“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.”
Psalm 17:6
Have you ever asked yourself to whom we should pray? It is interesting how many Christians struggle with this question. If we pray to Jesus, does that rule out the Father and the Holy Spirit? Years ago many taught that we must pray to the Father as in “Dear Father . . .” or “Heavenly Father . . .” or “Our Father . . .” and we must end our prayers “In the name of Jesus” or “In Jesus’ name.” Certainly those practices are well-pleasing to God. But is there a special recipe we should follow?
First, all our prayers should be directed to the God who revealed himself in the Bible, the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that we can pray to any member of the Trinity because all three persons are one God. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven.” Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Regardless of which person of the Trinity we name, we are praying to the Triune God. Perhaps we could say that we pray to God the Father, through God the Son, by means of the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the one who is the provider of all. “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven’” (Matt. 6:9). But it is through the mediation of Jesus Christ that our prayers are heard. “There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). And the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray and teaches us what to pray for. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Rom. 8:26, 27).
It is also important that we know to whom we are not to pray. Because prayer includes praise, thanksgiving, confession, etc., it is a believer’s form of worship. As such we must not pray to other gods, Mary, saints, angels, and dead relatives. These prayers are not scriptural and are an insult to our Father. They go unheard and unanswered.
To whom do we pray? The answer is to God. Regardless to which person of the Godhead we direct our prayer, we lift our voices to the eternal God of us all. “I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer” (Ps. 17:6).
Pray to God the Father, through God the Son, by means of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer is a link that connects us with God.
A.B. Simpson
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