Part 1: Should we give praise to, pray to, and thank only Jesus for the blessings in our lives?
More and more I hear Christians praying directly to Jesus and praising and thanking only Jesus when their prayers are answered (example from my Facebook account at the end of this article); many of them not even knowing the Father’s name, Yahweh. As Christians, we are called to follow the teachings and example that Jesus set for us while he was here; this concept is not debated. And when we apply this concept to how to treat others and how to live our lives, there is nearly universal agreement on how to do that. Yet, somehow the line between Jesus and God has become blurred when it comes to praise and prayer. During Jesus’s ministry (Matthew 6:5-15), he instructed us to “pray to your Father” and then gave us The Lord’s Prayer which starts, “Our Father who art in Heaven.” Jesus never, at any point during his ministry, taught us to pray to him instead of God; he directed us to the Father. Therefore, if our prayers should be directed at God, then shouldn’t our praise also go to God for answering those prayers?
We are told in the Bible that all comfort in all of our troubles comes from God, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). We are also told to cry to God, who accomplishes all things for us (Psalm 57:2). When we realize that God accomplishes all things for us and is the provider of our comfort during our times of trouble, it becomes clear that our praise and thanks for our answered prayers should be to Him (Ephesians 5:20). I challenge every child of the most high God to start giving our Father in Heaven the praise and honor that he is due. Let us start praying to him, giving thanks to him, and serving him, as Jesus preached and set the example for us to do.
Here is a short list of a few of the multitude of verses that instruct us to serve, praise, and worship God only (Please note that LORD in the Bible is where the name of the Father, Yahweh, originally appeared):
- “Then Jesus says to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, Worship Yahweh your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:10)
- “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” – Jesus (John 4:23)
- “Yahweh, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth.” (Isaiah 25:1)
- “Praise Yah! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his strong expanse! Praise him for his mighty acts! Praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with the blast of the shofar! Praise him with harp and lyre! Praise him with tambourine and dancing! Praise him with stringed instruments and flute! Praise him with loud cymbals! Praise him with resounding cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah!” (Psalm 150:1-6)
- “O come, let us shout with joy to Yahweh! Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us raise a shout to him with songs! For Yahweh is a great God, and a great king above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth. The peaks of the mountains are also his. The sea is his, and he himself made it. And his hands created the dry land. O enter; let us worship and bow down! Let us kneel before Yahweh, our creator. For he is our God…” (Psalm 95:1-7)
- “And I, John, am he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he says to me, ‘See that you do not do it. I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.’” (Revelation 22:8-9)
- “O enter; let us worship and bow down! Let us kneel before Yahweh, our creator.” (Psalm 95:6)
- “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” (Hebrews 13:15)
Part 2: Are God and Jesus equal in authority? Is Jesus the most high God?
No matter what you believe about the relationship between the Father and the Son, the Bible is clear about who the “most high God” is (Mark 5:7, Luke 1:32 & 8:28, Acts 16:17, Hebrews 7:1, Genesis 14:19-20, etc.). Jesus himself was very clear about this when he said, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) and “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God” (John 8:54). Now, it is true that Jesus is our Lord. He has been given all authority over heaven and earth until the end when all will be returned to God (1 Corinthians 24-28), but the Bible is very clear that he is still under God’s authority even now: “For ‘He has put all things under his feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under him is excepted” (1 Corinthians 15:27).
The Bible tells us that Jesus came to do His Father’s will:
– “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).
– “…saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’” (Luke 22:42).
– “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).
The reason that Jesus submitted to his Father’s will is because there is a hierarchy described in the Bible that explains the authority of God over Jesus, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3).
We must be careful with how we approach the relationship between the Father and the Son. If we fail to recognize the authority of the most high God, as seen when we pray to and give thanks to Jesus only, claim that Jesus is the most high God, or sing that Jesus is the only name to remember, we risk slipping into idolatry and breaking God’s first commandment, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You must not have any other gods besides me” (Exodus 20:2-3). I encourage you to pray about what you have read. Pray with all your heart that God would reveal His truth and make it clear to you.
*For a more in-depth study on this topic, please read A Message I am Called to Share.
