Earlier in the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus claimed the right to be prayed to/worshiped as the Father is prayed to/worshiped.
    See "John 5:23 - Worship the Father and the Son": http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/sh...er-and-the-Son

    Furthermore, those who appeal to either or both passages above and insist the Lord Jesus is not to be prayed to fail to take into consideration that the Lord Jesus also taught about praying to/worshiping Him in John 5:23.
    http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/sh...er-and-the-Son
    Last edited by foudroyant; 08-05-2014, 01:45 AM.

  • #2
    Dude, quit flooding the JW forum.
    That's what
    - She

    Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
    - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

    I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
    - Stephen R. Donaldson

    Comment


    • #3
      OK.
      It's just that last year when I addressed passages individually I was criticized. I figured just to lump them together by topic.

      If this isn't acceptable then these threads can be removed and I will simply post the passages one by one or very close to it so I do not have to make more than one page for each thread.
      Last edited by foudroyant; 01-28-2014, 09:40 PM.

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