| Poster | Thread | coops
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Joined: 2004/6/28
Posts: 141
| | Who do you pray to? | | Ok, I've heared a few differing opinions about the trinity and who you are supposed to pray to. Some say only the Father, others say you can pray to any, others say the Holy Spirit is your helper, therefore request from Him...
Can anyone explain this a little more?
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Coops
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|  2005/3/29 20:56 | Profile | PreachParsly
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Joined: 2005/1/14
Posts: 2164
Arkansas
| | Re: Who do you pray to? | | Welcome to SI and I hope you enjoy. I know there are several good resources here that will help you grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here are some verses.
Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Who did Jesus pray to?
Mat 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
What about Paul?
2Co 13:7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
I belive the Holy Spirit and Jesus make intercession for us to the Father.
Rom 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.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
I belive it is biblical correct to pray to the Father. Thanks for the question. I know someone else will have a more helpful comment and more wisdom in this area. I was just trying to give alittle scripture. Welcome to SI.
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Josh Parsley
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| | 2005/3/29 21:09 | Profile |
| | Re: Who do you pray to? | | The heavenly Father.
When you develop a relationship with Christ in time, you begin to see the Father and you will direct your attention to the Father thru Jesus Christ. Matt6:6, Matt11:27
Always remember, that the WAY to the Father is thru Christ He is the door. John6:44
I hold to a triune/oneness teaching that there is only ONE Father and ONE Son, and the two make up the ONE Holy Spirit. John 14:23
Christ came not to reveal Himself, but to reveal the Father (God).John5:30
There is a song out there that goes something like this,
"Ask the Father thru Jesus His Son, and then have faith it will be done, arise on wings of faith, in the name of the LORD".
Karl |
| | 2005/3/29 21:28 | | coops
Member
Joined: 2004/6/28
Posts: 141
| | Re: | | Thanks for the replies, its really helpful...
Just a question then, if I am to pray to the Father, how do I get to know the Son (so the Father may be revealed)?
Am I supposed to pray to Jesus as well?
How do I get to know Jesus? I can know of Him through the scripture, but to know Him personally don't I need to talk to Him?
I havent heard of the triune/oneness doctrine, so I'm going to go and look into learning about it, but for those who hold to the teaching that the trinity is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as individual beings: should I be praying to the Holy Spirit too? I mean He is called our helper, it makes alot of sense to get to know Him doesnt it?
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Coops
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| | 2005/3/29 22:22 | Profile | Matt25
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Joined: 2004/3/19
Posts: 69
Athens Ga
| | Re: Who do you pray to? | | Hate to give such a simple response but I believe we should follow the instructions given by Jesus to the disciples:
Luk 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased,[b]one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray[/b], as John also taught his disciples.
Luk 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Luk 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
I believe when you say "Father" you are addressing all three of the Trinity. Jesus after all is the
Father and the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery of the Trinity.
Don't really think naming a particular one of the Trinity is an issue of salvation though. God knows your heart.
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Matt M.
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| | 2005/3/29 22:34 | Profile | Heavenlyman
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Joined: 2005/3/29
Posts: 51
Australia
| | Re: | | John 14:6 Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me".
1 Tim 2:5 for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
No one has seen the father, except the Son
How do you get to know Jesus? First you must acknowledge and accept Him as your Lord and savior. And to know Him not only by reading His word, also by having fellowship with Him, yes you do need to talk to him just like you talking to your own friends. By reading His word, praying, and fellowshiping with other belivers will build up your relationship with Jesus and will know Him intimmately. " No one know the Father except the Son, no know the Son except to those who He chooses to reveal Him.
Acts 1:5 ...you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit ...
Acts 1:8 ... you shall recieve power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you ...
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
1Cor 2:10-16 God has revealed it to us his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even deep things of God. For who among men knows th thoughts of man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts God except the Spirit of God. We have not recieved the spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual thruths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment.
For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may intruct him?
But we have the mind of Christ.
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| | 2005/3/30 1:40 | Profile | HakkaMin
Member
Joined: 2004/4/12
Posts: 60
Taiwan
| | Re: Who do you pray to? | | Interesting thread. I generally agree that Jesus pointed us to the Father in our praying. (John 16:23-27) Just curious how we should take John 14:13-14? Jesus said ...
"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
Any thoughts?
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Gregg Dennington
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| | 2005/3/30 5:45 | Profile | CJaKfOrEsT
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Joined: 2004/3/31
Posts: 901
Melbourne, Australia
| | Re: | | Quote:
coops wrote:
Just a question then, if I am to pray to the Father, how do I get to know the Son (so the Father may be revealed)?
A thought that has been recurring in my ponderings of the things of God, is Paul's lament in his epistle to the Phillipians, "Oh, that I may know Him, in the fellowship of His sufferings." Isn't it interesting that someone would actually desire the place of their fellowship with Christ, to in comparable sufferings to those that He endured? Why not in the fellowship of the eucharist, of the saints, of prayer, of scripture, etc? Perhaps Paul understood that the only place where He can truly be known is in His sufferings.
There is that silent recognition of comradery that occurs amongst people who have endured hardship together. Without a word needing to be said, to soldiers that have returned from war share a bond that few can understand.
As far as who to, and not to pray to, I share the view of most comments in the thread, that Jesus said to pray to the Father. As far as the trinity in prayer, I pray to the Father, by the Spirit, in the name of Jesus (the Son). Ie, The Spirit maketh intercession through me, and the life I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
In other words, the Son lives his life through me, so in effect, He's praying to the Father using my mouth. I am also the temple of the Holy Spiit (the Spirit has His habitation in me) so He too is praying through me. In effect, I'm a mere spectator in the whole process, eavesdropping on a conversation between God (Son), God (Spirit) and God (Father).
In partical terms, I honestly don't believe that it matters how we address Deity (ie, Father, Son, Spirit), but as far as I'm concerned, Jesus said pray to the Father, and that's good enough for me. :-)
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Aaron Ireland
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| | 2005/3/30 6:45 | Profile |
| | Re: | | I usually pray to Jesus but it does depend on which person of God my heart is appealing to at the time (don't know if that makes sense) as sometimes something deep in me is appealing and crying out to the Father heart of God and I use Father but most other times I pray to Jesus who I tend to imagine is like a perfect older brother (somebody once told me to think of Him like that earlier on in my faith). I was not sure that it mattered too much as they will all three hear your prayer. Don't know anything on whether this is all scripturally correct but that is just what I do. |
| | 2005/3/30 6:57 | | Didier
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Joined: 2004/11/16
Posts: 20
Calais, France
| | Re: Who do you pray to? | | Quote:
"I hold to a triune/oneness teaching that there is only ONE Father and ONE Son, and the two make up the ONE Holy Spirit. John 14:23"
I have never heard nor read this before! Is it biblical?
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Didier Lebeau
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| | 2005/3/30 7:50 | Profile |
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