PRAYER

What is the proper way to pray? Is it okay to pray to God, Christ, the angels, and the saints? The bible is clear on the protocols for praying. When Christ's disciples asked him how to pray properly, he gave them the Lord's prayer at Matthew 6:9-13: (King James Version)
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name (so we must direct our prayers only to the Father, and acknowledge the holiness of his name) Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven (pray for things that are in harmony with God's will for earth and heaven) Give us this day our daily bread, (it is okay to pray for our sustenance for each day) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (our debts to God are our sins as per Romans 6:23, it is good to ask for forgiveness, and we forgive others) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (and we should pray for strength to overcome temptations and sin).

Other scriptures also give us valuable guidelines in how to pray properly. For example, all scriptures that have to do with faithful ones praying show they only prayed to the Father, and nobody else: 1 Samuel 1:10, 2 Kings 4:33, 2 Chronicles 32:24, Matthew 6:6, Luke 11:2, Matthew 26:39. Jesus Christ never directed anyone to pray to him, only to the Father. Now, some people get confused and believe we can also pray to Jesus Christ because of the scriptures in some bibles in which the word "LORD" is used instead of "Father". This confusion stems from the way the bible printers sometimes use the words LORD (with small capital letters) and Lord (with only first letter capitalized). When such bibles use the word "LORD", it is to signify the Father. When the word "Lord" is used, it is to signify Jesus Christ. Some versions don't follow this standard. Therefore we recommend using an interlinear bible to help you get a better sense of it. A downloadable version can be found online at www.scripture4all.org . Hopefully this will eliminate much confusion when reading bible text.

The bible also teaches us that, though we pray to the Father, we are to pray through his Son, Jesus Christ. (John 14:6,13-14). This doesn't mean the same as praying to Jesus though. To use an illustration: Suppose you're driving from Mexico to Canada. Your heading to Canada, it is your destination. But you don't just drive one kilometer/mile outside of Mexico and, BOOM, you're in Canada. You have to take the highway through the United States first. The highway through the United States isn't your final destination (Canada), but it is the route through which you get to that destination. Same thing with prayer: The Father is your final "destination", and Jesus is the "highway" through which your prayer gets to the destination.

What about when Stephen was being stoned and he called out "Lord Jesus receive my spirit!" (Acts 7:59) and "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". (Acts 7:60) (English Standard Version) The interlinear pretty much agrees with this rendition and is thus not a mistranslation. However, it must be noted that this was not an actual prayer. First of all, the scripture does not state that Stephen was actually praying, and secondly he was merely calling out to Jesus. Calling out to someone is not necessarily the same as praying to that one. This tends to indicate that it is still okay to speak to Christ, even though we aren't supposed to be actually praying to him.

We are not to pray for harm towards others or for selfish gain. All prayers, to be listened to, must have a righteous motive behind them. (James 4:3).

We are not limited to how often we can pray. (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Matthew 26:41, Acts 10:2, Ephesians 6:18)

We are not to pray in a showy way, prayers must be modest and humble. (Matthew 6:5, Luke 18:9-14)

It is proper to pray on behalf of others. (James 5:13-16)

Women are in subjection to men (1 Corinthians 11:3), therefore when they are in mixed company they must pray with a headcovering on. (1 Corinthians 11:4-10) Many people think that a women having long hair is a sufficient head covering, but if it were, then the bible wouldn't have differentiated between hair and a headcovering in this matter.

Excessively repetitive prayers are not good. (Matthew 6:7). This would negate the use of a rosary.

These are the scriptural guidelines for presenting a proper prayer to our God and Father. May your supplications be heard and may your love for God grow ever deeper.