Can one pray to God to forgive the sins of another? Like praying that God forgives the sins of your father, brother, friend etc. I think anybody who is an adult is supposed to go to God directly. I see this in the catholic church where people confess their sins to the priest and expects him to help them pray to God for forgiveness. Is it right?

most of you asking questions in this place, lack any foundational knowledge of the bible and are merely trying to justify your pay.


is your question about priests or is it about your family members and associates?

They can pray but unless the sinner comes to God the father through the son Jesus, God cannot wipe away your sin.

no... if thats what you want to hear

Definetely Yes... Y do we av pastors and Alfas? Shebi b'coz they can pray 4 our sins and moreover, Jesus died 4 our sins..

.

God is very busy to listen to gossip prayers.

As for the priests. Most people believe priests and pastors wine and dine *closer* with God.

Go on your kneel @ d corner of your room,pray to him and your prayer will be answered. Stop following priests and pastors around. They are not different from you.

U wan start arqument abt confession?

If the answer is no why do u ask people to pray for u when u re in distress

That is only possible if the person is deaf and dumb....its written in the bible that he will forgive those who confesses their sins before him.....

I believe so but, the sinner must be in agreement by being present during the prayer session and responding with amen.

Dfrenzy: I believe so but, the sinner must be in agreement by being present during the prayer session and responding with amen.

what about dead ppl?

You can pray to God to grant a sinner grace but the sinner must ask for his/her forgiveness. That's why we go to confession in my church
#catholic

I'd love to play devil's advocate here and say an emphatic NO!... then throw an extra jab at the Roman Catholics and their ridiculous beliefs, but hey, I think I remember Jesus & Stephen praying the prayer, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do"...

.... Unless that prayer was just them being sarcastic?

John 20:21-23

New International Version (NIV)

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

OP
Can one pray to God to bless another person?

cyril83: God is very busy to listen to gossip prayers.

As for the priests. Most people believe priests and pastors wine and dine *closer* with God...

I see you have assumed a position to define God's obligations. Don't you think you are overreaching yourself?

Be careful with what you say about His anointed. They are priests by the Order of Melchizedek. The power is transcendental, and you are in no position to question such authority.

adonismuller: That
is only possible if the person is deaf and dumb....its written in the
bible that he will forgive those who confesses their sins before
him.....

Its not possible in any case, the deaf and dumb are humans like us and they have thier own communication signs. Salvation is a personal decision. I can not get saved for you, i can only interceed for God to touch your heart so you can realise your sins.

Yes.
Sins fall under 2 categories
1. Sins that the sinner can perform restitution on his own.
e.g Stealing - The sinner returns that which he has stolen

2. Sins that the sinner can never perform restitution on his own
e.g Murder - How do you return a taken life?
Fornication - How do you return what both parties have taken?

Category 1: The sinner may pray to God for forgiveness
Category 2: The sinner requires a repentant, broken heart and also requires one with a higher authority
to help him intercess on his behalf with God. (That is why confession is important in the christian
world)

After all:
Christ did it:
"Father forgive them for they know not what they do"

fluid26:

I see you have assumed a position to define God's obligations. Don't you think you are overreaching yourself?

Be careful with what you say about His anointed. They are priests by the Order of Melchizedek. The power is transcendental, and you are in no position to question such authority.

Anointed by God or gods?

Stop fooling yourself man! We are all equal before the eyez of the creator.

Besides why did you quote half of my post? Next time quote me in full to avoid getting E-jab.

Yes one can pray to God to forgive the sins of others. Jesus did that on the cross and Stephen did that while being stoned to death. It should however be observed that these cases involved offending the person. God notes it when His children are offended and will avenge them at His discretion. The Christian may spare his offenders showing Christlikeness by praying for their forgiveness.

Do we continue to live in sin so dat grace will abound?Do we continue to live in sin so dat grace will abound?Do we continue to live in sin so dat grace will abound?

1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that is not a deadly sin, he has only to pray and God will give life to this brother-provided that it is not a deadly sin
There is sin that leads to death and am not saying you must pray about that.

Yes, you can pray to God for other ppl.
In terms of forgiveness, the sinner should also confess his sins to God.

The priest & pastor can pray for you..but you must renounce and confess ur sins before God never go back to them, then you ill be forgiven no matter how heavy it is..Note in lsaiah chapter 1:18(kjv)..Come now,and let us reason together,said the Lord:though your sins be as scarlet,they shall be as white as snow,though they be red like crimson,they shall be as wool..
Also in 2 chronicles 7:14..if my people, which are call by my name,shall humble themself,and pray,and seek my face,and turn from their wicked ways,then will l hear from heaven,and will forgive their sin,and will heal their land;..

In a very simple monosyllabi answer...Yes!

Baptism was given to take away the sin inherited from Adam (original sin) and any sins we personally committed before baptism—sins we personally commit are called actual sins, because they come from our own acts. Thus on the day of Pentecost, Peter told the crowds, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38), and when Paul was baptized he was told, "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16). And so Peter later wrote, "Baptism . . . now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 3:21). 

For sins committed after baptism, a different sacrament is needed. It has been called penance, confession, and reconciliation, each word emphasizing one of its.aspects. During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, "the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God "had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:. 

Since he would not always be with the Church visibly, Christ gave this power to other men so the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20), would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations. He gave his power to the apostles, and it was a power that could be passed on to their successors and agents, since the apostles wouldn’t always be on earth either, but people would still be sinning. 

God had sent Jesus to forgive sins, but after his resurrection Jesus told the apostles, "‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’" (John 20:21–23). (This is one of only two times we are told that God breathed on man, the other being in Genesis 2:7, when he made man a living soul. It emphasizes how important the establishment of the sacrament of penance was.) 

 

The Commission

Christ told the apostles to follow his example: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (John 20:21). Just as the apostles were to carry Christ’s message to the whole world, so they were to carry his forgiveness: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18:18). 

This power was understood as coming from God: "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18). Indeed, confirms Paul, "So we are ambassadors for Christ" (2 Cor. 5:20). 

Some say that any power given to the apostles died with them. Not so. Some powers must have, such as the ability to write Scripture. But the powers necessary to maintain the Church as a living, spiritual society had to be passed down from generation to generation. If they ceased, the Church would cease, except as a quaint abstraction. Christ ordered the apostles to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." It would take much time. And he promised them assistance: "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matt. 28:19–20). 

If the disciples believed that Christ instituted the power to sacramentally forgive sins in his stead, we would expect the apostles’ successors—the bishops—and Christians of later years to act as though such power was legitimately and habitually exercised. If, on the other hand, the sacramental forgiveness of sins was what Fundamentalists term it, an "invention," and if it was something foisted upon the young Church by ecclesiastical or political leaders, we’d expect to find records of protest. In fact, in early Christian writings we find no sign of protests concerning sacramental forgiveness of sins. Quite the contrary. We find confessing to a priest was accepted as part of the original deposit of faith handed down from the apostles. 

I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOU QUESTION...THE ANSWER IS YES

chukwudi44: John 20:21-23

New International Version (NIV)

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

good my broda. I had this encountre durin my marriage course. I tell people tht xtianity is a confused religion. In d same bible u hav d same jesus say tht "I am d way, d truth n d.... No one commeth to me xcep by me. In another agument, there's a part of bible tht said woman should nt talk in d church rada ask their husband at home, n another tht says otherwise. Again a portion of d bible said we shuld nt cut d hairs at d side of our head(berd) n another thts contradicts. People are yet 2undstd this bible. Pastors n priests kn all this thts y the xtot people wit tith n sowin of seed.

oluwadare26: Definetely Yes... Y do we av pastors and Alfas? Shebi b'coz they can pray 4 our sins and moreover, Jesus died 4 our sins..

You mean this kinda prayer.

Lolz. Whoz fooling who?

Mmmm.... Can't stop laughing !!!

1st the person must be ready to repent all what he/she has done. if not that for get it

Aifey: good my broda. I had this encountre durin my marriage course. I tell people tht xtianity is a confused religion. In d same bible u hav d same jesus say tht "I am d way, d truth n d.... No one commeth to me xcep by me. In another agument, there's a part of bible tht said woman should nt talk in d church rada ask their husband at home, n another tht says otherwise. Again a portion of d bible said we shuld nt cut d hairs at d side of our head(berd) n another thts contradicts. People are yet 2undstd this bible. Pastors n priests kn all this thts y the xtot people wit tith n sowin of seed.

quote the chapters and verses