How can Jesus be God if He prayed to God?
Question 3065
This is an excellent question, and it gets to the heart of who Jesus really is. If Jesus is God, why would He need to pray? Was He talking to Himself? The answer lies in understanding the doctrine of the Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation. Far from being a problem for Christian belief, Jesus’ prayers actually reveal something profound about the nature of God.
The Trinity: One God, Three Persons
Christianity teaches that there is one God who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is not three gods, nor is it one person wearing three masks. It is one divine being existing in a tri-personal relationship. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet there are not three Gods but one God.
This is, admittedly, a mystery that our finite minds cannot fully grasp. But it is the consistent teaching of Scripture. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), using the neuter ἕν (hen, “one thing”) rather than the masculine εἷς (heis, “one person”), indicating unity of essence rather than identity of person. He also said, “the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), indicating distinction of persons and roles. Both statements are true.
When Jesus prayed, He was not talking to Himself. He was the Son communicating with the Father. The three persons of the Trinity are in eternal relationship with one another. There is love, communication, and fellowship within the Godhead. Jesus speaks of the glory He had with the Father “before the world existed” (John 17:5). The Father loves the Son (John 3:35; 5:20), and the Son loves the Father (John 14:31). This is not self-love but interpersonal love within the Trinity.
The Incarnation: God Becoming Man
The key to understanding Jesus’ prayers is the Incarnation. The eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, took on a human nature. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He did not cease to be God when He became man. He was (and is) fully God and fully man, two natures united in one person. This is what theologians call the “hypostatic union.”
As a genuine human being, Jesus experienced everything we experience, except without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He grew tired, hungry, and thirsty. He felt joy and sorrow, love and righteous anger. And He prayed. Prayer is a fundamental human activity, an expression of dependence upon God. If Jesus had not prayed, He would not have been truly human.
Philippians 2:6-8 describes what happened when the Son became incarnate: “though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
The “emptying” (κένωσις, kenosis) does not mean Jesus gave up His divine attributes. Rather, He voluntarily chose not to use them independently of the Father’s will. He lived His earthly life in dependence upon the Father, as the perfect example of how a human being should relate to God.
Jesus’ Prayers in the Gospels
Look at how Jesus prayed. Before choosing His twelve apostles, “he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12). Before major decisions, He sought the Father’s guidance. This was not because He lacked divine wisdom but because, in His humanity, He was modelling perfect dependence upon God.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Here we see the genuine human nature of Jesus shrinking from the horror of bearing the world’s sin, yet submitting perfectly to the Father’s will. This prayer reveals both His true humanity and His perfect obedience.
On the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He was quoting Psalm 22:1, identifying Himself with the suffering servant of that psalm. At that moment, as He bore our sins, He experienced something of the separation from God that sin brings. Yet even in that darkest hour, He still addressed God as “My God,” maintaining relationship even in agony.
His final prayer was, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Even in death, Jesus trusted the Father completely.
The High Priestly Prayer
Perhaps the most remarkable of Jesus’ prayers is found in John 17, often called the High Priestly Prayer. Here Jesus prays for Himself, for His disciples, and for all who would believe through their witness, which includes us.
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). Notice how Jesus speaks of distinct persons: the Father glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. This is not one person talking to Himself but genuine interpersonal communication within the Trinity.
Jesus prays, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). This reveals that the Son existed with the Father before creation, sharing divine glory. The prayer of the incarnate Son reaches back to the eternal relationship within the Godhead.
Why This Matters
Jesus’ prayers are not a problem for His deity; they are a revelation of it. They show us that God is not a solitary monad but a fellowship of love. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been in relationship for all eternity. When the Son became incarnate, that eternal relationship was expressed in human form through prayer.
Moreover, Jesus’ prayers give us confidence in our own prayers. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus knows what it is to pray as a human being. He knows our struggles, our fears, our need for God. And now, exalted at the Father’s right hand, “he always lives to make intercession for” us (Hebrews 7:25).
Conclusion
Jesus prayed because He is genuinely human, and prayer is the natural expression of human dependence upon God. But Jesus is also genuinely God, the eternal Son in relationship with the Father and the Spirit. When Jesus prayed, it was the incarnate Son communicating with the Father, not God talking to Himself. The doctrine of the Trinity makes sense of this. There is one God in three persons, and those persons relate to one another in love and communication. Jesus’ prayers reveal the beautiful mystery at the heart of God’s being and invite us into that same relationship with the Father through Him.
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3
