Christ Praying in Our Prayers
When the church prays, it is Christ who prays in it. Christ extends his prayer in the church.
Thus all the petitions and praises that the body of Christ presents to God through its members are valuable only when passing through him who is the Head of the body, the Son of God. All the prayers of the church are offered to God “through Jesus Christ our Lord” or “in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ.”
This is why the church must be careful how it expresses its prayers; they ought to be worthy, grounded and shaped in him who is truly “the hearer. The church must give to its prayers rigorous thought, right intention, spiritual fullness, and a propriety of tone and beauty of form that are in harmony with the divine person of Christ and his holy prayer, both in John 17 and Matt. 11:25-27 and in the Lord’s Prayer, Matt. 6:9-13 — Richard Paquier, Dynamics of Worship, 22.