Who do you pray to? Jesus or God? [Archive]

sedulous_samantha

19th May 2004, 07:26 AM

Hi guys,

As some of you know, I'm fairly new to Christianity (we're talking about 2 weeks here), and have only recently started praying. My question is: who should I pray to? Jesus or God?

Who do you pray to? Are there times when you would choose one for one situation, and the other for another?

Thank you. :)

Deb4given

19th May 2004, 07:58 AM

sedulous_samantha

19th May 2004, 08:10 AM

Hi Deb4given,

Sorry to be annoying, but could you explain how you do that? Do you say that at the beginning of each prayer? Thank you. :)

prodromos

19th May 2004, 08:23 AM

I pray to God.

I pray to God the Father
I pray to God the Son
and I pray to God the Holy Spirit.

All three are God.

Violet

19th May 2004, 08:25 AM

I start of my prayer by saying "Dear heavenly Father" then say my prayer. I close by saying "These things I pray in Jesus name. Amen"

ShirChadash

19th May 2004, 08:38 AM

:wave: Hello

I, too, pray to G-d the Father in the name of His Son, Yeshua (Jesus). I begin my spontaneous prayers, "Abba YHVH" -- which is to say, essentially, "Daddy YHVH (Yahveh/Yahweh/G-d)" -- and I end with, "in Yeshua's most precious name", or something similar.

:pink:
~z~
an imperfect Believer, embracing and learning the faith of Yeshua ("Jesus") -- Messianic Judaism.

TomUK

19th May 2004, 09:16 AM

I pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus

Jenna

19th May 2004, 10:42 AM

I, too, pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus.

SaraTX

19th May 2004, 05:14 PM

I think I understand what your problem is because I too was once confused.

Something that you must understand is that Jesus is God incarnate on Earth. So essentially, they are one in the same but in different forms or stages. Another one of the mysteries of God, Jesus and God are the same, but seperate, if you know what I mean. So, in essence, when you pray, you are praying to God and Jesus as one. You pray to the Father in Jesus' name.

If that's not what you are confused about, I'm sorry. But I had that problem, and no one to explain it to me. I thought God and Jesus Christ were two separate entities, when the truth is that they are the same, but in differentstages. Kind of similar to the metamorphasis of a butterfly - you start off with a caterpillar, end up with a butterfly, but in the end they're both the same animal. Different, but the same. :)

God bless you, Child of God!

Brooke

19th May 2004, 05:54 PM

I too pray to God in Jesus's name. I do believe that God and Jesus are both the same person... not to mention that when Jesus told His disciples that whoever accepts Him, he also accepts the One who sent Him, I think He meant that it was because He was the embodiment of God's own character, and to accept someone else was to accept someone who wasn't God. Or... something like that. Sorry if I confused you. Heh. ^^

Bizzlebin Imperatoris

19th May 2004, 07:15 PM

Yep, good answers. In the OT, one had to go through a priest to talk to God, but even then, they were praying to God (God the Father if I'm not mistaken.) When Jesus died, one of the things that happened was the tearing of the temple curtain from top to bottom; God tore the wall from his end down to us. So, we can talk directly to God, because those saved are clean in his eyes, specifically Jesus, or whomever. The three are one, so I'm sure all the prayers "get around" :P

tqpix

19th May 2004, 07:19 PM

I pray to God.

I pray to God the Father
I pray to God the Son
and I pray to God the Holy Spirit.

All three are God.This is actually a good summary of who you should pray to.

Blessed-one

19th May 2004, 07:19 PM

Dear heavenly father..

In Jesus's name, amen. :)

prodromos

20th May 2004, 03:22 AM

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from the evil one.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere and fillest all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, 0 Good One.

ShirChadash

20th May 2004, 10:11 AM

jingwei

20th May 2004, 10:33 AM

Yaohushua or the grossly mistranslated Jesus is the hand of God. You don't pray to his hand only. You pray to the entire body of God.
And are not the hand and you one? When someone hits your hand, has he/she not hit you?

Church Punk

20th May 2004, 04:40 PM

Church Punk

20th May 2004, 04:44 PM

I pray to God.

I pray to God the Father
I pray to God the Son
and I pray to God the Holy Spirit.

All three are God.
Yup! Good stuff!
The trinity is something I don't fully understand, but believe with faith like a child. This will get cleared up when God calls me home.

jingwei

20th May 2004, 05:50 PM

I am saying you should not pray to a mere part of God, Jesus. You should pray to God in the name of his son and the holy spirit.

jingwei

20th May 2004, 05:52 PM

And I just explained the trinity. Jesus and the Holy spirit are like parts of a body. They are one. When someone hits my hand, he hits ME. So my hand is a part of me and literally Is me.

ShirChadash

20th May 2004, 07:55 PM

The Father YHVH does all things through His Son, His Salvation, His Yeshua ("Jesus")... by the power of His Spirit.

:clap:

Deb4given

20th May 2004, 08:18 PM

Hi Deb4given,

Sorry to be annoying, but could you explain how you do that? Do you say that at the beginning of each prayer? Thank you. :)
I usually start my pray by saying Father......(the prayer) and when I end I say In Jesus name Amen.

Philip

20th May 2004, 10:24 PM

I am saying you should not pray to a mere part of God, Jesus. You should pray to God in the name of his son and the holy spirit.

And I just explained the trinity. Jesus and the Holy spirit are like parts of a body. They are one. When someone hits my hand, he hits ME. So my hand is a part of me and literally Is me.

Christ is not 'a mere part of God'. He is God. He is as much God as the Father is.

jingwei

21st May 2004, 10:47 AM

Philip

21st May 2004, 12:16 PM

No, because no man shall see god and live.
Also, in the bible Jesus has repeatedly prayed to his father in heaven.
Also, God is not to be mocked. He will NOT come to earth himself and be tortured and insulted by his own creations. If you equal God to man that would be a slap in the face.

Are you aware that to post in this forum, you must accept the Nicene Creed, including the portion which states:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;

good4u

21st May 2004, 01:42 PM

So, original poster...did you get your answer or are you more confused? And btw, welcome to the family of God! As you can see we have quite the diverse family dynamics here! LOL

jingwei

21st May 2004, 01:58 PM

Are you aware that to post in this forum, you must accept the Nicene Creed, including the portion which states:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
What part of my posts says anything other than that? I'm trying to disprove the common mistake of many people putting YHWH completely out of the picture.

Philip

21st May 2004, 02:14 PM

What part of my posts says anything other than that? I'm trying to disprove the common mistake of many people putting YHWH completely out of the picture.

This one:

Also, God is not to be mocked. He will NOT come to earth himself and be tortured and insulted by his own creations.

God most certainly did come to earth. He was tortured and insulted by us.

jingwei

21st May 2004, 02:29 PM

Sorry then. I will not post here anymore.

Grace_Alone4gives

27th May 2004, 06:46 PM

I have stared some of my prayer saying Dear Jesus...some Dear Heavenly Father....
perhaps I should not, but I do not think it matters.God wont throw out a prayer because a certain formula isn't used. Im not saying to address your prayers "Dear Bob", but God is God, and He hears our prayers....as long as we know who we pray to, and have a relationship with the One true God...he hears us.

thaiv

27th May 2004, 11:39 PM

God is Triune. Pray to the Father, Son, or Spirit and you get the whole Triune God. They are never seperate.

kitkat60

28th May 2004, 11:30 AM

Hmmmmm this certainly gives me food for thought! I don't know that I specifically address any one part of the one-in-three in my day to day prayers, or in any specific order. I do pray to God and to Jesus and to the HS, but haven't thought about whether I was praying PROPERLY. Eek.

Here is a continuation of Samantha's question.....when we say "the Lord" are we referring to one part of the trinity? Or to all three?

I too have that child-like faith. I don't get the whole Triune idea, but I believe that is how it is, and that when I get to heaven, it will be explained to me.

Suzie

pieman3141

28th May 2004, 03:07 PM

Interchangeable for me. They are all God, and at the same time, they are separate. So I may say "Father" at some points, and "Jesus" or "Lord" in other points. I also address the Spirit.

Lynn73

28th May 2004, 06:14 PM

I usually pray to the Father in Jesus' name but sometimes I talk to the Lord Jesus also.

Lynn73

28th May 2004, 06:18 PM

No, because no man shall see god and live.
Also, in the bible Jesus has repeatedly prayed to his father in heaven.
Also, God is not to be mocked. He will NOT come to earth himself and be tortured and insulted by his own creations. If you equal God to man that would be a slap in the face.
If He hadn't come to earth and been tortured and died for our sins, we would all be lost with no hope. See Colossians 2:9. Can't say any plainer who Jesus is.

aeroz19

31st May 2004, 02:32 AM

When I pray, I begin with, "God..." and I do not have a closing.

I've never really thought about which One in the Trinity to address; for me it's always been God. I suppose you could address any of the Three.

Plan 9

31st May 2004, 03:40 AM

I pray to my Heavenly Father, because this was both Yeshua's instruction and his example. :)
It's also my family tradition, I imagine; my uncle is a United Methodist minister, and always opened our family prayers in this manner.

Once, a visitor to my church at the time, who had been teaching us, closed his prayer with,

"Thanks, G-d; I appreciate it!"

I thought that was great! I liked that informality; it was natural to him. :)

Red Chief

31st May 2004, 04:11 AM

Jesus, jesus, jesus... oh happy day, when jesus walks...

sedulous_samantha

31st May 2004, 04:21 AM

Plan 9

31st May 2004, 09:01 AM

Hi guys!

Great answers. At the moment, I tend to start with "Dear Lord" for some reason, and every new "paragraph" to my prayer (so to speak!), I also start with "Dear Lord". I end with, "These things I pray in Jesus' name - amen". (Thanks to somebody for suggesting that!)

Just a question - why do some people write "G-d"?

I'm enjoying this thread, too. :)

I'm not the best person to explain this, but leaving out the vowel is the practice of Orthodox Jews and those who practice Messianic Judaism. It's emphases that G-d's name is holy and not to be taken in vain.

I started out doing it in religious threads on another site because a friend of mine posting there is an Orthodox Jew and I wished to make her feel as comfortable as possible; she's a little shy about posting on religious subjects. Then I began to do it for the same reason she does, and, in the process, I found it was helping me with my swearing habit, which I have nearly licked, but not quite. :blush:

Here's link to the Messianic Judaism FAQs, which explain this more clearly than I could possibly do.
http://www.christianforums.com/t63396

WashedClean

31st May 2004, 09:07 AM

Great answers, and great thread! I had these same questions when I became a believer.

I read something once that really helped me. When you pray:

God is before you
Jesus is beside you (interceding on your behalf)
The Holy Spirit is within you
I thought this was very profound and loved how it incorporated the trinity into our prayer time. As fleshly beings, we sometimes need a visual example to hold on to. But the best prayer is when you allow the Holy Spirit to bring things to mind.

Hope this helps.

Love in Him,

WC

LADY DI

1st June 2004, 01:26 AM

Hi Samantha!:wave:

I love your name ( it happens to be my daughters name too!):pink:
I always pray to the Father and end my prayers with " I ask this in Jesus name". Look at John 16:24.
Just ask our Heavenly Father to send His Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you how to pray. Before you know it you'll be a pro at it!
Blessings,
Lady Di:angel:

gary cook

1st June 2004, 06:12 AM

GOd said give all praise and glory to JESUS ,but all 3 are one but we must believe JESUS is the only begotten SON of GOD ,HE came out of GOD and is a part of GOD ,just as the HOLY SPIRIT is ,who if you are born again lives in you .you are a spirit 1st and flesh 3rd .the body is not really who you are ,we will get a new body a better one ,without blood ,and a new name and a white robe ,and a crown ,if we trust the LORD all the way .we are in a big school ,we are learning to be rulers in the new kingdom and to be the KINGS kids .I pray sometimes FATHER and some times JESUS ,but the bible teaches ,we should pray to the FATHER in the name of JESUS .and when we cast out demons we say in the name of JESUS I command you too go .and they GO ,

Adoniram

1st June 2004, 12:13 PM

Good Thread

I pray to God, thanking him for life and individual blessings.
I pray to Jesus, thanking him for his sacrifice and the shed blood which washes me white as snow enabling me to partake in the gift of eternal life.
I pray to the Holy Spirit, asking for guidance in my daily walk and understanding as I read the scriptures.

As I pray, I know that my prayer goes up to God, all inclusive, but sometimes there are things that I want to address to one or the other of the three distinct personalities. I might address specific requests to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or to God all inclusive.

And then I close "in Jesus name."

sedulous_samantha

1st June 2004, 01:53 PM

Great answers again.

Just one other question - where does amen originate? Is it biblical? :)

TerryR

1st June 2004, 04:04 PM

First, the word Amen is another name for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Second, the word Amen is of Hebrew origin. The meaning of the word in Hebrew is aw-mane' and it means "so be it"

Also, in Greek the word is am-ane' and it also means "so be it" in the Greek dialect.

The word Amen is both in the old and new testament.

Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;"

kbean

1st June 2004, 07:24 PM

I pray dear God,
Father in Heaven,
Heavenly Father,
I think it is totally subjective.
It is a very personal thing to pray and there are no rules. Think about how many different languages are all around the world being lifted up in prayer to God all at this moment, all from people of different cultures and ages etc..
. It's what's on your heart that matters. Deaf people and others who communicate differently don't have this issue because communticate in other ways. So don't worry too much about getting it 'correct' just pray what's on your heart. God knows all languages and words!
Bless you and just keep praying that's what God wants from you!

Polycarp1

1st June 2004, 08:03 PM

You can pray to "God" meaning the whole Trinity, or to any one Person of the Trinity. Most people, I've seen, tend to address their prayers to God the Father, "through Jesus Christ our Lord" (both intentionally and as a phrase said just before the close of the prayer).

Prayers addressed to Jesus, I've seen, tend to be much more "heart prayers" than those addressed to the Father, which tend to be "head prayers" (if you see the distinction I'm making).

Since we Anglicans tend to use formal, written prayers a lot (though of course we pray extempore as well), I did a survey of our Prayer Book once to find out to Whom prayers were addressed.

There were several hundred prayers in the book. The overwhelming majority were to "God" meaning the Father, as witnessed by "through Jesus Christ Your Son our Lord" or similar wording at the end.

Ten were to "God" with no specification of person.
About 20 were to Jesus, and they were very much the "heart prayer" style of devotion.
A couple were to the Holy Trinity explicitly identified as such.
None of the written prayers were directly to the Holy Spirit.

And there was one beautiful, long prayer, for the dedication of a new church, which was said in parts. First the Bishop addressed prayer to God the Father, then the Rector (Pastor) continued the same prayer but addressed to Jesus Christ, then the Senior Warden (Lay Leader) directed another piece of the same prayer at the Holy Spirit, and finally the Bishop concluded the prayer addressing the Holy Trinity together. (And the congregation of course echoed Amen! to it.)

kermit the toad

1st June 2004, 09:32 PM

I pray to God. Sometimes I don't specifically say, "Through Jesus," but really, that's the only way I understand God so, I suppose, I'm always praying through Jesus. Usually, I also thank Jesus specifically for giving his life on the cross for us.

Eusebios

2nd June 2004, 10:37 AM

....
None of the written prayers were directly to the Holy Spirit.
Poly always has great posts! I just wanted to point out that the EO do have a specific prayer to the Holy Spirit which we use in both our individual and corporate prayer life on a daily (perhaps several times daily) basis. It is the last line in my sig.

And there was one beautiful, long prayer, for the dedication of a new church, which was said in parts. First the Bishop addressed prayer to God the Father, then the Rector (Pastor) continued the same prayer but addressed to Jesus Christ, then the Senior Warden (Lay Leader) directed another piece of the same prayer at the Holy Spirit, and finally the Bishop concluded the prayer addressing the Holy Trinity together. (And the congregation of course echoed Amen! to it.)
That's cool!
Under His Mercy,
Eusebios.
:prayer:

Qyöt27

2nd June 2004, 11:37 PM

Great answers again.

Just one other question - where does amen originate? Is it biblical? :)
It is biblical; one of the most notable uses of it is as the very last word in Revelation:

Rev. 22:21 (NKJV), "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always. Amen."

I particularly like the way this is put forth, as it seems to be a prayer said for everyone, saved or unsaved, to come into God's grace and mercy for the rest of time (unsaved as in being able to accept Christ). At least, that's the way I perceive it.

As for the OP, I somewhat remember wondering who in the Trinity exactly I was praying to, but that was only a passing thought. I don't think of it anymore because I've come to an understanding of the Trinity similar to what everybody here has already stated. God cannot be limited, so what exactly would stop Him from being tripartite but be singularly divine? It took a philosophy course to put me at rest with it, since we had to start looking at things by not putting our own limitations on things. But that's getting a little off topic again.

I normally start my prayers with "Lord" knowing I'm addressing God the Father, and end with "...and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen." If for some reason I'm getting sidetracked while trying to pray or can't quite seem to find the word I need to say, I'll sometimes say "Lord" again, to try to get my thoughts straightened out.