Father, Son and Holy Spirit - to Whom to Pray?
I believe in the Trinity. I don’t understand it, but I believe in it. The Bible clearly teaches that God is One, but that He is Three distinct Persons in One. However, this post is not going to be an “Evidence for the Trinity” post.
How do I decide to Whom I should pray? For years now I didn’t have an answer to that question, and when I prayed, I sometimes prayed to God the Father. Other times, I prayed to Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Then recently during some personal study time I happened upon this verse, found in 2 Corinthians.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”
This opened up a new perspective for me as to Whom I pray to, depending on the request. I offer it not as a guideline, or even a prerogative, but hopefully as a help in others’ prayer time.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ… When asking for mercy, for strength in tough times, for specific material needs or wants, I realize that it is only by grace that I will receive these things. Grace is unmerited, undeserved, and unearned. Therefore my focus is on Jesus Christ, the One by Whose grace I was saved.
...and the love of God… God is love. He says so Himself (1 John 4:8). So when praying for others who are suffering physically, mentally, spiritually, or emotionally, I call on the God of love, Who is able to comfort in those tough times of need through His unfailing love.
…and the communion of the Holy Ghost… Communion – fellowship – relationship. When praying for relationship issues (troubled marriages, teens in rebellion, animosity among church members, etc.) I pray to the Holy Spirit for these things, knowing that He is able to mend relationships and strengthen them as well. I also pray to the Holy Spirit when I don’t really know WHAT to pray, but just feel a need to be in the presence of God. I base this on Romans 8:26, which tells us that the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us when we don’t know what to pray for.
Yes, I pray on behalf of myself and others, doing as Philippians 4:6 commands us to do, but when I am simply praying in worship, I praise God in all His majesty, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is in the worshipful prayer that I feel His presence the most.
God is so good. Regardless of how I pray, or even IF I pray, He is always there, and always knows my needs and wants even before I do.
Romans 8:26:"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
Philippians 4:6: "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."
Labels: Personal Observations/Stories, Scripture
thoughts from Ms.Green @ Wednesday, July 04, 2007
8 Comments:
I've asked myself the same question - I thought it was just me over-analyzing things! Thanks for the suggestions.
I usually just pray to Jesus, but I too have wonder this.
I will be honest I don't totally get the trinity either.
Very interesting.
This is overly simplistic, I know, but this is the way I understand the trinity:
I am my father's son, and I am my son's father, and I am a spirit (soul). Thus, I am father, son, and Spirit. Three in one.
Not the same thing, of course, since God has no father, but it helps me personally get part of a handle on the whole trinity thing.
When I pray, I pray to God, in the name of Jesus, since Jesus is God's intersessor for us. He imparts the desires of our heart to the Father for us. In this way, we can be sure that God hears all our reayers. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. After we pray and Jesus delivers our needs and desires to God, God sends the Spirit to us for us to know that God has indeed heard our prayers, and will do, for us, what is best for us.
Good points, Mark, and not oversimplistic at all. Thanks for that perspective.
I think Mark is on to it...
Jesus told us to pray to the Father... Our Father who are in heaven...
We pray to the Father, in the name and mediation of the Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit. But there are times to pray to the Son, and to thank the Spirit...
Your guidelines are helpful.
Blessings
The Triune Godhead is one of the greatest mysteries for us Christians(whatever our tradition or denomination).
By faith, I pray to Father-God, in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes it's not so formal, but I know He(Father/Son/Holy Spirit) hears and knows my heart and that I'm his daughter.
Detractors of Christianity have always used the Trinity as their example of pre-Christian pagan influences. But, I don't think there was pagan influence in the Trinity. Thought 3 is a sacred number in other "holy" books and in some ancient pagan paths, the Trinity is distinct and apart from that.
In other words, it's not like the Christmas tree and the winter solstice celebrations( which clearly are from pagan roots - most Christians adapted them and wisely turned them to a celebration of Our Lord's birth).
"Detractors of Christianity have always used the Trinity as their example of pre-Christian pagan influences"
So true that they do that, but their presumption is so false. Although Christianity didn't appear obviously until the time of Christ, the basis of it (Judaism)springs from the dawn of time. The God of Christianity has always been - and the pagan gods that were created by men sprang up in rebellion to the one true God of the Bible - because the enemy of God, Satan, is the great imitator and seeks to be in the position of God. Thus all false religions ultimately come from that old serpent.
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