B.I.N.G.O!
As opposed the "authority" of fallible and uninspired folks who have an historical proclivity for assuming dominion over other people's faith, resources, and prayers...
There is nothing new under the Aten!
Posted on 06/10/2017 8:12:43 AM PDT by ealgeone
Question: "To whom are we to pray, the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit?"
Answer: All prayer should be directed to our triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that we can pray to one or all three, because all three are one. To the Father we pray with the psalmist, “Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray” (Psalm 5:2). To the Lord Jesus, we pray as to the Father because they are equal. Prayer to one member of the Trinity is prayer to all. Stephen, as he was being martyred, prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). We are also to pray in the name of Christ. Paul exhorted the Ephesian believers to always give “thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). Jesus assured His disciples that whatever they asked in His name—meaning in His will—would be granted (John 15:16; 16:23).
We are told to pray in the Spirit and in His power. The Spirit helps us to pray, even when we do not know how or what to ask for (Romans 8:26; Jude 20). Perhaps the best way to understand the role of the Trinity in prayer is that we pray to the Father, through (or in the name of) the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. All three are active participants in the believer’s prayer.
Equally important is whom we are not to pray to. Some non-Christian religions encourage their adherents to pray to a pantheon of gods, dead relatives, saints, and spirits. Roman Catholics are taught to pray to Mary and various saints. Such prayers are not scriptural and are, in fact, an insult to our heavenly Father. To understand why, we need only look at the nature of prayer. Prayer has several elements, and if we look at just two of them—praise and thanksgiving—we can see that prayer is, at its very core, worship. When we praise God, we are worshipping Him for His attributes and His work in our lives. When we offer prayers of thanksgiving, we are worshipping His goodness, mercy, and loving-kindness to us. Worship gives glory to God, the only One who deserves to be glorified. The problem with praying to anyone other than God is that He will not share His glory. In fact, praying to anyone or anything other than God is idolatry. “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8).
Other elements of prayer such as repentance, confession, and petition are also forms of worship. We repent knowing that God is a forgiving and loving God and He has provided a means of forgiveness in the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. We confess our sins because we know “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9) and we worship Him for it. We come to Him with our petitions and intercessions because we know He loves us and hears us, and we worship Him for His mercy and kindness in being willing to hear and answer. When we consider all this, it is easy to see that praying to someone other than our triune God is unthinkable because prayer is a form of worship, and worship is reserved for God and God alone. Whom are we to pray to? The answer is God. Praying to God, and God alone, is far more important than to which Person of the Trinity we address our prayers.
As a baptized RC...we start and end all prayer with the sign of the cross.
To go back to my 1950s training:
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost “
Spirit replaced Ghost. I still use Ghost.
We pray to God, through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells in us, if we are with Him.
Jesus shows us how to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He prayed to His Father and we should follow that example.
Notice to Whom and where that prayer is directed.
There is no direction to pray to "a pantheon of gods, dead relatives, saints, and spirits....including Mary."
If one takes Jesus as the authority on these things.
A Biblical understanding of worship would clear this up.
Praying to God is a form of worship as we only worship God we also only pray to God.
Roman Catholics do not pray TO Mary and the Saints. Protestants can say that all they want, and complain about how confused they are - but is simply FAKE DOCTRINE.
People writing on websites should educate themselves. We pray WITH them, as most Christians do WITH the living, because they are living too.
Protestants can discuss that living/dead point with us in good faith theological discussions - but they absolutely cannot correctly assert Catholics are heretics. We pray only to the Triune God.
I think the word is used in a different meaning and context.
What a dumb comment. You pray in the name of the Triune God.
Me too.
Well, I guess I need to go out collecting body parts of dead people and revering them, then. Do you suppose that would suffice?
With all due respect you've been taught a false narrative by the Roman Catholic Church to justify their worship of Mary.
A brief sample of the many, many prayers TO Mary contradicts what you've been taught by the RCC.
If you pray the "Hail Mary" you are praying to Mary....Hail Mary, full of Grace...
The "Prayer TO our Lady"
Remember, O most loving Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we turn to you, O Virgins of virgins, our Mother. To you we come, before you we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, do not despise our petitions, but in your mercy hear us and answer us. Amen.
There's a website called "Prayers TO Mary".
http://www.marypages.com/PrayerstoMary.htm
A brief sample of some of the prayers there.
Morning Consecration to Mary
My Queen, My Mother, I offer myself entirely to thee.
Prayer to Our Lady of Czestochowa
O Mother of God, Immaculate Mary, to thee do I dedicate my body and soul, all my prayers and deeds, my joys and sufferings, all that I am an all that I have.
Prayer to Our Lady at Fatima.
O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, you were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary.
This is not praying WITH Mary...this is praying TO Mary.
There are many more prayers TO Mary on this website.
All of these are in contradiction of the NT where we are to pray only to God, we are to devote ourselves only to God and not His creation, we are to rely upon only God for our salvation and His help....not Mary.
And again the Roman Catholic is the first to get personal when the arguments are against them.
We should pray to Yahuah (God) as Yahusha (Jesus, his son) taught us. Refer to Matthew 6:9-13 (see below)
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11
Give us today our daily bread.
12
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
And lead us not into temptation,[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
Yes
B.I.N.G.O!
As opposed the "authority" of fallible and uninspired folks who have an historical proclivity for assuming dominion over other people's faith, resources, and prayers...
There is nothing new under the Aten!
Pray to all three as long as its not the “Muslime” false god.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.