Yesterday, we saw evidence in Scriptures of people praying to all three persons of the Trinity; that is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I offered this conclusion: it seems to me that we need to distinguish between petition and fellowship. So, let’s see if we can make that distinction more clear. I’m going to share with you my opinion about how we should address each of the persons of God.

ABOUT PRAYING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Our conversation with the Spirit would most likely be centered around fellowship and the primary role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

John 16:8–11 (ESV)

⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:  ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Notice that Jesus said, “when HE comes.”  The Spirit is not an it. He is a person who we can then have fellowship with. It is the Spirit who brings to us the awareness of our sins, and it is the Spirit who affirms us when we are right with God. It is the Spirit who brings us comfort and strength for daily living. It is the Spirit to whom we are empowered to be able to pray. 

ABOUT PRAYING TO JESUS

Most of our prayers to Jesus would most likely be around our fellowship with Him.  

That is… 

   * Expressing our love and gratitude to Him as our Savior.

   * Expressing our allegiance to Him as our Lord.

   * Interaction with Him around our mission of making disciples.

ABOUT PRAYING TO THE FATHER

While we can ask Jesus for specific issues, it appears that Jesus gave great emphasis to us of the importance of coming to the Father with most of our petitions. 

“No longer,” Jesus says, “do you have to ask me, but in my name, you can ask the Father.”

John 16:23–24, 26-27 (ESV)

²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have  asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

It is the Father, Jesus reminds us, who so loved us that He gave His only son.

John 3:16 (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The Scriptures are full of prayers of petition praying to the Father. 

The traditional formula has always been that we are to pray TO the Father, THROUGH the Son, BY the power of the Spirit.

There are some who seem to have a problem approaching God as Father. Perhaps they had a negative experience with their earthly father, and that has skewed their view of God as their Father. To those, I would encourage you to see God as the loving Father that the Scriptures say He is and to understand that your earthly father simply failed to be what a father should be. 

Frankly, so little praying is being done that I suspect our God is pleased just to hear us call upon Him in any fashion. But, I want to encourage you to attempt to develop your prayer life according to what we see in Scripture.

TO the Father, 

THROUGH the Son,

BY the power of the Spirit.

Next week we will ask the question, who is this God we pray to?