What should we call God when we pray and what can we ask for? By Alan Ballou
How do you address God and does it really matter? This day and age, everyone has their own way of praying and the reasons why they do what they do. I have heard everything from “our gracious heavenly Father,” to “the man upstairs,” and the reasons go from “God knows what we need before we ask ” to ” it really doesn’t matter because God knows who we are talking to anyway.”
If you want to be safe rather than sorry, always allow the Word of God itself to answer your questions (Hebrews 4:12). Yes, God does know what we need before we ask Him, but does the Bible say to ask anyway? Yes, there are many names for God, such as Yahweh, El Shaddai, Adonai, and many others, but does our instruction book (the Bible) tell us which one to use?
First of all, the Bible is very clear on Who we should pray to and what we should call Him. I know people who can tell you how many different names God has and what they all mean, but none of that changes our instructions. Listen to the Words of Jesus below.
John 16:23-27
23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. NKJV
People who love Jesus, should pray to the Father, in Jesus’ name. I know that many other things may sound good and seem right, but our instructions tell us exactly who to pray to and how; Father, in Jesus’ name.
Get this. Jesus only spoke what God wanted Him to say according to the Word of the Lord written in John 12:49. Therefore, the instructions we have from John 16:23-27 above, are from God. God wants those who believe and allow His Spirit to lead them, to call Him, Father (Romans 8:14-15).
You may have heard a story about a girl who wouldn’t call God, Father, because she had an abusive father. That’s sad, but be careful that your feelings do not change your faith. Faith always uses the evidence (Hebrews 11:1), and we have evidence that God wants us to call Him Father.
The fact of the matter is, that no one who has “given” his life to Christ has an Earthly father anyway, since the old you was crucified with Christ through your baptism (Romans 6:46, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15) . Read the verse before you run off.
Matthew 23:9
9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. NKJV
If we have given our life to Jesus, then God is our Father, and He expects us to act like it. He has put His Holy Spirit in us, Who is Jesus Himself (1 Corinthians 15:45, 2 Corinthians 3:17), and by His Spirit within us we can and should call God our Father (Romans 8:15). Check the verses. The problem today is that we are only asking people to say a prayer to be saved, rather than dying to self with Christ.
A word of caution here. Yes, Matthew 23:9 is in the approved Catholic Bible too, but please do not use that as ammunition against people of the Catholic faith, since there are even more verses that could be used against any denomination out there today. So don’t think that your church has everything right, because it doesn’t. You surely need to keep reading if you think it does.
In fact, I have found that the churches that are picked on here in the Bible-belt, such as Catholics, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, have fewer violations than the denominations that pick on them. That makes the churches that pick on them a house full of hypocrites. We should first get the plank out of our eye, and then we will see clearly enough to help others (Matthew 7:3-5). If you think that your church is ready to help other churches get it right, then please read on.
The bottom line is that the Christ follower (Christian, Acts 11:26), who loves the Lord Jesus in accordance with John 14:21-23, should pray to the Father in Jesus’ name regardless of his denomination. He should no longer call his Earthly father by the name of father. This is going to change the churches view of father’s day as it should anyway, for those who follow what is written in their own Bible. Check the verses below.
Galatians 4:6-11
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. NKJV
Who observes special days, months, seasons, and years according to those verses above? Is it those who do what is right in God’s eyes or those who are off track? The Apostle Paul is asking them, how could they turn back to those things that keep them in bondage?
So we can honor our father and mother, but we should not celebrate the pagan holiday known as father’s day because our instructions tell us to stop calling anyone on Earth father. I say pagan holiday since those who do not hear God’s Word, do not belong to God and therefore; willingly go against the things of God (John 8:42-47). If God is our Father we would do the things of God.
Is Galatians chapter four not in every Bible or do we, like so many so-called spiritual people, only follow the parts of God’s Word that fit into our own way of life? Certainly that is proof of the unwillingness to “deny ourself” (Matthew 16:24-25, 10:39, John 12:25-26, 2 Corinthians 5:15). Check the verses because this is the reason many good church going people have lost their way of life.
Isn’t it funny that some of the denominations that judge Catholics for calling their Earthly priest father, turn right around and violate Galatians 4:10 by celebrating an Earthly father’s day which in turn acknowledges their Earthly father? They even celebrate it right inside the house of worship, and they do many things such as this. Go figure. I’m telling you that we need to wake up here in the Bible-belt.
I see huge buildings full of people who believe that they are going to make it, but in the end they will be cast into outer darkness because they ignore the majority of the New Covenant that we are under (Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30). Better check the verses! Yes, they got saved, but they did not obey the Gospel, and have no idea that there is even a part of the Gospel that they must obey (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, 1 Peter 4:17-19).
Check those verses and ask yourself if there is a part of the Gospel that we must obey or we will not make it? Then ask yourself if you know what it is? Think about this. You have been in church for how long and you cannot tell me what we need to obey? If you cannot answer that question, then know that before this moment, you were a candidate to end up in outer darkness. Yes, I am trying to reach you.
Now what should we ask? Some people don’t believe in asking God for anything. They say things like, “God is not our slot machine in the sky.” That sounds true, and seems right, but it is misleading at best.
The fact is that even though God knows what we need before we ask (Matthew 6:8), He still wants us to ask for everything we need, and He wants us to cast all of our cares on Him (Philippians 4:6, 1 Peter 5:7).
The Bible says that “we do not have because we do not ask” (James 4:2). Therefore, we should pray and ask God for everything we need. Consequently, the person who doesn’t believe that we should ask God for anything has been deceived.
Wait, because there are conditions that we need to know. For example, if we do not believe God is able to do what He has promised, then we cannot receive what is promised (James 1:5-7). We need to know stuff like that because many good church attending people have not received the things they have been praying for, simply because they are not sure if God can provide or do what they are asking. All things are possible for those who believe (Mark 9:23).
Most promises come with conditions that must be met in order to receive what is promised. Take Matthew 6:33 as an example.
Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. NKJV
Here is a promise to receive all these things. All what things? If you would read Matthew 6:25-34, you would see that the things Jesus is talking about here are the things we worry about every single day; food, clothing, shelter, and the like.
The condition is to seek first two things; the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. Both of these things are only explained or revealed in the New Testament (Luke 16:16, Romans 1:16-17). So if you are not seeking these things by learning the New Testament for yourself, then you will not qualify to receive what is promised. Consequently, you will be filled with the worries of this life.
Look around! Now you should be able to see why the church is full of people who live in constant anxiety. They have come to believe that it’s the devil or that more prayer is needed, but what they need is instructions in accordance with what is written.
You should be able to see by now that all the enemy needs to do is to have us believe something that is not true. That’s why it is so important to check for yourself. We need New Testament Word living inside us, and then we will not be tricked into believing a man’s doctrine (Ephesians 4:13-14).
So, our part is to find a promise (2 Peter 1:3-4), believe it no matter what, fulfill any conditions, and then pray to our Father in Jesus’ name. Some might say that we still can’t use God as our big slot machine in the sky, and I will say again, what does the Bible say? Never just listen and accept what sounds good and seems right, but always go by what the Bible says.
Is there a way that we can ask for anything, and does anything mean anything? Listen to the Words of Jesus and ask yourself if He lied in John 15:7?
John 15:7
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. NKJV
Do you believe Jesus? There are two conditions in that promise. You have to make Jesus’ Words abide in you and you have to abide in Jesus. People who don’t believe that you can ask what you desire, surely are not in the position to ask because they do not believe Jesus. Their words testify that they do not believe Jesus (Romans 10:6-8, John 6:60-69). Do not follow them or say “amen” to what they say (1 Timothy 6:20-21).
To abide is to remain. You can’t read the New Testament one or two times and have the Word of God abide in you. No, you’ve got to eat it all the time (Hebrews 5:14), and pass the tests described in the parable of the sower before the Word of the Kingdom will remain in you (Matthew 13:18-22). This is why most preachers still preach out of the Old Testament.
How do you abide (remain) in Jesus? Write your answer down on a piece of paper before you continue, because most church attending people do not even know that we have to abide in Jesus. My friend, if you are one of them, you have certainly been deceived. Don’t take it from me, but read John 15:1-6 and learn the fate of those who do not abide in Jesus. We have to abide in Jesus.
You see I was tricked by a main stream denomination for many years until the Lord called me and revealed His Word to me. I did not learn these things from a man. Nor have I been to seminary, but I am an electrical worker who was just like everyone else sitting in a pew for years thinking I was Heaven bound, but I was going to hell.
Oh yeah, I said a sinner’s prayer, and was saved, but Jesus says that if we do not abide in Him we will be cut off, point, blank, period (John 15:1-6). All I heard preached was Jesus, but I never heard the doctrine of Jesus preached and so it is likewise today. Everyone says “Jesus”, but nobody preaches the doctrine of Jesus.
My friend, if you have heard the doctrine of Jesus, then tell me how do we abide in Jesus? Open your Bible and read it in John 15:10. What did Jesus command us to do? Read it in John 15:12-17, and John 13:34-35. Is that a part of the Ten Commandments? No. Read 2 Corinthians 3:1-12 to see why. Jesus’ commands can be found in 1 John 3:23 and they are “not” the Ten Commandments that came through Moses.
How to obey Jesus’ commands is described in 1 John 3:16-19. This is how we know that we belong to the truth (1 John 3:19). You go to church. Great! You got saved. Praise God, but the Bible describes how we can know that we belong to the truth, and just like who we should pray to, the instructions are very clear.
If you can read 1 John 3:14-20 and see yourself on the right side of those verses (doing what they say to do), then you belong to the truth and the love of God is in you. If not, then you have been deceived. Do something about it!
Now if you have questions about this, Lord willing, I will answer them in accordance with what is written. I don’t have a group of followers for you to join and I’m not asking for your money. I just don’t want people who think they are going to inherit the Kingdom of God, to end up in outer darkness or burning in hell.
You see “many” will seek to enter, but will not be able to, because just like me, they didn’t know the truth (Luke 13:22-28). Why isn’t the truth being preached today? 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and 1 Timothy 4:1-3 can answer that question.
I’m Alan Ballou; a servant. If I may be of service to you, please contact me.
