The Prophetic Telegraph - No.7
Protocol & Etiquette
[In the interests
of true deference, how should we address our Lord
when speaking to Him in prayer, or in referring to Him in public?]
February 1987
Our Lord's earthly name was
JESUS. In Greek it is Iesous, and comes over from the Hebrew Yeshua, which the
A.V. translates as Joshua. In the same way we should understand that Peter's
first name Simon was really the O.T. Simeon, son of Jonah. If the translators
had continued to use the names they already employed in the O.T., we should
today be used to calling our Saviour 'Joshua', but they felt the urge to
TRANSLITERATE instead of TRANSLATE and that is why we have this change of name
to JESUS. There is no point in being pedantic about this. We have grown used to
this name, and we shall continue to call Him JESUS, even if there is a growing
tendency amongst some today to use the expression Yeshua.
When Jesus spoke to Peter,
He referred to him by his name, saying 'Simon, son of Jonah '-etc.
But when Peter spoke to Jesus, neither he nor anyone else ever called Him by
His name. By the reading of the N.T. we very soon reach the conclusion, and a
very important one too, that they SENSED there was something different about
Him, and this something caused them to approach Him in deference. They called
Him 'Master' or 'Lord' , 'Teacher'
or 'Rabbi'.
Let us see, by rapid
recollection, just how people addressed our Lord.
The 10 lepers said, "Jesus,
Master, have mercy on us!" (Luke 17:13)
Blind Bartimæus said, "Jesus,
Son of David, take pity on me!"
Another leper said, "Lord,
if you are willing, you can make me clean." (Matt.8:2)
Two blind men said,
"Have mercy on us, Son of David." (Matt.9:27)
A certain man said, "Lord,
have mercy on my son for he is lunatic." (Matt.17:15)
The man who was born blind
said, "Lord, I believe!"(Jn9:38)
Zacchæus said, "Behold
Lord, half my possessions I give to the poor." (Luke 19:8)
The rich young man said,
"Good Master - -" (Mark
The Centurion said, "Lord,
my servant is lying at home paralysed." (Matt.8:6)
The Canaanite woman said, "Have
mercy on me Lord, Son of David." Matt.15:22)
And the woman at the well
said, "Sir, give me this water to drink."
(Jn.4:15)
All these were (to start with,
at least) just casual contacts. What about those who were closer to the Lord,
in the Gospel records?
Peter said to the Lord as
He walked on the water, "Lord, if it is you - -" (Matt.14:28)
John said,
"Master, we saw a man driving out demons in your name."
Mk.9:38)
Nathaniel said, "Rabbi,
you are the Son of God, the King of
And Martha said, "Lord,
if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
(Jn.11:21)
From all this list so far,
not one person has addressed our Lord simply as "Jesus". The ten
lepers added Master, and Bartimæus added Son of David, which was a term of
great respect. What about the Devil when he spoke to the Lord in the
wilderness? We read that twice he said, "If you be the Son of
God - -." (Matt.4:3) It is almost a term of derision, the way
in which he couched his words. And what about the demons? Some of them said, "What
do you want with us, Jesus of
Having come thus far, we
should also notice that the Gospel writers frequently referred to our Lord as
"Jesus" when writing ABOUT Him. Our conclusion then must be that our
best policy is to remember when addressing our Lord directly in prayer,
especially when others are present to hear, to say something like, "Dear
Lord - -,'~ or "Master - -" or if we wish to utter His name as well,
say "Dear Lord Jesus - -."
May we say at this point
that when we hear someone start praying with the words, "Dear Jesus -
-," it tends towards an unwarranted familiarity. But we live in days of
the breakdown of many hitherto well-accepted rules of etiquette and young
people have grown up in an atmosphere of familiarity, even to the extent
sometimes of calling their parents by their Christian names. Our request to our
readers is to gently insist that a more fitting mode of address should be used,
which will at once encourage a more deferential approach towards God, and cause
other people to learn of the holiness of God by our conduct.
But, as with the Gospel
writers, we may always use the Master's name when speaking ABOUT Him to others,
though many of our friends even here prefer to speak of Him as "Lord
Jesus." No doubt our readers will respond to the spirit in which this is
written, and realise that the last thing we wish to do is to lay down rules and
regulations. But the Scriptures do give us examples, and they are there to
follow.
It now behoves us to
examine the texts that teach us more about the 'protocols of prayer'. The
disciples asked the Lord how they should pray. Do we do the same? What was His
answer? "When you pray, say, 'Our Father, - -'"Lk.11:2.
It is on this point that we should stop and examine our own mode of prayer. To
whom do we pray? Our Lord and Master encouraged us to direct our prayers to His
Father in heaven. Once again, there may be some who think we are being pedantic
about this, and trying to make unnecessary rules and regulations which merely
serve to hamper the free flow of the spirit of prayer. But we ask our readers
to bear with us, because the Scriptures are our guide to everything in our
Christian lives, and whether we like it or not, there ARE certain rules and
regulations which should be adhered to, because God is the God of LAW AND
ORDER.
Jesus said, "Whatsoever
you ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."
(John 14:13-14) A little later He said, "In that day you shall
ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever you shall ask the
Father in my name, He will give it you. Hitherto you have asked nothing in my
name; ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full."
John 16:23-24.
Nothing could be plainer
than these words. Intercessory prayer, that is, the type of prayer where we ASK
things of God, should be addressed to the Father. He is the Giver of all good
gifts. And the request cannot be heard without the accompanying 'formula', in other
words, we must always ask 'in the name of Jesus' because we have no power to
ask otherwise. All prayer to God must go through our Lord, because we have no
standing before God apart from Him.
Brethren, these are not
empty words. We do well to attend to what our Lord said to His disciples
because He showed us the way, the only way, to enter the courts of heaven and
present our requests. Herein then lies the correct method, the divinely
instituted protocol. God the Father receives our prayers, and He can only do so
when we present them in the name of His own beloved Son. Paul explained that
there is but ONE GOD, and ONE MEDIATOR between God and man, the Man Christ
Jesus. We may be hot to point this out to the sects who deny the deity of our
Lord Jesus, but do we attend properly to this fact when we present our prayers
to the gates of heaven?
All this has to do with
INTERCESSORY PRAYER. But there are other forms of prayer. For example, there is
PRAISE AND ADORATION. Under these conditions, we are at liberty to address the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because here is the Tri-unity, the
Godhead, and it is most right and proper that we should give God the praise
most rightly His due. If the brethren were properly taught in these matters
when first becoming believers, there would be no re-adjustment to be made along
the way. Once we have become used to a certain format of prayer, we then find
it difficult to re-adjust, especially if some time has passed by. However, we
believe that if anyone reads the words of this paper, and is desirous of
following God with a whole heart, the adjustment will be made. In these days of
the Charismatic movement, one has seen a great profusion of praise, but at
times it has been without the proper direction and teaching that should have
come from elders instructed in the word of God.
And this leads on to
another point, much connected with the Charismatics, that of the Holy Spirit.
We have seen that prayer of an intercessory kind should be addressed to the
Father, and not to the Lord Jesus. In the same way it is most improper for us
to ASK the Holy Spirit directly for anything. We may worship all members of the
Godhead, but in all matters of asking, God the Father alone should be the focus
of our prayers. If one should read the apostles' prayer in Acts 4:24-31, it
will be found that this directive is wholly fulfilled. Their prayers were
directed towards the God of all creation, and in their prayer they glorified
God's Son. What was the result? The power of the Holy Spirit was liberated.
They had not asked specifically for the Spirit's presence by name, but had
asked for the manifestation of powers in the name of 'Thy holy child
Jesus', and then the whole place was shaken.
Jesus said, "I
will ask the Father and He will give you another Paraclete."
John 14:16. And again, "- -The Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name." (John 14:26) The apostles prayed (in
Acts 4) and asked for powers to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, and God
answered by sending power that shook the very house in which they were meeting.
In these days believers are often in a pitch of excitement to see the
manifestations of God's power, the power of the Holy Spirit, but sadly there is
not the same attention focussed on the correct procedure, the 'divine protocol'
whereby God may be glorified. Even if we earnestly desire to see the works of
the Lord in the land of the living, we must come before God in the right way
first. Our prayers must be directed to the Father, asking that He will glorify
His Son on the earth, and He will gladly answer such a prayer, because it is
stated to be His will, given by divine approval through the words of our Lord
Jesus whilst He was with His disciples.
Further to this we may look
at our Lord's words recorded by Matthew and Luke, as follows, "If
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more shall your heavenly Father give holy spirit(ual) (gifts) to those who ask
Him?" (Luke 11:13) Note the end of the sentence, thus, "
- to those WHO ASK HIM" Ask whom? "Your
heavenly Father." The message is the same wherever we look.
Now, we have taken the
liberty of adding a word to the English of the translation in Luke because the
Greek reads PNEUMA HAGION, without any articles, holy spirit, not THE Holy
Spirit By this we understand that Jesus was speaking not of the Person but of
the powers contained in the 'gifts' promised. Our authority for saying this may
be found in the parallel passage in Matthew
The lesson is the same as
that already learned. All requests must be addressed to God the Father, in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and should be geared to the glorifying of God's Son. In
this way, the heavenly Father is well pleased, and (by the words of our Lord
Himself) MORE THAN READY to grant our requests.
In Acts
Our love to God cannot be
an emotional one, or a sentimental one, or a sloppy lovey-dovey one so
characteristic of these days. Our love to God will be measured in the heavens
by the amount of obedience we show to God according to the way of life
expressed to us in the New Testament. Sometimes that love will cause us to be
emotional, we do not doubt that, for we are flesh and blood, and our emotions
are very much a part of our whole make-up. But we should always be aware of
what the Bible tells us on any matter, and adjust our thinking to that, rather
than attempting to make the Scriptures bend to our own way of thinking. That is
why we are writing this paper. We gently but firmly advise ourselves and others
that God has displayed His 'divine protocol' and there is really no other
alternative open to us than comply.
For most believers, we know
that there will be a ready willingness to obey and respond, because, as John
said in his letter, 'His commandments are not grievous.'
(1 John 5:3) It remains now for us to examine a little of what may be called
'etiquette' rather than divine protocol. The dictionary tells us that 'protocol'
is 'a rigid prescription or observance of procedure, and deference to
rank, as in diplomatic and military service, and in approaching royalty,'
whereas 'etiquette' is defined as 'conventional rules
of personal behaviour in polite society. Proper decorum and taste in approach
to others in society and in professions, according to their rank.'
Clearly there is an overlap
in the usage of these terms. If the 'world' employs such niceties, and expects
people to observe them, how much more should we, as believers, act with proper
decorum and taste, not only towards our Lord, but also towards each other? It
goes without saying. But, as we have already commented, we live in the days of
utter breakdown of all such things, and some, especially the young people of
today, may find at first that our remarks come as being 'quaint' or even a
little foolish. To these we especially ask for a little patience and
understanding, because if Paul said to the Corinthians 'let
everything be done decently and in order' and later in the same
letter he said 'evil communications corrupt good manners'
(1 Cor.14:40 & 15:33) we should realise that these Scriptures are just
important as others in determining our daily lives.
What have we to say then,
on this issue? Perhaps we should start by returning to our Lord's words
concerning the 'Lord's prayer'. He said, 'When you pray, say 'Our
Father' - -We have already commented on the word 'Father' so now
we must comment on the word 'our'. In times of public prayer, it is most
improper and inadvisable for us to say 'My Father' Think about
it for a moment. If we say 'My Father', then of course, we are uttering TRUE
words! Oh yes, let there be no doubt about that! But what is the effect on
those who listen to our prayers? Are they not just a little offended by our
display of personal familiarity with God, almost as though we were EXCLUDING
THEM from our prayer by virtue of some SPECIAL relationship we have with the
Father? Here then is the essence of proper etiquette, that we learn to use
expressions before our brethren that will encourage the bond of unity that God
has Himself made between ALL WHO ARE TRUE MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. Paul
tells the Ephesians to 'endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in
the bond of peace', (Eph.4:3) and we cannot do that whilst at the
same time we use expressions that tend towards a DISTINCTION rather than a
BOND. Let us always say "Our Father" when we
address God, and be obedient to our Master.
Another matter which needs
very much to be voiced these days is the actual use of words in our fellowship
with each other. Because the world is flooded ten miles deep in continuous
speech, because of the radio and television, we have all learned to use our
mouths to an extent which is far beyond the divine allowance. Words are used to
address both God and our fellow-man. Does the Scripture have anything to say
about the use of words when addressing Almighty God? In fact it does,
and it was Solomon with his endowment of wisdom, who gave the whole truth of
the matter in Eccl.5:2-7 "Be not rash with your mouth, and let
not your heart be hasty to utter any word before God: for God is in heaven, and
you are upon earth: therefore let your words be few. - - A fool's voice is
known by his multitude of words. - -in many words there is also much vanity:
fear God." The theme is also echoed by the writer of Proverbs
(
The quotation from Proverbs
refers as much to human conversation as it does to prayer. Our Lord said in the
sermon on the mount, "When you pray, do not use empty
repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for
their multitudes of words. But not like them, for your Father knows what things
you have need of before you ask Him." (Matt. 6:7-8) And it is
immediately after this that He said, "When you pray, say 'Our Father -as
if to emphasise the value of brief prayer, which contains much in few words.
How many times have we
approached a prayer meeting with a dire sense of foreboding, knowing that there
are certain ones present who, by virtue of their many words and constant
repetition, wearied both man and God. Let us learn to be brief in our
conversation with each other, and not waste time and energy. Let us
particularly learn to be brief when addressing God in prayer. Sometimes, if we
analyse just what we have said, we conclude to our disgrace that we have been
guilty of sermonising the Almighty. One hears of 'all night prayer meetings'
and hardly dares whisper a puff of protest, lest the very holiness of the
occasion be shattered. But in reality, was it all necessary? We admit that
sometimes it WAS necessary, because the unction of God was upon those folks
assembled, and they were meeting in obedience to the divine whisper. But these
are few and far between. Most of the others could be summed up as a vain
attempt to copy that which had been real, as though to satisfy the heart that
one had done something useful, thereby pleasing God. The only ones thus
deceived are ourselves.
In his autobiography,
C.S.Lewis relates the time when, as a youngster, he stayed with a retired
headmaster by the name of Kirkpatrick. He described him as ' - over six
feet tall, lean as a rake, - his wrinkled face seemed to consist entirely of
muscles. - - If ever a man came near to being a purely logical entity, that man
was Kirk. His outstanding conviction was that language was given to man solely
for the purpose of communicating or discovering truth. The general banalities
and 'small talk' of most people did not enter into his calculations. The most
casual remark ~~as taken as a summons to disputation. To a 'mere torrent of
verbiage' he would cry 'Stop!', not from impatience, but because it was leading
nowhere. More sensible observations might be interrupted by 'Excuse!', ushering
in some parenthetical comment. Full approval would be encouraged by 'I hear
you' but usually followed by refutation: 'Had I read this? Had I studied that?
Had I any statistical evidence? And so to the almost inevitable conclusion: 'Do
you not see then that you had no right?'
Such men are few and far
between. Lewis learned much from Kirk, and used great economy of words in his
own writings, which did him credit. Likewise, his writings are amongst the most
logically thought-out of any Christian books on the market. Watchman Nee's
writings are very similar. Much economy of words, but massive quantities of
truth. It goes without saying that the Bible is itself of the same calibre.
James, in his third
chapter, speaks about the human tongue and the evil it engenders by wrong use.
The first ten verses make us blush every time we read them. "If
any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle
the whole body." We forbear quoting any more of the chapter.
Paul spoke of the coming of
a day of judgment, in the which "every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God." (Rom.3:19)
We long for the coming of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and this is
as it should be. But sometimes we forget those passages which speak about His
coming in such a manner as this - "Who may abide the day of His
coming? And who shall stand when He appears? For He is like a Refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap. He shall sit as the Refiner and Purifier of silver
." Just because the context in Malachi 3 relates to Levi and
May our whole manner of
life be that of 'humility and meekness', humility towards one another, and
meekness towards God, as we encourage each other, and pray for His Kingdom to
come upon earth.