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Statement of beliefs: https://apostolicinternational.com/statement-of-beliefs The sermon: https://apostolicinternational.com/sermons/IF_JESUS_IS_THE_ONE_TRUE_GOD_WHY_AND_TO_WHOM_DID_HE_PRAY.pdf
This chapter from "The Second Man: The Lord from Heaven" by Paul Thomas addresses a key objection to the Trinitarian and "Oneness" view of God on answering the question: if Jesus is the One true God, why and to whom did He pray?
The author outlines three explanatory views: (1) the traditional Trinitarian position that one Person (the Son) prayed to another Person (the Father); (2) the Oneness view that Jesus's human nature prayed to His indwelling divine nature; and (3) the author's preferred "One God" position—that Jesus, as the single divine Person manifest in flesh, did not pray for Himself at all, but interceded on behalf of fallen humanity.
The author critiques the Trinitarian view as inconsistent with strict monotheism (Deuteronomy 6:4) and raises questions about why Jesus prayed only to the Father and not the Spirit. He also rejects the dual-nature Oneness explanation, arguing that "natures do not pray—persons pray," and that this view risks Nestorianism.
Central to the author's argument is Isaiah 59:16 and 63:5—God saw "no man" and "no intercessor," so He Himself came in flesh to serve as humanity's advocate, fulfilling the High Priest/intercessor role (echoing Aaron's incense offering in Numbers 16). Jesus's Gethsemane prayers ("not my will") are interpreted as Him vicariously bearing humanity's fallen will and sorrow (Isaiah 53), not experiencing personal existential struggle.
Drawing on Irenaeus's theory of "recapitulation," the author argues Christ's entire life—His submission to Mary and Joseph, His suffering, His growth "in wisdom" (Luke 2:52)—represents God undoing Adam's disobedience by living in vicarious solidarity with humanity, not evidence of a limited human nature needing development.
The chapter closes by reinterpreting Romans 8:26 (the Spirit interceding for us) as an analogy supporting the claim that Jesus's prayers were always intercessory on our behalf, never self-directed, culminating in a hymn celebrating this sacrificial love.
