Cheryl Schatz 🩸@CherylSchatz
Doug Wilson, along with Bruce Ware, both hold the mistaken view that Christians should restrict prayer to the Father alone and never pray directly to Jesus. But this position runs into a serious problem, because Jesus Himself said otherwise.
In John 14:13–14, Jesus told His disciples:
13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
Notice that Jesus did not say, "Ask only the Father and I will only relay it." He said ask ME, and I WILL do it. Jesus both receives and answers prayer.
That is not the role of a mere created being or a subordinate intermediary. That is the role of God.
And did the early Christians pray to Jesus? Absolutely!
Stephen, while being martyred, called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts ), directly addressing Christ in his final moments.
The apostle Paul prayed to Jesus pleading with Him about his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)
Paul pleaded with Jesus three times regarding his thorn in the flesh, and Jesus answered him personally (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)
John and the early church lifted up the petition, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation ), a prayer addressed directly to Christ.
Those who say that you are not allowed to pray to Jesus are in the same camp as the Jehovah's Witnesses who also forbid prayers to Jesus.
Doug Wilson and Bruce Ware are wrong. Jesus is fully God and as God He receives and answer prayers.
Years ago I sat through a lecture by Bruce Ware in which he argued that the worship given to Jesus is in some way limited or restricted. It was deeply troubling to hear. I was sitting with an entire row of former Jehovah's Witnesses, and every one of them was equally disturbed. They recognized the argument. They had heard it before, just dressed in different theological clothing.
The idea that Jesus, in His eternal state, is somehow deserving of a lesser degree of worship, or that we cannot address Him directly in prayer, is not a humble, cautious position. It is a deviation from both the testimony of the early Christians and the plain teaching of Scripture.
The first believers called upon the name of Jesus, prayed to Him, worshipped Him without restraint, and were willing to die rather than deny His full deity. They did not worship a subordinate Christ.
When a theological position on the person of Christ makes former Jehovah's Witnesses uncomfortable because it sounds too familiar, that is worth pausing over. It should cause us to ask hard questions about where that road leads and whose company we are keeping doctrinally.
Jesus Christ is not a lesser object of worship. He is not off-limits in prayer. He is fully God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, and He is worthy of every prayer, every act of worship, and every confession of faith we can offer.
