Q: Recently, an elder in our congregation told us that when we pray we should start our prayer in Jesus' name instead of at the end of the prayer. He explained that this is because Jesus is the door through whom we must approach God, and we cannot come before God unless we first enter through the door. I haven't heard this before although it seems to make sense. Have you heard of this? I want to know if that's the correct way to pray. Have I been doing it wrong all along?

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A: How old is the elder you are mentioning? The reason I'm asking is because back in 1976 some elders in our congregation, including our Circuit Overseer, interpreted one Watchtower article as saying that we must do both, open and close our prayer in Jesus' name in order for our prayers to be heard. (see September 15, 1976, Watchtower, "Approaching God in Prayer") Personally, I did not agree that the article actually said that; and even if it did say that, we cannot legislate prayer and turn it into a ritual such as it is in many other religions. The article must have caused quite a stir among the congregations because only three months after the article appeared there was a clarification in the 1976 Kingdom Ministry (week starting Dec. 12; 25 min. presented as a talk), which explained "why [our prayer is] offered in Jesus name," and "whether [the] name is used at beginning, at end, or both, is optional." It seems that after all these years some brothers are still debating the issue, with some having strong personal opinions on the subject; although, as I have already mentioned, we cannot make rules regarding our worship, including prayer, when it is not specifically taught in the Scriptures. That would be going "beyond the things that are written," which is condemned by God. We are clearly commanded not to add or take away from his Word. That of course includes the subject of prayer. (Prov. 30:5,6; 1 Cor. 4:6; Galatians 1:8,9)

Jesus gave us the model prayer in order to teach us how to pray and what to pray for; but he did not include any specific instructions on some proper way of approaching God in prayer; so how can anyone take the liberty to do that?! (Matt. 6:9-15; Luke 11:1-4) The only guidance Jesus included is that we don't become like the hypocrites and use our prayers to make ourselves appear spiritual in front of others in order to procure their praise; or to say "the same things over and over again," like people of the nations, imagining "that they will get a hearing for their use of many words." (Matt. 6:5-8) We might observe both of these very things that Jesus condemned at some of our Assemblies and Conventions, where the prayers are too often pretentiously long, and directed to the audience rather than offered to Jehovah; such as when the brother reviews the convention program. (One young brother in our congregation once questioned the spiritual maturity of a visiting speaker because he felt that his prayer was "too short" which he gave at the conclusion of the meeting.) It clearly is not an issue, neither to Jesus nor Jehovah, whether we mention Jesus in the beginning or at the end of our prayer, or do both; or even if we fail to mention his name at all because we happened to fall asleep during our prayer. (Matt. 26:40-43)

If for some reason we failed to mention Jesus' name at all, does that mean Jehovah did not listen to our prayer? When Jesus said that whatever we ask the Father in his name we will receive it, he did not mean it in a way of being ritualistic, or routine, as if his name has some magical power. When we approach God in Jesus' name, we do so because we acknowledge the glorious position that Jesus has before the Father, that he suffered and died for our sins and has become our mediator. Therefore, we recognize that we cannot approach the Father except through Jesus. His death made our reconciliation with God possible. That is why Jesus said: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, 13; 16:23,24; Rom. 5:6-11; 1 Tim. 2:5,6) If you exercise faith in Jesus, then Jehovah accepts your prayers, even when you sometimes fail to mention his name.

Rather than focusing on how often we use the name "Jesus" in our prayers, more important is our attitude toward Jesus because that is what determines whether or not God hears our prayers. For example, Jesus said that we can be his friends only if we obey him, foremost of which is the command to "love one another." (John 15:12-14) Now, please reason on this: Will God listen to our prayers if we fail to love our brothers, although we pray in Jesus’ name? (1 John 4:20,21; Matt. 7:21-23; 25:45,46) How about if a husband fails to love his wife, will Jehovah listen to that man’s prayers, even if he uses Jesus’ name many times in his prayer? (1 Peter 3:7; Eph. 5:28-33; Malachi 2:13,14) Or will Jehovah listen to a person's prayer when the person himself fails to listen to Jehovah? (Deut. 1:45; Prov. 28:9; Isaiah 1:15; Zech. 7:13) Where does Jehovah place the emphasis when it comes to prayer?

Our prayers are a good indicator of our relationship with our heavenly Father. If we are close to Jehovah because of a good conscience, that will be reflected in our prayers. (1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 2 Tim. 1:3)



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