How do You Pray?

[Edward]

How do you pray? Meaning to God the Father, Jesus...Just God in general? God is a trinity, yet one. Should we sometimes pray directly to the Father, and sometimes directly to Jesus? This is what I do. Most times I pray directly to the Father. At times I pray directly to Jesus, with the thought that even though they are a family I seek closeness with Him as a brother, friend, mediator, advisor etc...

I praise Jesus for what he has done for me. I send more praise to the Father as the Almighty and deserving one. I see that even Jesus was flat on His face before the Father in prayer, in Gethsemane, right before his crucifixion.

IDK if this is the correct way to be praying. When instructed on how to pray in scripture, it begins; Our Father...who Art in Heaven. Yet I also see in scripture that Jesus will be saying to some; I never knew you...so it seems right to me to talk to Jesus directly also. What do you think?

 

[Deborah13]

To complicate this a little more, I also pray (talk) to the Holy Spirit. When I study and even sometimes when just communicating with others as here in the threads I will ask the Holy Spirit to teach me the Truth. He is sent as the teacher the revealer of the Truth in Scripture so I ask Him to reveal the correct understanding of what I am reading in the Word. That's how I finally received grace through faith alone without the + works. It truly was a Holy Spirit revelation in my spirit.
Three persons in one. My conclusion is talk to all three, ask for help from all three (depending on what I am asking for), worship the Father and the Son.
I hope more people respond to this post as I don't know what is scripturally sound.

 

[Edward]

Thanks for responding Deborah. I hope more people respond to.

I'm kind of afraid to pray to the Holy Spirit. It may sound crazy, but I ask the Father to send/fill me with the Holy Spirit to guide me into truth and illumination. Offending (blaspheming?) the Holy Spirit is unforgivable and I would not want to accidently do this somehow. I had the thought before that even though the Holy Spirit is referred to as a him in scripture, a Spirit, that he may be held in the same esteem as men hold their (wives). Father...son...Wife....family. Men do not forgive people for offending their wives (many times they kill them), and it may be something along these lines that it would be unforgivable. I do not know for sure. What I do know is to respect the Holy Spirit very very very much. So much in the same way that, if I needed help from someones Wife, I would not go ask her, I would go ask her husband if it is ok for his Wife to help me out with whatever. This is the earthly respectful way to do this, and so...how I do it with God. (Please don't laugh too hard at me.) But we are taught that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

Now the Lord is the spirit.

I personally almost always pray to Jesus, yet sometimes I feel I am the only one doing so.

The day of my salvation was based on believing that Jesus is God, so I pray to him.

Yet I've always recognized that all three are one and the same.

Praying to one is praying to all.

 

[Deborah13]

Thanks for responding Deborah. I hope more people respond to.

I'm kind of afraid to pray to the Holy Spirit. It may sound crazy, but I ask the Father to send/fill me with the Holy Spirit to guide me into truth and illumination. Offending (blaspheming?) the Holy Spirit is unforgivable and I would not want to accidently do this somehow. I had the thought before that even though the Holy Spirit is referred to as a him in scripture, a Spirit, that he may be held in the same esteem as men hold their (wives). Father...son...Wife....family. Men do not forgive people for offending their wives (many times they kill them), and it may be something along these lines that it would be unforgivable. I do not know for sure. What I do know is to respect the Holy Spirit very very very much. So much in the same way that, if I needed help from someones Wife, I would not go ask her, I would go ask her husband if it is ok for his Wife to help me out with whatever. This is the earthly respectful way to do this, and so...how I do it with God. (Please don't laugh too hard at me.) But we are taught that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

I would never laugh at you. We are each doing our best to learn and be correct in our walk and God's grace is the place where we can all find rest and peace in our journey with Him.
You are very correct in your attitude about asking a husband if his wife can help you and I am sure the husband would respect you for that and I can only hope that the wife would appreciate that as well. In the marriage there is a chain of command and the husband is the head.

With God I see it this way and I could be wrong. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 3 distinct persons in One Godhead. The Holy Spirit is God's spirit and that person the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, teacher, etc... Because I am a born again believer I have the Holy Spirit indwelling me at all times. He doesn't come and go like in the OT. So because He is the teacher (His job if you will) I can ask for help in understanding.
In maybe the way you relate in like the husband wife relationship, I would have to say that I could only describe my process as this....
I have a professor who is assigned to teach me. If I have a question I can ask him, I don't need to go to the Dean of the School to ask him to tell the professor to teach me. It's his job assignment.

 

[Deborah13]

2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

Now the Lord is the spirit.

I personally almost always pray to Jesus, yet sometimes I feel I am the only one doing so.

The day of my salvation was based on believing that Jesus is God, so I pray to him.

Yet I've always recognized that all three are one and the same.

Praying to one is praying to all.

Yes, God's grace allows for our understanding and I think this scripture is a good one to show that All are One and that we do not need to worry. If He wants us to see something differently He will show us.
The important thing is to keep talking to Him.

 

[WIP]

I usually address my prayers to God the father in the name of Jesus the son.

 

[AIR]

How do you pray? Meaning to God the Father, Jesus...Just God in general? God is a trinity, yet one. Should we sometimes pray directly to the Father, and sometimes directly to Jesus? This is what I do. Most times I pray directly to the Father. At times I pray directly to Jesus, with the thought that even though they are a family I seek closeness with Him as a brother, friend, mediator, advisor etc...

I praise Jesus for what he has done for me. I send more praise to the Father as the Almighty and deserving one. I see that even Jesus was flat on His face before the Father in prayer, in Gethsemane, right before his crucifixion.

IDK if this is the correct way to be praying. When instructed on how to pray in scripture, it begins; Our Father...who Art in Heaven. Yet I also see in scripture that Jesus will be saying to some; I never knew you...so it seems right to me to talk to Jesus directly also. What do you think?

Funny, I always wanted to post this here. I was thinking for days, do you pray Jesus or God?

 

[Heb11:6]

Edward,

I smiled when I read your question because I remember asking the very same question shortly after being born again. I was so excited about being able to talk to God and I wanted to do it right and I was not sure if I was. Unfortunately, it was many years until I saw the answer to my question and as goofy as this might sound, I just prayed, "Dear Lord ..." because this was "all encompassing." Then one day the idea came to me, "Why don't I see what the Bible says about praying!" And I looked up the word "pray" "prayer" etc. in the New Testament and I looked at what was going on. You are on exactly the right track by looking at Jesus and as you stated, Jesus begins the "Lord's prayer" with "Our Father" and this teaching of Jesus' was in direct response of the disciples asking Jesus to show them how to pray (Luke 11:1). Then you need to look at John 14:13-14, John 15:16, & John 16:23-27. In the later, you will see Jesus saying in v. 23 "In that day" (meaning after He has gone to the Cross and been raised) "you will ak Me (Jesus) nothing...ye shall ask the Father in My name..." Then in v. 26-27 Jesus goes and conveys that He is not praying to the Father for us but we can pray directly to he Father in His name.

Now, if you go further and look at the prayers recorded in the Book of Acts and the epistles you will see that those who are praying (apostles) are praying to the Father. Even when you see them use the name "Lord", if you examine the context you will see that it is being applied to the Father (see Acts. 4:29-30, Romans 10:1, Philippians 4:6, Ephesians 1:15-20). So, in answer to your question - our prayer is directed to the Father in Jesus name. "in Jesus name" is not a "magical" finishing phrase but it represents by and through Whom we are able to come unto the Father - I believe it speaks to covenant. Recognizing this, I still thank Jesus and /or say things to Him, and I don't feel like I'm violating some rule when I do so but when I am praying I follow what I see in the Scriptures and I am going to the Father in Jesus' name.

Next, I want to comment on something else you said about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. This worry that you might commit this was also another thing I wondered about around the same time I was trying to figure out how to pray. It seems like many believers get hit with the thought of whether they have committed this sin or not, or they fear that one day they'll just trip up and blasphemy the Holy Spirit and be eternally damned. Not so. This unforgiveable sin was also a little mysterious to me until I read Mark 3:21-30 where if you pay attention to what is going on you will see that the scribes are accusing Jesus of casting out devils (i.e. demons) by the prince of devils. In other words, they accussed Jesus' power to deal with demons as coming from the devil himself. After Jesus states the ridiculousness of their reasoning He talks about blaspheming the Holy Spirit and verse 30 says, "Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit". You see, Jesus cast out devils by the Spirit of God (Mathew 12:28 ; (actually read Matthew 12:24-32 for more understanding)) and the scribes / pharisees attributed the power and working of the Holy Spirit to satan and this is what blaspheming the Holy Spirit is - contributing the work of the Holy Ghost to the devil. What this sin should make people cautious of is how loosely people throw around expressions like, "It's of the devil." Often phrases like have come out of the mouth of some believers who do not agree with something some other believers do. For example, one group of believers prays in tongues and another group who does not believe in it says, "Oooh, it's of the devil" or when a miracle or miracles happen in some church that someone isn't fond of doctrinally you'll hear things like, "the devil works signs too." Well, if these are genuine gifts of the Spirit then people are getting close to attributing Holy Spirit workings to demonic workings. Am I saying people who speak like this have commited blasphemy of the Holy Ghost - no - I'm not qualified to make any such judgement and never will be, but there seems to be a very strong parallel between what the pharisees said about Jesus and how these folks talk about their brethren.

I hope some of this helps with your questions but as with any Biblical "advice / answers" take it and confirm it by studying it in the Word while looking for the Holy Spirit's guidance.

God Bless!

 

[Edward]

Heb11:6, Thank you, what a good compilation of scriptures that you gave on the subject! , and you have cleared a lot up for me with your words. I have always had more inclination to pray to the Father specifically, yet not daring to approach God Almighty without it being in our great intercessors name, Jesus. What a wonderful thing it is, to have a friend in Jesus, through whom we are able to speak to our Father! Praise the Lord!

That is very interesting what you have to say about the Holy Spirit, and how men blaspheme against the Spirit with careless words. It brings to mind Matthew 15:11. It is of the devil is not a phrase that I use, but cursing has always been a stumbling block to me and I strive to keep my mouth under control moreso than ever since I have began a renewed walk with the Lord. Perhaps my biggest continual fault for me. I do it without thinking and it always grieves me when I do. I will certainly meditate on these things you have pointed out to me. Thanks Brother, and God bless you for your very thought provoking response.

 

[Bradleycoleman2]

I usually pray like I'm having a normal conversation with a person. I believe in a relational God and talk to Him and ask him for guidance and for his will

 

[leomauv]

all i need is a moment of quiet.. close my eyes and say my prayer. it could be anywhere. i instantly feel better.

 

[leomauv]

hand in hand with my loved ones!

 

[P31Woman]

I usually address my prayers to God the father in the name of Jesus the son.

Me too. Sometimes I think about the Lord's prayer and him saying "Abba"....Daddy.

I try to bring myself into that type of intimate relationship.

 

[Speculative]

I always pray to the Father, but I think it is appropriate to pray directly to Jesus as Stephen did in Acts 7:58 - by extension, I do not personally see any problem with praying to the Spirit.

Actually, now that I think about it, I do frequently go directly to Jesus in prayer.

 

[Maedchen]

Hi, this question is very important to me, and I am thankful for your statements.
As a child I grew up with talking to Jesus very naturally, feeling that He was walking beside me, always watching and caring.
Later, as a JW, I was forbidden to talk to Jesus. The Watchtower pointed always to Psalm 65:2 that declares Jehovah (name of the Father, YHWH, or Jahweh) as the one "who hears prayer".

I was truly believing that I would please God when obeying those teachings. Only later I felt miserable, because I came to understand that I trusted men more than God; it obviously had not been enough proof for me that every little and great request that I had addressed to our dear Jesus had been answered! And that is no (!) exaggeration! Jesus really answered every 'prayer' /dialogue between Him and me. And my awful, ungrateful, stupid and heartless return for Him was that I turned away from Him and instead followed some cult leaders in Brooklyn, New York! If I would have been Jesus, I would have kicked such a wicked person like I am away. But He did not! He found ever so wondrous ways to make me find back to Him.

In John14:14 the Greek original text reads, "If you ask Me [Jesus] anything in my name, I will do it." ("Heb 11:6" mentioned that before.)
Further, Romans 10:13 reads, "Whoever will call on the name of The Lord will be saved." - This is a key verse for my praying directly to Jesus, but not without background information! In the Watchtower translation, the word "Lord" in this verse is exchanged with "Jehovah", for they claim that the original text would have had the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) here. But, not so! In the 'New Testament' the Greek original word used every (!) time for "Lord" is 'kyrios', which does not make any distinction between Jehovah or Jesus! But to add to the Watchtower confusion, most references of other translations (e.g. NASB) point this very verse to Joel 2:32 which reads in the original Hebrew language, "whoever calls on the name of Jehovah (YHWH) will be delivered." So that would promote JWs in telling people that only calling out to the Father's name can save you. But I must refuse this claim of reference to the Joel-verse, for Romans chapter 10 declares and explains solely that Jesus is The Lord (=Kyrios) who is said to be the one we must call on in order to be saved!

Finally Jesus tells us in John 6:45 that "everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me."

"Speculative" made such a good point that Stephen directly addressed Jesus before he died. I did not think of that before. Thank you for sharing!

So finally I found back to talk to Jesus directly. And He answers me again. I am so grateful for His mercy!

Love, Rose

 

[farouk]

@Rose :

Here's a verse by G V Wigram, in the form of a prayer:

'What raised the wondrous thought
Or who did it suggest
That blood bought saints, to glory brought,
Should with the Son be blessed?

Father, the thought was Thine!
And Thine alone could be,
Fruit of the wisdom, love divine,
Peculiar unto Thee.'

Blessings.

 

[Maedchen]

@Rose :

Here's a verse by G V Wigram, in the form of a prayer:

'What raised the wondrous thought
Or who did it suggest
That blood bought saints, to glory brought,
Should with the Son be blessed?

Father, the thought was Thine!
And Thine alone could be,
Fruit of the wisdom, love divine,
Peculiar unto Thee.'

Blessings.

Dear farouk,
that is a wonderful prayer. And you are so right, everything comes from the Father. The Father sent Jesus.

- So does that mean that I neglected the Father now? ???
But Jesus always listened!
Ach, what is the truth, farouk?

Our heart can deceive us, only God's Word is Truth. But then, Jesus is the Truth, and no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). - I really don't want to be in the darkness again.

Is it wrong to just pray to Jesus? What about John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." ?

 

[farouk]

@Rose :

Here's a verse by G V Wigram, in the form of a prayer:

'What raised the wondrous thought
Or who did it suggest
That blood bought saints, to glory brought,
Should with the Son be blessed?

Father, the thought was Thine!
And Thine alone could be,
Fruit of the wisdom, love divine,
Peculiar unto Thee.'

Blessings.

Dear farouk,
that is a wonderful prayer. And you are so right, everything comes from the Father. The Father sent Jesus.

- So does that mean that I neglected the Father now? ???
But Jesus always listened!
Ach, what is the truth, farouk?

Our heart can deceive us, only God's Word is Truth. But then, Jesus is the Truth, and no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). - I really don't want to be in the darkness again.

Is it wrong to just pray to Jesus? What about John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." ?

Rose:

Heading off to bed; talk to you another time, maybe;

Just to say that John's Gospel chapters 13 thru 17, and then John's First Epistle have many verses in them about Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all working together, One God in Three Persons. Very encouraging reading!

Have a nice night.

Blessings.

 

[Sparkey]

Greetings!

I've read and have no reason to doubt that there are five (5) examples of Jesus praying in the NT. Each and every example shows him speaking to his Father in heaven.

There is a profound relationship that is exemplified by The Christ. We are invited into his relationship and he states that we are made clean by His word and that he has spoken our names to God, our Father.

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"And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me."
—John 12:45(NKJV)

Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
—Hebrews 1:3(NKJV)

"I and My Father are one. Though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
—John 10:30;38(NKJV)

"And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man."
—John 5:27(NKJV)

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
—Acts 4:31(NKJV)

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
—Romans 5:5(NKJV)

He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
—Philippians 3:21(NKJV)

For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
—Hebrews 2:18(NKJV)

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever."
—John 6:51(NKJV)

17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Eph 2:17-22(ESV)