A friend of mine brought up an interesting question. "Jenny said that's why she's Christian, and not Catholic. Catholics pray to Saints, and there's something not right about that. But as I drove home, I thought- Christians pray to Jesus. Isn't that kind-of the same thing? You can get around it by saying Jesus=God.. but then why not just pray to God?"
The part of this that I'd like to address is "Christians pray to Jesus" with Jesus being human. "but then why not just pray to God?"
I need to give a little background before I can give my thoughts. When Adam and Eve first sinned, they broke the bridge from mankind to God in that they were no longer worthy of His presence. God is perfect. They, obviously, were not. For a man to be in His presence, innocent blood must be shed in sacrifice to atone for the sin. This is the reason for all of the lambs sacrificed in the days of Moses, etc.
Before sin, we walked and talked directly with God. This is where Jesus came in. He was concieved by God in Mary. He was NOT made from man's seed, in this case Joseph. I shake my head in disgust when people incinuate that she was a whore. If she was, then Jesus would have been killed in some way or another before he was 10. He would not be hailed as the Saviour. He came as the innocent sacrifice to take our place. He gave his life for all of us so that we may talk with God. He is the replacement bridge.
Alright, now to the question. Why don't we pray directly with God? Well, we do. But, we do it through Jesus in that Jesus is perfect and worthy to be in God's presence. This is why you will hear at the end of many prayers "...in Jesus' name I pray."
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
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That's insightful. I mean, I'm a lazy prayer, so the most you'll hear outta me at the end is "Ammmm." But it's unbelievable that the slightest difference in who you actually aim the prayer at makes the difference. Such tiny divides
ReplyDeleteJesus clearly taught his disciples how pray and to whom to pray when he said "After this manner pray ye - "Our Father which art in Heaven..." He was very clear we are to pray to the Father not the Son(or himself in other words). Also, in the 17th chapter of John He explains how He and his Father and the Holy Spirit are separate beings but one in purpose. We are to pray to our Father through His Son Jesus Christ. We address Him as Father as in the Lords prayer. We can picture Him in our minds as we wish I suppose but He and Jesus must resemble each other as scripure says.
ReplyDeleteI have pondered this same question and after considering all of Jesus' teachings (including John chapter 17) I believe that, ultimately, all the glory must go to God. In other words, all of our prayers, praise and devotion must be reserved solely God who has taken mercy on us.
ReplyDeleteWhen we pray directly to God in the name of Jesus (whose sacrifice made it possible for us to commune with God), we receive the assistance of the Holy Spirit/"Helper" who teaches us about the nature of God and how to pray.
The trinity works in unison for one purpose... to glorify God. Each member of the holy trinity observes this truth and so should we.
God bless.
When Thomas saw Jesus after His resurrection he fell at His feet and said "My Lord and my God". Jesus did not correct him. I think we can pray to God the Father or God the son and our prayers will be heard. Jesus said that He and the Father were one.
ReplyDeleteYour friends comment that she was "Christian and not Catholic" is offensive and ignorant. Catholics ARE Christians. We pray to God like everyone else. Asking a Saint to pray FOR us is just like asking friend to pray for you.
ReplyDelete