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.
Well, if you want Him as your judge rather than your savior, I’m sure He’ll accommodate you on that.
But you can’t say you weren’t warned.
All Scripture is inspired by God.....
Who selected Luke’s writings, John’s, etc? That is, where is the selection of these specific writings detailed in Scripture?
The ekklesia, as moved by the Holy Spirit, chose the books of the New Testament.
Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
His words will not pass away because we are given a record of it. A record of His holy sinless life. Yes, I use my intellect for common sense. What is it about the New Testament that you have a problem with? What troubles you?
The Roman Catholic continues to prove by their comments they are the first ones to resort to profanity and/or a personal attack when the argument goes against them.
I hope this post stays up for all of the world to see.
That's funny. I thought I was praying to souls, not physical bodies. Maybe you don't believe in those.
“God told us he infuenced those human hands”
Thrn which Scripture told us which letter from Paul to select, which Gospel to select, etc.?
Answer: none. The selection of the correct writings was God (the Advocate/Helper) at work. What else could it be?
Thus, the Holy Spirit works through others, as It did in this process.
Do you think the Bible is the only way the following happens?:
“When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.” — John 16:13
“Where was it stated in the Scripture that the New Testament was written this way? Or are you using your intellect to derive something not in the Scripture?”
.............
“First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
2 Peter 1:20, 21
That you would ask such a question is a clear indication that you are not familiar with new life in Christ. Stop striving and be born from above by placing ALL trust in Jesus ONLY, and walk away from the idolatries and blasphemies in the works-based religion of Catholicism.
ROTFLMAO! You funny!
Jesus taught us to pray thus.
Luke 11:1-13 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
He never taught us to pray to another human being and all the Catholic hair splitting over definitions is just an attempt to justify and rationalize disobeying God's clear concise commands to us.
It's really a shame that Catholics don't seem to have enough trust in God to believe Him and believe His promises to us to hear and answer our prayers HIMSELF.
Do you really think that saints and Mary will get you things God wouldn't otherwise give you?
That's ridiculous because they are not going to go against His will.
So if God's not going to give it to you, why would you ask someone else thinking they can bend His ear and get it for you?
Time spent praying to Mary is time not spent praying to God.
Praying to Mary and saints who can't help you is just what the enemy wants. It keeps you from praying to the only One who CAN answer your prayers and short circuits any spiritual connection you could have with God.
The best tactic Satan has created is to get people to focus on someone besides God.
I was responding to someone who claimed the teaching that the Holy Spirit worked thru humans was a false teaching. Thank you for using the ekklesia as an example to refute that post.
“When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.” — John 16:13
And that will not contradict Scripture.
BWAhahaha......
The ekklesia is comprised of believers....people. So the Holy Spirit works through people. Nothing in my post refutes anything.
You avoided answering my question.
Help doing what?
Becoming worthy?
But if no help is needed, and we are already saved by the work of the Cross, with no “earning” needed, can we commit all the evil we want?
The natural response of the unregenerate mind which does not understand salvation in the least.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
If your works contributed to your salvation, you would have something to boast about.
God removed that possibility by making salvation completely dependent on HIM through/by faith.
He is beholden or obligated to NO man.
Thank you. A previous post tried to falsely claim the Holy Spirit did not work through people - that’s what I was trying to refute.
I love the Rosary. I’ve grown so much closer to God through daily recitation.
Will we go to heaven if we commit all the evil we want?
Weasel words.
Catholics are great at redefining the meanings of ordinary words used in normal usage to justify anything they wish.
Scripture doesn’t need interpretation unless one doesn’t like what’s being said and wants to make it mean something that it doesn’t say.
Back to the questions..,..
Don’t you think God will answer you Himself?
Don’t you trust Him enough to pray to Him and Him alone?
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