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)
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;
John 14:13; 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.
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