Deity of Christ
If Jesus prayed to God, how can he be God?
Short answer
Christians don't believe the Son prayed to himself. The one God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Son, having become fully human, related to the Father as a man should: in prayer, trust, and obedience. His prayers show a real relationship within God and real humanity in Jesus, not that he was less than divine.
In simple words: Jesus is God the Son, and he talked with God the Father. They have always loved each other. And because Jesus became a real person, he prayed like we do.
Response
This objection assumes that if Jesus is God, he must be the same person as the Father, so his prayers would be talking to himself. But that is not what Christians believe. The Bible teaches that the Father and the Son are distinct persons who share the one divine nature. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). The Word was "with" God (a distinct person) and "was" God (the same nature).
When the Son became human, he took on everything that belongs to being human, including dependence on the Father. Philippians 2:6-8 says that he, "being in very nature God," took "the very nature of a servant." Hebrews 5:7-8 describes his prayers "with fervent cries and tears" during his earthly life. A Savior who did not truly pray would not be truly human.
Notice what Jesus prayed. In John 17:5 he asked the Father to glorify him "with the glory I had with you before the world began." No created being could pray that. God says he will not give his glory to another (Isaiah 42:8). Jesus' prayers themselves reveal who he is.
Far from disproving his deity, Jesus' prayers show something wonderful: love and fellowship have existed within God from eternity (John 17:24).
Key evidence
- John 1:1 distinguishes the Word from God the Father ("with God") while identifying him as God ("was God").
- Philippians 2:6-8: the Son, in very nature God, took the nature of a servant.
- In John 17:5, Jesus prays for the glory he shared with the Father before creation.
- The Trinity teaches distinct persons in one God, so prayer from Son to Father is not prayer to oneself.
Bible passages
- John 1:1-2 The Word was with God and was God.
- John 17:1-5 "The glory I had with you before the world began."
- John 17:24 Loved before the creation of the world.
- Philippians 2:5-8 In very nature God; took the nature of a servant.
- Hebrews 5:7-8 His prayers during his earthly life.
Discussion questions
- Why is it important that Jesus was fully human as well as fully God?
- What does John 17:5 reveal about who Jesus thought he was?
- How does the relationship between the Father and the Son show that God is love?