Father and Son Are Two Separate Persons (Jesus Is Not the Father)

I've attended church a few times and I have very infrequently heard people praying to Jesus, as if to the Father, something like the following:

"Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord God, thank you for all you have done for us,

Thank you for coming down to earth and dying for us,

In your precious name,

Amen"

At first glance, there may seem nothing wrong with this prayer, yet I always question my own beliefs, as well as the beliefs of the person praying, when I hear a prayer such as this.

Why, you ask? Well, firstly, Jesus is not our Heavenly Father as the prayer seems to imply to me; Jesus is the Son of God. By ending off the prayer with, "in your precious name", this implies Jesus is being addressed as this is how Christians normally end prayers saying, "in Jesus' name", yet the prayer starts of being addressed to "Heavenly Father". It is of course possible that the person praying changes to addressing Jesus when he says, "Lord God" after the initial opening, but for purposes of my illustration I will carry on with this discussion.

The Father and the Son are separate, yet intertwined, but are not one and the same, though are part of one God. The Bible says the spirit of the Antichrist denies that Jesus is the Messiah, and also denies there is both Father and Son, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22 KJV) Jesus did say in a Bible verse that He and the Father are one (John 10:30), but I believes this implies unity more than total sameness. There are many other verses which confirm that the Father and the Son are not totally one and the same, and one needs to ensure isolated verses are not taken out of context, for example Jesus says, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (John 14:10 KJV) Jesus said that the Father is greater than He is, showing that the Father is not the same person: "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I." (John 14:28 KJV).

Secondly, Jesus did not send Himself to earth, the Heavenly Father sent Jesus to earth, as His only begotten son. Jesus said in John 7:33 (KJV): "Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me." The complicated part is that Jesus is eternal, as is the Father. The Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it." (John 1:1-5 WEB) and then a further verse says, "The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 WEB)


How did Jesus tell us to pray? He said to pray to the Father, and he gave us the example of the Lord's Prayer:

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." (taken from Matthew 6:9-13 KJV)

The Bible says Jesus is the only intercessor between God and man: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1 Timothy 2:5 KJV). Jesus said that in future there will come a day when we could ask anything in His name, and he would do it, and I assume this is why we usually add "in Jesus' name" to our prayers. Jesus said in the Bible, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14 KJV)

Follow Jesus and He will lead the way to the Father: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6 KJV)

"Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phillipians 2:5-11 WEB)