In Jesus' Name We Pray?

[bacon_man]

I notice alot of Protestants adress prayers to God the Father, and end with “In Jesus’ name we pray.” I rarely see Catholics do this, why do Protestants do this? Is it because Jesus said “Noone gets to the Father, except through me?” Can someone explain this?

 

[Prodigal_Son]

I notice alot of Protestants adress prayers to God the Father, and end with “In Jesus’ name we pray.” I rarely see Catholics do this, why do Protestants do this? Is it because Jesus said “Noone gets to the Father, except through me?” Can someone explain this?

I’m Catholic, and I do this all the time. I address my prayer to the Father, because I feel that I need to remind myself that God is my Father. I pray through Jesus, because He is our path to the Father.

 

[GeorgeSword]

The Trinity is one. No matter which form we pray to we are praying to the same God, obviously. We can address our prayers to God in anyway. If I wish to talk to Jesus, I do. If I wish to speak with the Holy Spirit, I do that. And if I wish to speak to the Father, I do that too.

 

[Solo1959]

Catholics pray “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That covers it, I suspect.

 

[Prayer_Warrior]

The answer is found in John 14:13 “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Also, St. Paul tells us to pray constantly and “always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father”.

I’m not sure why more Catholics do not pray this way. After all, our own catechism urges us to do so. CCC 2664 says "There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray “in the name” of Jesus. The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father.

I always end my prayers “in Jesus Name, I pray.” Not only is it in Scripture, and the Catechism, it is in the Mass as well. (Grant this through Christ our Lord, or We ask this through Christ our Lord).

 

[Church_Militant]

I notice alot of Protestants adress prayers to God the Father, and end with “In Jesus’ name we pray.” I rarely see Catholics do this, why do Protestants do this? Is it because Jesus said “Noone gets to the Father, except through me?” Can someone explain this?

I don’t do this and I won’t do this because I don’t want to give the mistaken impression that I am a Protestant or some variant thereof.

Catholics DO pray all our prayers in Jesus’ name, and that is why most of us start and end them with the sign of the cross and “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The Mass begins and ends with it, why then shouldn’t every other prayer we pray?

Furthermore, when I make that sign of the cross and begin my prayers like that, it gives a clear and strong witness that I am both a Catholic and that I am praying.

For over 30 years I prayed as an errant child of the Church and like n-Cs do and I was never ashamed or shy about my faith. Why would I ever want to not make it plain that I am a Catholic now that I have discovered all that I was missing?

I want that loud and clear witness to my Catholic faith and I think we all should. I get answers to my prayers all the time and I have faith and follow Jesus Christ with all that I am because of the beautiful truths of my Catholic faith, and I want everyone to know it.

Yeah, we pray in Jesus name, just as we baptize scripturally in His name. Look at Mathew 28:19 guys.

 

[Prayer_Warrior]

I don’t do this and I won’t do this because I don’t want to give the mistaken impression that I am a Protestant or some variant thereof.

Catholics DO pray all our prayers in Jesus’ name, and that is why most of us start and end them with the sign of the cross and “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The Mass begins and ends with it, why then shouldn’t every other prayer we pray?

Furthermore, when I make that sign of the cross and begin my prayers like that, it gives a clear and strong witness that I am both a Catholic and that I am praying.

For over 30 years I prayed as an errant child of the Church and like n-Cs do and I was never ashamed or shy about my faith. Why would I ever want to not make it plain that I am a Catholic now that I have discovered all that I was missing?

I want that loud and clear witness to my Catholic faith and I think we all should. I get answers to my prayers all the time and I have faith and follow Jesus Christ with all that I am because of the beautiful truths of my Catholic faith, and I want everyone to know it.

Yeah, we pray in Jesus name, just as we baptize scripturally in His name. Look at Mathew 28:19 guys.

I always pray with both the Sign of the Cross and “in Jesus Name”. But I feel like I am following the Church’s teaching (see my post above) and following the words of Jesus and of St. Paul by adding the words “in Jesus Name”. I understand where you are coming from and you ought to pray as you want to. But I want to point out that just because non-Catholics pray this way, it doesn’t mean it is wrong. It seems to be the reverse of non-Catholics throwing out the sign of the Cross because it seems too Catholic. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. If the Church encourages it, and prays thus in the Mass, and it is scriptural to boot, I don’t feel that it is wrong of me to pray that way. That’s my opinion, of course.

I guess I don’t get out much either. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I was in a setting with non-Catholics where prayer came up. When I pray, I am either in my home alone, or in Mass, or at my Catholic Bible study, so the need for witnessing, as you described, is pretty non-existent for me. So much for getting out there and evangelizing I better get on that!

 

[StrawberryJam]

What if a person does not say those words out loud but thinks about Jesus in every prayer? What if a person prays without words? Just visuals?

 

[CentralFLJames]

Catholics pray “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That covers it, I suspect.

EXACTLY!

We do just like a normal human child would do when asking one’s father for something - we address Him up front by relational name - Father - but also with the Sign of Cross BEFORE we ask what we want then again at the end to thank The Father. We close with AMEN which is “till I see you and talk to you again”. But father is still watching over us.

So, it is much more natural in the Catholic tradtion to address one’s father up front than at the end. It also makes ALL subsequent prayer requests contextually through Jesus and in His name. This traditional way that Catholics start prayer also makes it IMPOSSIBLE to worship the saints above God since it all is in a context of subject to the Will of God and through Him such that our requests to the saints (e.g. Mary) are subordinate to His will and permission.

BTW - one gets a partial indulgence for doing the sign of the cross with devotion and using the Trinitarian opening (used to be spelled out as 50 days) so this simple reverence is not only a great way to structure one’s prayers in a context of mediation through Christ but also a means to do some personal penance.

James