---
title: 2 Corinthians 12:8
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-12-8/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-12-8.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 2 Corinthians 12:8
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 2 Corinthians 12:8

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

## JW Usage

Watchtower prayer policy is unambiguous: prayer is offered to Jehovah alone, through Jesus as mediator. Praying *to* Jesus is treated as a breach of the first commandment — a form of creature-worship. When 2 Corinthians 12:8 surfaces ("three times I entreated the Lord that it might depart from me"), the "Lord" in question is read as Jehovah, and the response in verse 9 ("my undeserved kindness is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness") is routed through Jesus as the Father's spokesman rather than as the direct speaker.

## Protestant Usage

The context settles it. Read verses 8-9 together: Paul entreats "the Lord" three times, and the answer he records is explicit: "my power is made perfect in weakness" — and verse 9 continues, "so that the power of the Christ may remain over me like a tent." The Lord Paul prays to is the one whose power overshadows him — *the power of Christ*. This is not prayer routed through Jesus to the Father; it is prayer directly addressed to Jesus, answered directly by Jesus.
2 Corinthians 12:8 belongs alongside Stephen's dying prayer — "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59, NWT), echoing David's prayer to Jehovah in Psalm 31:5 — and John's prayer in Revelation 22:20, "Come, Lord Jesus." Three authors, three contexts, one practice: direct prayer to Jesus, recorded in Scripture without correction. 1 Corinthians 1:2 even describes the whole Christian church at Corinth as "those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" — standard practice, not an exception. If Jesus is a creature, the New Testament records systemic idolatry. The only alternative is that Jesus is worthy of prayer — which means he is God.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Prayer to Jesus in the New Testament](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/prayer-to-jesus.md) — Acts 7:59, Revelation 22:20, 2 Corinthians 12:8 [Deity of Christ]
- [Until Now You Have Not Asked in My Name](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john-16-23-26-prayer-trap.md) — John 16:23-26 — the unitarian collapse on prayer [Deity of Christ]