TO WHOM SHOULD WE PRAY?

The normal pattern for prayer in the New Testament is to the Father through the Son. We ask the Father to answer our prayers on the basis of our relationship with the Son. Some try to make this pattern into a rigid formula for prayer despite the fact that Stephen prayed directly to Jesus pleading on behalf of those who stoned him to death (Acts 7:59-60).

Jesus promised, "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:13-14).  The expression is awkward.  We don't usually request something from someone in his/her own name. In fact, some manuscripts leave out the "me" (με) and insert "the Father" (τον πατερα) in its place. There is, however, strong external manuscript evidence for "me" being the original text and the internal evidence is compelling as well.  It seems more likely that a scribe copying the text by hand would make the mistake of omitting "me" and supplying "the Father" to avoid the awkwardness of the sentence. So the best reading is με not τον πατερα.

We can ask Jesus in Jesus' name to answer our requests. Further support for praying directly to Jesus comes from the pronouns in both verses.  Jesus says in verse 13, "Whatever you ask ... I (εγω) will do." He makes the "I" emphatic in verse 14. "If you ask Me ... I will do it" (εγω ποιησω).  The εγω reinforces the με and Jesus will do (ποιησω) what we ask Him to do.

Jesus makes an extraordinary promise to answer our requests whether we ask the Father (vs. 13) or Jesus directly (vs. 14). The natural implication of verse 13 is that we ask the Father. The explicit teaching of verse 14 is that we ask Jesus. Whether we ask the Father or we ask the Son, we are to ask "in Jesus name." Whether we ask the Father or we ask the Son, Jesus answers the prayer request.  Whatever we ask, Jesus will do! He carries out the answers to our prayers.

The Father is in the Son. The Son is in the Father (vss. 10-11). To pray to one is to pray to the other. We pray to either Father or Son in Jesus name. Prayer is not a magic formula that unlocks the power of God to fulfill our wants.  Prayer is "love-talk" - the whispers of intimate conversation. Our requests Jesus promises to answer reflect that intimacy. Prayer flows out of our intimate union with both Father and Son. Answers to our prayers flow out of the intimate union of the Father with the Son.  Their intimacy with each other in purpose grounds our intimacy with them in prayer.