Linky: https://theboard.byu.edu/questions/63656/
Does anyone else want to chime in on this question? I feel like this is actually a really good question, and although Commander Keen did address a mistake the author of the question made, he didn't really answer the question itself. How do we deal with scriptures like D&C 109 where it does seem like Joseph Smith's prayer is directed to Christ?
Question 63656 - Prayer and the Godhead
Moderator: Marduk
Re: Question 63656 - Prayer and the Godhead
I think the root here is a concept called divine investiture of authority. In other words, for the same reason that Jehovah is the God of the Old Testament, and speaks directly AS God, not just FOR God, is the same reason that many prayers may seem more ambiguous in their direction. But I agree that in the end, all prayers go to Him who is the Father of us all.
Deus ab veritas
Re: Question 63656 - Prayer and the Godhead
Here's an explanation from A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants vol.4, by Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett:
"We ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son. Joseph Smith certainly knew that prayers were to be addressed to the Father in the name of the Son (3 Nephi 18:19, 19:6, 20:31, 27:7; John 16:23, 26–27; D&C 14:8), and that is clearly the form followed here. However, some have been confused by the use of other terms in this prayer that seem to indicate Joseph is praying to the Son rather than to the Father (for example, the use of Jehovah in vv. 34, 42, and 68). In the modern Church, in emphasizing the separate persons of the Father and the Son, we sometimes underemphasize that there are three members of the Godhead and that they are all three God. The Son does nothing that is not the will of the Father; the Son is the representative of the Father; as such, he is the member of the Godhead who directly spoke to Joseph in the revelations (see, for example, D&C 17:9; 18:47; 19:1) and who commanded the building of the Kirtland Temple. Jesus Christ is also the God of the Old Testament, Jehovah, to whom the Jerusalem Temple was originally dedicated. Thus, there is nothing incorrect in Joseph addressing God the Son and referring to his activities and commandments in a prayer directed overall to God the Father. What is incorrect is to assume that a prayer addressed to God the Father somehow excludes God the Son, or the Holy Spirit, from the petition. Such thinking ignores the perfect unity of the three members of the Godhead in all things besides their individual persons. So, does the Prophet address the Father or the Son in Doctrine and Covenants 109? The answer is yes. The prayer is directed formally to the Father in the name of the Son (v. 4) according to commandment, but it also acknowledges the divinity of the Son and his direct role in restoring the fulness of his gospel and guiding the destiny of his Church."
"We ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son. Joseph Smith certainly knew that prayers were to be addressed to the Father in the name of the Son (3 Nephi 18:19, 19:6, 20:31, 27:7; John 16:23, 26–27; D&C 14:8), and that is clearly the form followed here. However, some have been confused by the use of other terms in this prayer that seem to indicate Joseph is praying to the Son rather than to the Father (for example, the use of Jehovah in vv. 34, 42, and 68). In the modern Church, in emphasizing the separate persons of the Father and the Son, we sometimes underemphasize that there are three members of the Godhead and that they are all three God. The Son does nothing that is not the will of the Father; the Son is the representative of the Father; as such, he is the member of the Godhead who directly spoke to Joseph in the revelations (see, for example, D&C 17:9; 18:47; 19:1) and who commanded the building of the Kirtland Temple. Jesus Christ is also the God of the Old Testament, Jehovah, to whom the Jerusalem Temple was originally dedicated. Thus, there is nothing incorrect in Joseph addressing God the Son and referring to his activities and commandments in a prayer directed overall to God the Father. What is incorrect is to assume that a prayer addressed to God the Father somehow excludes God the Son, or the Holy Spirit, from the petition. Such thinking ignores the perfect unity of the three members of the Godhead in all things besides their individual persons. So, does the Prophet address the Father or the Son in Doctrine and Covenants 109? The answer is yes. The prayer is directed formally to the Father in the name of the Son (v. 4) according to commandment, but it also acknowledges the divinity of the Son and his direct role in restoring the fulness of his gospel and guiding the destiny of his Church."