3 Nephi 19:18

[agreentree]

This scripture is a little confusing to me.

3 Nephi 19:18

"And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God."

Can someone shed a little light on this scripture? I know we have always been told to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ...

President Joseph F. Smith

"We . . . accept without any question the doctrines we have been taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith and by the Son of God himself, that we pray to God, the Eternal Father, in the name of his only begotten Son, to whom also our father Adam and his posterity have prayed from the beginning. "CR1916Oct:6

Nephi, son of Lehi

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. "(Nephi writes, between 559-545 B.C.) 2Ne.32:9

So why did Jesus,

16 speak unto the multitude, and commanded them that they should kneel down again upon the earth, and also that his disciples should kneel down upon the earth.

17 And it came to pass that when they had all knelt down upon the earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray.

18 And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.

Thanks for any information

[c1986panther]

This scripture is a little confusing to me.

3 Nephi 19:18

"And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God."

Can someone shed a little light on this scripture? I know we have always been told to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ...

To my understanding...the word Emmanuel means "God with us." He is the Mediator of all men. He is the Creator of this world... he is God the Father (Jehova) Check the Topical Guide.....under God the Father - Jehova....maybe that will explain it a little bit more.

Jesus is the father in ways. As said in the scriptures, if ye know me ye know my father.... and many other things that it says concerning God and Christ being one, meaning one in nature. What does the word Father mean though? Life Giver...he created this world for us...doesnt that give him credit for him being a father of us? He gave us a place to live. Another was the Atonement that he maid for us. It talks in the scriptures that that Atonement had to have been an ETERNAL sacrafice...if he was a mere mortal do you think that he would have been able to do such a thing? He was like his father...and because he was able to atone for all of man kind he became like his father.....a God.... as it says in the D&C he will be crowned with glory in the last day and will reign as Lord of Lords over this earth....this Earth is his and all that lived/live upon it.

This is just my thoughts and my opinion...dont take it as doctrine....

oh yeah..... 2 Nephi 2:27.....Christ is our Mediator with the Father....

[Guest ChristianHumphrey]

yeah from the way I take it and tell me if im interpeting it wrong.. We are all children of God..Jesus Christ is his First Born son and I would suppose I would be like his Gazzuperzillionth son or something..I think i just created a new number maybe..lol.anyhow from what i get Jesus was Chosen to be a leader whether its cause he is the Firstborn or jus cause he super righteous who cares.. but from what i understand in the old testament the First born son usually inherited all things when their Father died.. so maybe thats why he's King who knows I dont think it matters.. he is the Only Begotten of the Father meaning he is the only person on earth or that came to earth who didnt have an earthly Father making him the Only Begotten.. Adam was begotten of dust everyone else was beggotten thru adam or thru eve however whatever not important..Christ is our Saviour and he is also now become our King..It is ok to talk to Christ that is what prayer is nothing more then heartfelt talk with God. Now tell me if i discern this right Christ is our king and Saviour but he is not our Father He is our Eldest Brother..From what i get from all of it though is at some point in time..Christ finishes his work and subdues the universe and all things in it.. he then presents his kingdom to his Father perfected, cleansed and redeemed.. from what I get Heavenly Father Gives the kingdom back to Christ and Christ rules it taking Heavenly Fathers Spot and Heavenly Father shall take the place of his Father or a place like his Father and so on an so on..And Christ in turn says to us "its is not met for a servant to be above his master But it is met for a servant to be as his master" so from what Christ says I suppose if we are willing and endeavor we could actually achieve the same status as Christ eventually..and Christ recieves the same as his father so on an so on forever an ever.." Worlds and universes without end or something..Thats what i get from it anyhow

[BenRaines]

Keep on reading and Christ himself explains why they were praying to him.

22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in ame; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them.

The Book of Mormon is a compilation of the writings of the prophets of Book of Mormon times as written by Mormon. Was this the entire text of what Nephi wrote? Most likely not. Just a recounting of Christs experience with his Apostles in the New World.

I see no ambiguity in what is said. Is there a question?

Ben Raines

[Rosewood]

You re-opened this one, good! I have no problem excepting it as truth but actually understanding it isn't as easy for me.

I can explain this with the same exact words and quotes as it was explained to me, but I still can't get my mind around it. It's been discussed in many classes. Like the actual atonement or the nature of the Godhead or eternity, it's a difficult concept.

[Guest Ajax]

This scripture is a little confusing to me.

3 Nephi 19:18

"And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God."

Can someone shed a little light on this scripture? I know we have always been told to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ...

President Joseph F. Smith

"We . . . accept without any question the doctrines we have been taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith and by the Son of God himself, that we pray to God, the Eternal Father, in the name of his only begotten Son, to whom also our father Adam and his posterity have prayed from the beginning. "CR1916Oct:6

Nephi, son of Lehi

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. "(Nephi writes, between 559-545 B.C.) 2Ne.32:9

So why did Jesus,

16 speak unto the multitude, and commanded them that they should kneel down again upon the earth, and also that his disciples should kneel down upon the earth.

17 And it came to pass that when they had all knelt down upon the earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray.

18 And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.

Thanks for any information

Because He was there. Have you ever heard of the phrase, "I pray thee". Is Christ our intermediare with God the Father? If we are praying in His name when He isn't with us, does he listen and take our requests to the Father?

Notice that He leaves them every so often to go and pray to the Father. Taking those prayers He received to the Father? I believe so.

[Guest tomk]

22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them.

[skalenfehl]

John fell and worshipped an angel in Revelations 22 when speaking with an angel. I can only imagine what it would be like to be in the presence of any heavenly being.

[tubaloth]

This just adds the same answer that has already been given

We are being very express and pointed in setting forth the one and only true doctrine of prayer and worship in order to avoid any uncertainty or misapprehension in now noting that there are three exceptions, or seeming exceptions, to the order that prayers are to be offered to the Father in the name of the Son and in no other way. These are:

1. On that Pentecostal occasion when the Nephites received the gift of the Holy Ghost, they offered approved prayers directly to Jesus and not to the Father. But there was a special reason why this was done in this instance and on a one time basis. Jesus had already taught them to pray in his name to the Father, which they first did. "They knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus," the record says. And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them." Thereupon the heavens opened, they were circled about with fire, angels ministered unto them, and Jesus commanded them to pray again. They did so. But this time "they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God." Jesus was present before them as the symbol of the Father. Seeing him, it was as though they saw the Father; praying to him, it was as though they prayed to the Father. It was a special and unique situation that as far as we know has taken place only once on earth during all the long ages of the Lord's hand-dealings with his children. It is analogous to the fact that the true believers in Jerusalem did not receive and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost as long as Christ personally ministered among them, although the receipt of that member of the Godhead as a gift, and the enjoyment of the companionship of the Holy Spirit, is essential to salvation.

At this point in the Nephite experience, Jesus prayed to the Father, thanking him for all that was then transpiring, and saying: "Thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them." (3 Ne. 19:8-22.) When the special circumstances here involved no longer prevailed; when the circling flames of fire no longer blazed around them; and when the angels had returned to their heavenly abodes, the Nephites reverted to the established order and prayed again to the Father in the name of the Son. (3 Ne. 27:2).

2. It is part of the divine program to use the form and language of prayer in crying Hallelujah, which means praise Jehovah, or praise the Lord, or praise Christ who is Jehovah. These ejaculations of joy are uttered in the spirit of prayer and of thanksgiving. They arise from every believing heart because of all that Christ the Lord has done in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Such cries or shouts or expressions of praise to Jehovah, and also a formal prayer to the Father, given in the true and proper sense of the word, are perfectly linked together in the revealed dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple. With joy and in the spirit of exultation the revelation begins: "Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all their hearts"—that is, thanks be to Christ whose arm of mercy is over his saints—"Thou who hast commanded thy servants to build a house to thy name in this place [Kirtland]. And now thou beholdest, O Lord, that thy servants have done according to thy commandment." The command to build the house came from the Lord Jesus. He conveyed the Father's will and gave the direction. It was his voice that spoke to Joseph Smith.

"And now we ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of thy bosom, in whose name alone salvation can be administered to the children of men, we ask thee, O Lord, to accept of this house, the workmanship of the hands of us, thy servants, which thou didst command us to build." (D&C 109:1-4.) The dedicatory prayer is addressed to the Father, as all prayers should be; it is addressed to the One whose original command it was that the house be built, which direction had been revealed to the builders by the Son through whom all revelation comes. The only occasions when the Father gives personal direction and revelation are when he introduces and bears testimony of the Son, as in the case of Joseph's First Vision. Having made the introduction and given the testimony, the instruction then is, "Hear Him!" (JS-H 17.) Man then receives his instruction from the Son.

(Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah: The First Coming of Christ [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978], 561.)

[THIRDpersonviewer]

I love Elder McConkie's words.

[a-train]

This just in, Jesus is God!

-a-train

[Guest tomk]

It is impossible to think that Heavenly Father would be disappointed or angry or upset with us for communicating directly with Jesus, especially in private. Public prayers should be to the Father.

[Hemidakota]

This scripture is a little confusing to me.

3 Nephi 19:18

"And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God."

Can someone shed a little light on this scripture? I know we have always been told to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ...

President Joseph F. Smith

"We . . . accept without any question the doctrines we have been taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith and by the Son of God himself, that we pray to God, the Eternal Father, in the name of his only begotten Son, to whom also our father Adam and his posterity have prayed from the beginning. "CR1916Oct:6

Nephi, son of Lehi

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. "(Nephi writes, between 559-545 B.C.) 2Ne.32:9

So why did Jesus,

16 speak unto the multitude, and commanded them that they should kneel down again upon the earth, and also that his disciples should kneel down upon the earth.

17 And it came to pass that when they had all knelt down upon the earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray.

18 And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.

Thanks for any information

Most of this question has been answered. Something that stand out is proper kneeling of prayer.

When in a Sacrament meeting during Sacramental Prayer, one item to look for as one who preside, ensure that the Sacrament Prayer is given on both knees and word exactness. The Lord, in the Garden of Gethsemane, being roll model on how prayers are properly done.

Most prayers I do hear, a ceiling types. At times, it is a rarity, when I feel the emotions of a real sincere and humility sacramental prayer being offered in a evocation. We always need to ensure that we are communicating to HIM as I talking to my parent.

[Hemidakota]

It is impossible to think that Heavenly Father would be disappointed or angry or upset with us for communicating directly with Jesus, especially in private. Public prayers should be to the Father.

I do...at times with Prophet Joseph Smith. At times, my friend the Holy Ghost. Yes! Strange for others but not for me.

I know our communication on a much broader scale is to our FATHER. Yet, at times, I feel our personal communication are heard by our friends.