—MO April 16, 1975 GP—No.345

1. IT'S ALMOST PRESUMPTUOUS TO TALK TO GOD: Jesus is my Mediator. I really don't know how to talk to God—He's too big for me!

2. MAYBE THAT'S WHY PEOPLE WHO PRAY, "FATHER GOD" DON'T GET TOO MUCH from their prayers. They don't have faith that they're getting through because they're talking to somebody too big and too great and too far off and they don't have the faith that He's listening. But Jesus has been here and he can understand. I always talk to Jesus in my prayers.

3. JESUS IS THE ONE YOU HAVE TO APPROACH GOD THROUGH, our Intercessor, our High Priest. The people never even dreamed of rushing into the holy of holies and talking to God themselves. They talked to the priest and then he went to God for them.

4. "FATHER GOD" HAS SORT OF A HOLLOW SOUND TO IT like a chant almost like "Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us"‚ and on and on they go.

5. EVERY TIME I HEAR PEOPLE PRAY LIKE THAT I HAVE A TERRIBLE FEELING of real resentment, like "How dare you address God Himself?" I never thought about that before, but that's true.

6. THOSE BIG PREACHERS USED TO SAY "ALMIGHTY GOD" and I thought, "My God, what kind of guy does he think he is to be addressing God like that?" He's putting himself on a level with God and saying, "Now listen here, God!" "Almighty God, Father God, dear God" just hasn't got it!

7. WHAT RIGHT DOES LITTLE OLD PIP-SQUEAK MAN HAVE TO BE YELLING AT GOD? Everything we have is in Jesus' name. We have no right to even talk to God without Jesus.

8. WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO APPROACH GOD AT ALL EXCEPT BY JESUS. He says, "I am the way, the Truth and the Life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me!" We know that's true of salvation, but this is true also of prayer!

9. THESE PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO SKIP JESUS and trying to go right straight to the Top!—That's just about their attitude. I always feel such a sweeter, closer, more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. I never even pray to God. I talk about Him a lot, but I pray to Jesus. Even when I say, "Dear Lord", I mean Jesus!

10. "THERE IS NONE OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONGST MEN WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED!"—There is only "one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus!" "No man has seen God at any time!" No man can approach God! We have to go through Jesus.

11. THESE PEOPLE THAT TRY TO GO STRAIGHT TO GOD JUST SOUND RIDICULOUS! I don't even think their prayers go past the ceiling! Their attitude is, "I'm righteous enough, I can go straight to God, I don't have to plead the blood of Jesus and come in His Name, I'm so good I can go straight to God!"

12. I DON'T THINK PEOPLE REALISE HOW IMPORTANT JESUS IS and how important His name is.—And if they don't realise this then they don't even realise how important His atonement is, because otherwise we wouldn't even be able to get to God without Christ!

13. JESUS MADE THE WAY, HE IS THE WAY! Up until the Book of Acts they really didn't have a way. They were just going through all those motions but not really getting very far. But Jesus anybody can understand. We read His life story in the Bible about the man who went everywhere doing good, and even the little children can understand.

14. I NEVER EVEN SAY "THANK YOU GOD," I ALWAYS ADDRESS JESUS and I say "Thank You Jesus!" I say "Lord" a lot, but the Lord is nothing without Jesus. The Devil's a lord also!

15. BUT PEOPLE DON'T REALISE THE POWER OF THE NAME OF JESUS AND WITHOUT THAT NAME THERE IS NO POWER. They can't do anything. You can't be saved, you can't talk to God‚ you can't get answers to prayer or anything without Jesus. You can't be healed without the name of Jesus. It's Jesus that counts!

16. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT GOD ALL YOU WANT, BUT IT DOESN'T REALLY RING A BELL UNTIL YOU SAY JESUS! And most of the world doesn't care much about God—they figure He's too big and powerful and mean and causes them a lot of trouble. But what do they have against Jesus? He was a simple man who only taught and lived love and sharing!—That they can understand!

17. PEOPLE HAVE ALL KINDS OF THINGS AGAINST GOD AND THE CHURCH because they figure God is to blame for all their troubles and the mess the world is in. They blame God for everything. But they certainly can't blame Jesus! He came down here and died for them and never showed anything but love for everybody!—So what could they have against Jesus and His love?

18. GOD IS TOO BIG FOR ME TO GRASP, too far away. You don't really know who you're talking about when you're talking about God. How do people even dare to just pray to God instead of to Jesus? That's presumptuous! I don't know how they've got the nerve to do it!—I haven't!

19. I'M AFRAID OF GOD AND THE ONLY REASON I KNOW HE LOVES ME IS BECAUSE JESUS TOLD ME SO! "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so! Little ones to Him belong, we are weak but He is strong! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes‚ Jesus loves me!—The Bible tells me so!"—And that's the main reason we know God loves us is because Jesus told us so and shows us.

20. WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING WITHOUT JESUS. We can't see anything without Jesus. We can't have anything without Jesus. "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe!" God the Father gave Him‚ of course, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son", and Jesus is the way I know that God loves me. I don't know how people have the nerve to pray straight to God!

21. THE ONLY TIME I EVER ADDRESS GOD IS WHEN I PRAY THE LORD'S PRAYER, and then I always say it in Jesus' Name. Jesus hadn't died yet when He was teaching this prayer to His disciples so He hadn't really paid the price yet in time, chronologically‚ although He was the Lamb slain since the foundation of the Earth. He said, "Whatsoever ye ask of the Father in My Name (Jesus), He will give it you!"—Hallelujah!—Even when you say that, you're saying: "Hail to Jehovah!"—Who is Jesus! Hallelujah!

22. THE DEVIL ISN'T A BIT AFRAID OF THE NAME GOD because it doesn't really specify what God‚ and there are lots of gods! There's only one true God and all of His ministering spirits, but in a sense‚ they're all gods too! He even says in one place: "Ye are gods!" So what God are you praying to? You could be praying to Zeus or Jupiter or the Devil himself!

23. IT'S AN OLD CHURCH HABIT THEY HAVE FROM HEARING THOSE PREACHERS PRAY that way‚ a self-righteous attitude that they can go straight to God and bypass Jesus! I wonder if it's partly Jewish not wanting to pray to anybody but straight to God because that was drummed into them for centuries and they still hate the name of Jesus!

24. MOST JEWS KNOW ONLY ONE SCRIPTURE and that is, "The Lord our God is one God". But what the Bible really says in the original Hebrew: "The Lords our Gods are one God!" But they always deliberately misquote it and it is even mistranslated in the King James version of the Bible, sad to say. The original Hebrew used the Elohim Adoni and Elohim is the plural form of God! Whenever you put that "im" or "em" on the end of a Hebrew word it's plural!

25. BOY, WHEN YOU MENTION THE NAME OF JESUS YOU'VE GOT IT PINNED DOWN RIGHT AWAY QUICK! Now that's something that would deserve a little study, about the Name of Jesus. That's really what the whole Book of Hebrews is about, trying to show how important Jesus is and His Name.

26. I DON'T THINK PEOPLE WHO PRAY LIKE THAT KNOW GOD because they don't even sound like they know Jesus, so how could they know God? How can they know God if they don't even know Jesus? I don't think anybody could know God in that way.

27. YOU CAN KNOW JESUS BECAUSE HE'S HUMAN ENOUGH that you can understand, and His love is the manifestation of the love of God. But we can't comprehend God. These people that pray to God sound like they have some far off relationship with God.—And without Jesus it couldn't be any further!

28. HOW CAN YOU GET SO PERSONAL WITH GOD? YOU CAN'T! BUT YOU CAN GET PERSONAL WITH JESUS because He's even told you to ask Him into your heart! Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in." We have our fellowship with Jesus: He's the one, He comes in.

29. EVEN THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MORE PERSONAL TO US THAN GOD. If people don't know Jesus well enough to talk to Him and ask Him things in His Name‚ how are they ever going to get anything, because they can't go straight to the Father?

30. WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO PRAY STRAIGHT TO GOD. Even the Catholics have better sense than that! Now Jehovah is the name of Jesus in the Old Testament, but it seems those people that pray "Jehovah God" really miss something. Even Jesus was distant in the Old Testament.

31. (P.S. A little piece of fish bone in David's tongue worked itself out while we were talking about the above and repeating continually the Name of Jesus! The Lord got that little rascal out of his tongue just through the power of repeating the name of Jesus so many times! Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus!)

32. SO WE HOPE YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT JESUS IS!—Read the Book of Acts about the early disciples and how much emphasis they put on the name of Jesus! That's all they preached and talked about—Jesus!—And that's the name they did all those miracles in—Jesus!

33. —AND THAT'S THE NAME THEY WON THE WORLD IN—JESUS!—And that's the only name we'll win it in too—Jesus! Hallelujah!—Do you know Jesus? We hope you do! If not, ask Him into your heart right now—and Jesus will come in!

The following are Scriptures you will find to be an additional blessing, encouragement, and enlightenment on the power and intercession of Jesus and His name.—Study them!—And if you want to see Jesus, come see Him in us! We love you! God bless you by helping you to know Jesus!

Mat.5:11

Mat.10:22,39

Mat.12:21

Mat.18:20

Mat.19:29

Mk.9:37

Mk.13:13

Lk.21:12

Lk.24:47

Jn.14:13,16

Jn.15:7,16,21

Jn.16:23,24,26

Jn.17:9

Jn.20:31

Acts 3:6,16

Acts 4:10,12

Acts 5:41

Acts 9:16

Acts16:18

Rom.5:1

Rom.8:34

Eph.1:20-22

Eph.2:14

Eph.5:20

Phi.2:9-11

Col.1:20

Col.3:17

1Tim.2:5

2Tim.2:19

Heb.1:4

Heb.7:25

Heb.8:6

Heb.9:15‚24

Heb.12:24

1Pet.3:18

1Jn.2:1

Isa.53:12