The paragraph in full
The clauses of the final sentence, marked in grey and pink, contradict each other.
That however is a minor difficulty -
The whole section concerned with proseuchomai is focussed on the use of the word in the Bible - its use in other contexts is not addressed. Mounce has stated that only one occurrence of proseuchomai with regard to pagan deities is recorded - in the Bible that is. That one occurrence shows that proseuchomai does have uses other than in the context of prayer to God.
The use of proseuchomai does not show that prayer, even in the Bible, is the sole preserve of Christians. That being the case, context - not the use of the word itself - shows that Jesus is addressed in prayer by people faithful to God. It is evidence that Jesus is God, but by no means proof.
The Biblical record shows that proseuchomai is used almost exclusively (in the Bible) to show that prayer is addressed to God.
No more than that can be said.
The fact that people pray to both God (Mt. 6:9) and Jesus (Acts 1:24) is part of the proof of Jesus’ deity. Stephen does pray to Jesus (Acts 7:60), but the norm is to pray to God the Father (Mt 6:9). Only once in the NT does this verb seem to suggest praying took place to pagan deities (Mt. 6:7); that is, praying is a uniquely Christian activity.
That however is a minor difficulty -
The whole section concerned with proseuchomai is focussed on the use of the word in the Bible - its use in other contexts is not addressed. Mounce has stated that only one occurrence of proseuchomai with regard to pagan deities is recorded - in the Bible that is. That one occurrence shows that proseuchomai does have uses other than in the context of prayer to God.
The use of proseuchomai does not show that prayer, even in the Bible, is the sole preserve of Christians. That being the case, context - not the use of the word itself - shows that Jesus is addressed in prayer by people faithful to God. It is evidence that Jesus is God, but by no means proof.
The Biblical record shows that proseuchomai is used almost exclusively (in the Bible) to show that prayer is addressed to God.
No more than that can be said.
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