So Who should We be Praying to?

It has come to my attention that people are not sure as to who they should be praying to. The four most typical entities people pray to are 1. God the Father, 2. God the Son (Jesus Christ), 3. Mary, 4. 'Saints'. I shall explore in this post who is THE ONLY ONE we should be praying to. One particular passage in the bible that I will use to explain this is the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 16:23-27.

"In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you loved me and have believed that I came from God."

Firstly, take note in particular, "I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." Here lies the key verse at whom we should be praying to. It is God the Father and ONLY God the Father in whom we should pray to. When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, take note at whom Jesus PRAYED to. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." Did Jesus tell us to pray to Himself? No. Jesus did not want to rob the glory from His Father and so He instructs us to pray to the Father and not Himself. Are we going to disobey His command?

Another thing is you do not say your prayer to Jesus, so that Jesus can take your prayer to the Father for you. Jesus ruled this out: "I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf." I bring this up, because some of our Catholic friends, usually accept Mary in performing such a role. Some will claim that they do not pray to Mary, but only ask her to pray for them. Notice that Jesus said that He would not ask the Father on our behalf because "the Father himself loves you because you loved me and have believed that I came from God." Our Heavenly Father wants us to pray directly to Him because of our being reconciled with Him due to our belief on Jesus. Hence, if this were true of Christ, it would be true for Mary as well.

This finally leads to my last point, the praying to 'saints'. First of all, the 'saints' and Mary were sinners. Think about it, bible and theology aside, should we be praying to sinners? Should we be praying to someone that God HAS CREATED, rather than the CREATOR HIMSELF? Are we trying to rob God of His glory? We might as well pray to Moses or something if we are going to start praying to 'saints'. And once again, if we are going to ask the 'saints' to pray for us, then look back at the previous paragraph again.


Let us then do what God our Father has commanded us, to pray directly to Him and ONLY Him, and ask it in Jesus' name, His Son. You will SURELY see changes in your prayer life if you follow His command!