Who do we pray to,
the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit?
If the Trinity is true that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
are all the one God, then is it not possible that we can pray to
each of the members of the Trinity? Or, should we only pray to
the Father, or only pray to "God"? Jesus told us to pray to
the Father in Matt. 6:9 when He said,
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who
art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." What is the
proper method of prayer?
We can answer this question when we realize that God
Himself is worthy of prayer and God is a
Trinity of persons.
Therefore, it would seem fair to say that we can pray to each member
of the Godhead.
Jesus said in John 14:14, "If
you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."
Therefore, it would seem safe to say that we can pray to Jesus and
ask Him to answer our prayers. Also, we can see further
confirmation of this by looking at the phrase, "call upon the name
of the Lord." In the Old Testament that phrase is used only of
God and it includes the meaning of worship, adoration, and prayer. Psalm 116:4 says, "Then
I called upon the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, I beseech Thee, save my
life!'” What is interesting is that this phrase is applied
to Jesus in
1 Cor. 1:2, "to the church of God
which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ
Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."
Paul obviously knew the significance of the phrase, which included
prayerful appeal, and applied it to Jesus.
In 1 Cor. 1:9 it says, "God is faithful,
through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord." The word "fellowship" is the Greek word
"koinonia" which is also translated as the word "communion." 1 Cor. 1:9 says that we are to have an
intimate fellowship with Jesus. That is fine. But, how
can we have fellowship with someone we never talk to?
Therefore, this verse can also be used to support the idea of
praying to Jesus.
If it is okay to pray to the Father, and the Son, is it
alright to pray to the Holy Spirit? The answer would be yes
because the Holy Spirit is also God. Nevertheless, we never
see an instance in the Bible where anyone prays to the Holy Spirit?
Why is that? The answer is that the Holy Spirit does not bear
witness of Himself. He bears witness of the Son (John 15:26). But still, we can pray
to the Spirit because we are also called into fellowship with the
Spirit. 2 Cor. 13:14 says, "The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit, be with you all."
Finally, we can simply pray to God. We can
address God, the Lord, in our prayers and as you feel led, address
the members of the Trinity.
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