Head Dump: Prayer 5

To whom do I pray?

If we have a “triune’ God, with three persons in one, which is the one to whom we are praying? One person in particular, or all of them together?

This is not meant to be exhaustive study. As I said in previous parts, this is a “head dump.” Just thoughts about prayer.

There are not a lot of recorded prayers in the New Testament. There are a number of them in Old Testament, but they did know clearly about the three different persons of God, even though there were some indications.

In the Old Testament, God is addressed as “Lord,” “Lord God,” “God,” “O Lord, our God.” and other variations. The words translated as “Lord” could be ”Elohim” or “YHWH.” “Adonai” is usually translated at “God.” In other words, God had three “common” names, representing one person.

In the New Testament there seems to be more variation.

Jesus, Himself, seems to have exclusively prayed to God the Father: John 17, 1,5,11,24,25; Luke 23:46; and, most famously, Matthew 6:9 (the Lord’s Prayer).

Oddly enough, no one else addresses God as “Father” in the rest of the NT, at least not in prayer.

The word “Lord” is used consistently in the recorded prayers in Acts (1:24, 4:24, 8:24). The Greek word “kurios” means “lord,” or “master” and is translated as “Lord” when referring to Jesus. It is derived from a word meaning authority.

In the story of Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-17), Paul talks to Jesus and calls Him Lord. Later, Jesus and Ananias talk. Ananias recognizes Him as Jesus, and then addresses Him as Lord.

Acts 7:54-60 is the martyrdom of Stephan. Stephan sees Jesus, first calls Him “Jesus” then calls Him the “Son of Man,” then calls Him”Lord Jesus” again, and finally calls Him “Lord.”

Therefore, it is not clear from the recorded prayers in Acts who the disciples were addressing. Was it Jesus being addressed as “Lord?” Or was it a hold-over from the Old Testament practice of referring to God as “Lord?”

In Acts 13:1-4; 21:23; 21:11, the Holy Spirit is identified as talking to the disciples.

In Paul’s letters, he frequently talks about praying to God, or to God the Father of our Lord Jesus.

• Romans 1:8. “I thank my God...” (also 1:10, 10:1, 15:30)
• 1 Corinthians 1:4. “I thank my God...”
• Ephesians 1:16,17a. [I] do not cease giving thinks for you , while making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory....”
• And so on.

In Romans 8:26-7, the Holy Spirit is described as one who intercedes for us. In Romans 8:34 (a few verses later) it is Jesus who intercedes for us. An intercessor is one who makes petition for, who entreats, who confers with. It would make sense to talk to (pray to) the one who is interceding for us. Even today, our Roman Catholic brethren ask the various saints to intercede on their behalf. (Have I got that right?)

Nowhere in the NT does there seem to be any definitive commandment to address God by a particular name, or to pray to a particular person of the trinity. The only thing that approaches a commandment is in the Lord's Prayer when Jesus says to pray like this, "Our Father..." But nowhere are the disciples quoted as doing that.

I think that there is too little information to say that I need to address God exclusively, as a matter of doctrine, as “God,” or “Lord” or “Father” or “Jesus” or “Holy Spirit.”

They are “one God in three persons.” When I talk to one, I talk to all of them.

We also need to remember that prayer grows out of freedom and results in more freedom. I think that we need to be free to address God, in our prayers, in whatever person we are led to. This is an individual practice rooted in traditions, teachings, personal experience, and, even, need.

I usually pray to Jesus. But sometimes I like to “crawl into my Daddy’s lap,” too. There are also things that are specific jobs of the Holy Spirit. For example, bringing conviction, and I like to pray to the Holy Spirit when I am seeking after those things.

Your thoughts?