Martyrdom of St Stephen (1560s), by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]
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(6-7-08; new introduction on 8-22-16)
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I ran across a person in one of my Facebook groups that denied the practices that I will soon show are perfectly biblical. He thought one could only pray to God the Father. And it makes sense within his own heretical views, because He went on to deny that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were God; i.e., he denied the Holy Trinity.
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John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
Acts 7:59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Acts 22:6-10 As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, `Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ And I answered, `Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, `I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, `What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, `Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’
Acts 26:14-16 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, `Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, `Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, `I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;
[Here the 24 elders are worshiping Jesus and they have the prayers of the saints (what are they doing with them?), presented to Him. So it is not only prayer to Jesus, but also prayer to Jesus through the intercession of the (dead) saints: something that Protestants reject, even though it is right in front of them here and in Revelation 8:3-4 where angels do the same exact thing: present prayers of people to God.]
1 Corinthians 1:2b . . . all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
The phraseology of “call upon the name” is used of God the Father, too, in the OT, thus suggesting that it implies direct address to God (with Jesus being the recipient, since He is analogous to God the Father in this scenario, as opposed to praying “in His Name” to the Father, as in Jn 14:13; 16:23-26; Eph 5:20; Col 3:17, etc.). Calling upon (the name of) Jesus is calling Jesus Himself, not praying to the Father in His name. It appears to be two different concepts. This is shown in the following parallels:
Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, {that} whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered:…
(quoted in Acts 2:21, Rom 10:12-14, using the same word for “call,” epikaleo, as that in 1 Cor 1:2)
Genesis 4:26 At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.
Genesis 26:25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD.
Isaiah 12:4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the nations, proclaim that his name is exalted.
Judith 16:2 And Judith said, Begin a song to my God with tambourines, sing to my Lord with cymbals. Raise to him a new psalm;
exalt him, and call upon his name.Acts 9:10-17 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Anani’as. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Anani’as.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, and he has seen a man named Anani’as come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Anani’as answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Anani’as departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Hebrews 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
(cf. Dt 4:7; 1 Sam 12:17-18; 2 Sam 22:4,7; 1 Chr 21:26; Ps 14:4; 18:3,6; 55:16; 88:9; 141:1; 145:18; Jer 33:3; Sir 2:10; 46:16; 48:20; 2 Mac 3:22; 12:36; 13:10; 14:46; 15:21-22; 2 Tim 2:22 — “call upon the Lord,” etc., without “name” included)
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Meta Description: The Bible has data which shows that one may pray both to Jesus & to the Holy Spirit. It makes perfect sense, since they are God.
Meta Keywords: prayer, prayer to Jesus, prayer to the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, blessed trinity, Christology, Father, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, theology proper, trinitarianism, Trinity, incarnation, Two Natures of Christ
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