Christians believe it to be appropriate and necessary when praying to address each member of the Trinity directly; this is particularly relevant with regards to Jesus.
Jesus, as God-man, took on sinless humanity to accomplish His mission of redemption. Whether in Gethsemane Garden or on Calvary Cross He addressed His prayers directly to his Heavenly Father.
Table of Contents
1. Forgiveness
Christians consider prayer to Jesus to be essential, since He alone can forgive our sins, heal us, and lead our lives towards Heaven. Praying to Jesus can offer both forgiveness and guidance – so it is crucial that Christians pray to him regularly for guidance in life.
Jesus, being God on Earth, could speak directly with His Father and taught his followers to pray in his name or call on him for assistance – this relationship had existed even before Jesus became human on Earth.
Jesus revolutionized prayer when He made history by praying directly to God the Father instead of just to Himself alone. At no other point had any other faithful Jews made this bold move, making an impactful statement about their love for their Creator as well as for themselves. Jesus likely wanted to demonstrate both relationships with and between himself and Him by making this bold declaration about prayer.
Through out the New Testament, we see people turning to Jesus for help with miraculous feats, often calling him Lord or Sir as they addressed him for miracles. This practice may have been prevalent among early Church believers as “Lord” is also commonly translated to mean master or sir.
Some may argue that it would be inappropriate to pray to Jesus because He isn’t God the Father, yet they fail to understand their relationship was eternal before He became flesh and man. Therefore, those who feel it’s inappropriate pray Jesus must believe he never existed as the Son of God which is obviously impossible.
2. Guidance
At times, praying directly to Jesus or the Spirit makes sense. For instance, when trying to overcome sin in their lives, asking the Holy Spirit for help overcoming it might be beneficial. Additionally, asking him or Him directly for advice or direction might also be appropriate.
Christians pray to Jesus because he provides wisdom and direction when needed. According to Scripture, Jesus taught how we should live our lives so as to find success in God’s kingdom of love. Jesus performed miracles such as walking on water and creating instant fish or bread creations instantly as well as raising dead people back up, calming storms down or casting out demons – making him an unparalleled role model and source of strength in times of trouble.
The Bible also documents Jesus’ prayers to His Heavenly Father for strength and wisdom in fulfilling his Father’s will on Earth. Jesus would pray in various settings such as Gethsemane Garden, Upper Room High Priestly Prayer and finally on the Cross as part of obeying Him and fulfilling God’s plan for redemption.
Prayer to Jesus means we’re inviting all his truths and teachings into the conversation. His name represents his entire life and ministry; by praying His name aloud we bring all this into your prayer.
Christians need to pray regularly as part of their Christian practice in order to deepen their relationship with both God and Jesus. Through prayer, Christians can experience all that being a Christian has to offer – the only way this can truly happen!
3. Resurrection
Answers may come easily to some people; for others it might take more consideration. Christians believe Jesus to be much more than a great moral teacher or worthy example to emulate – He was sent from Heaven as God himself to become human, be crucified by humans, then rise again after three days to save all humanity from our sins.
Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate act of love, and when we pray to him we are honoring and thanking him for it. Scripture states that he offered himself as an offering and sacrifice to God (Galatians 3:16).
Jesus often addressed Himself as “my Lord” or “my master”. He addressed God as Abba (“daddy”) when praying to his Heavenly Father, modeling how we too may speak with Christ as part of daily communication with him.
Calling Jesus “Abba” reminds you that He is equally God with His Father – making up one third of the Trinity – while at the same time reminding you he is your Savior.
At its heart, praying to Jesus stems from what He accomplished on the Cross. Never should we forget that salvation comes only through faith in Christ and his sacrifice on that cruel tree for our sins – without this gift we would all be eternally lost without him. Yet when we pray to him we’re connecting with a merciful, loving, compassionate Lord who understands our hearts and wants nothing more than helping us draw nearer Him; His forgiveness and guidance provide the ultimate gift he can offer us all.
4. Healing
Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully divine, and has the ability to perform miracles, heal the sick, transform lives for good and grant eternal life through his resurrection and atonement.
Jesus asserted His equality with His Father by proclaiming, “I and the Father are one.” To demonstrate this claim, He became human through virgin birth; enabled to do this due to Holy Spirit coming upon Him (John 14:26).
Jesus as God’s son was all-knowing and all-powerful, capable of answering anyone’s prayer while at the same time remaining omnipresent – present at multiple locations at once and hearing those of His followers praying to Him and answering their requests; He understood their hearts and responded appropriately.
Through the Gospels, Jesus can be seen praying to His Heavenly Father. From praying in Gethsemane Garden or during High Priestly prayer sessions to accepting his mission of redemption by death and resurrection for mankind and gaining their forgiveness he needed strength from his heavenly Father to complete his plan and knowledge on what should come next.
Once Jesus returned to Heaven, his disciples continued praying to Him. We have many examples of them asking Jesus for healing as well as food, money and protection from enemies. Jesus knew how to answer their prayers by providing everything necessary for full and fulfilling lives – from healing to food to money and protection against enemies. Jesus provided what His followers needed so they could lead fulfilled and happy lives, such as clearing away obstacles in their path so they would stay on the right path, like a good shepherd protecting his flock.
5. Love
Many people pray to Jesus because they believe He cares deeply for them and wants only what’s best for them. Many also believe He was willing to lay down His life for them as evidence of His concern, showing just how much He cared. Finally, many believe He is God, so their prayers will be answered when they pray to Him; according to scripture when we do pray we should ask for forgiveness and guidance as well as healing so we may serve him and others effectively.
Some theorists have attempted to explain why we should pray directly to Jesus instead of an abstract deity, by noting that Scripture reveals him to be both divine and the second member of the Trinity, now living among us as human.
These arguments seem convincing enough, yet they fail to meet the demands of justifying love. To properly justify love, one needs to appeal to valuable properties shared among both partners (Chi 2020). When these properties are subjective and individualistic in nature, however, their value may not suffice as grounds for assessment of love.
Accounts that conceptualize love as an attitude toward value that lies between appraisal and bestowal, between recognising already existing value and creating new ones, may provide one solution; however, such accounts seem to lack clarity regarding its character of evaluation as they fail to distinguish love from other evaluative responses like admiration and respect, nor specify an object of such evaluations of love.
