Whom Should Christians Pray To? (God, Son of God or Holy Spirit)

Due to the reason that God(Father), Son of God(Son) and Holy Spirit are mentioned as God, Vast majority of Christians do not know and not bothered about whom to pray exactly according to the word of God. But bible clearly instruct us whom to pray and I believe it is very necessary to do exactly as it says.

Christians usually have a tendency to pray to Jesus Christ, knowingly or unknowingly. You assume you are praying to Jesus Christ because of your love and intimacy. The fact is you are doing it due to your ignorance or due to your lack of attention when praying.

In bible, Jesus teach us as a commandment is to pray to Heavenly Father. Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your FATHER, who is unseen.” Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our FATHER in heaven, hallowed be your name. 

All the prayers in Bible was made to God LORD in the Old Testament as well as new testament. You can see all the list of references in the end. There is not even in a single prayer or single instruction in bible that allows you to even pray to Jesus.

What is wrong in praying to Jesus Christ?

The only wrong in praying to Jesus Christ is disobeying His own commandment, “Pray to your Father”. We are not even permitted to pray to Jesus Christ due to our love and intimacy. Because Jesus says in Matthew 7:21 that, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” And again Jesus instruct us in John 14:15 "If you love me, obey my commandments.”

Can I pray to Jesus because Son is in Father and Father in Son?

In bible Jesus has made it clear that anyone who has seen me has seen the Father(John 14:9) and if you really know me, you will know my Father as well(John 14:7). But Jesus did not, “who is praying to me has prayed to my Father.” Despite of that Jesus also commanded to pray to Heavenly Father when you pray. 

Can I pray to Jesus because Son and Father are same after resurrection?

Some Christians says that it is alright to pray to Jesus Christ, because there is no difference between Father and Son after crucifixion and resurrection. It is completely wrong because we can see in the book of Revelation which is written after resurrection that Jesus introducing himself again as son of God. Rev.2:18, “These are the words of the Son of God” and again Jesus representing Heavenly Father as His God in, Rev. 3:7 Before my Father, 12, In the temple of My God, the name of My God, 21. Sat down with my Father on his throne. As well as bible clearly says what happened after crucifixion and resurrection is that God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.(Phil.2:9)

LIST OF REFERENCES:

From Old Testament

Genesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God

Genesis 25:21 Isaac prayed to the Lord

Genesis 32:9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me

Deuteronomy 9:26 I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people

Judges 13:8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord:

Judges 16:28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me 

1 Samuel 1:10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly.

1 Samuel 14:41 Then Saul prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel,

2 Kings 6:17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Psalm 5:2 Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.

Jeremiah 29:12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

From New Testament

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.

Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

Matthew 18:19-20 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Matthew 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

John 16:23-24 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. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

Acts 1:24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen

Acts 4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

1 Thessalonians 1:2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.

Can I marry my lover who is a non believer?

Yes and No. If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, the best and wisest thing you can do is to not marry your lover as a non believer. But Yes; you can marry him/her, if you can make him a believer by accepting Jesus Christ as personal savior and follow your faith. And No if you fail to achieve it.

Even though it is best to find a partner who is a believer, on the basis of various circumstances and weaknesses, it is quite normal to fall in love with a non believer. In that situation, it is your choice to marry him as a non believer or believer. Many christian believers compromise their faith in order to marry a non believer. Those who marry that person as a non believer are literally surrendering their faith and love for God, for the love of a human. What am saying is to make your lover a believer and then marry him. You may think it is impossible, but it is quite easy with the help of God and there are lot of people who successfully achieved this.

Why is it necessary to marry a believer?

Couples sometimes feel bad if their partner eat without with them. It will not be practical to follow Jesus without the support of your partner. We all know that a married life will not be easy if our partners have disagreement on certain important things such you want children, where to live, etc. To have disagreement in God and prayer is even worse than that. A family that prays together can stay together at the time of challenges and adverse situations and your partner can support you spiritually when you need support. It will also avoid conflict regarding on whose faith the children should brought up with. Even if these things may appear not important when you are in the fire of love, once married and when your first love and passion cools down, these will appear to you as some issues which you can not resolve.

MAKING YOUR PARTNER A BELIEVER

You can make your partner a believer by following few simple things and before that you have understand some basic things which you have to always keep in mind.

Basic Things:

1. Understand that this procedure will not happen within a day or week. It will take from 3 months to 6 months approximately.
2. Understand that you cannot achieve this by imposing or by any means or quarreling or external pressure.
3. You have to pray for your lover everyday that their eyes to be opened and to accept the truth about God and to follow God and His commandments.
4. Believe that nothing is impossible for God and whatever your lover’s religion or god is, or even if he is an atheist, it is not a hard thing for God to touch his life and change his life.

First Phase: Find an opportunity and smoothly tell your lover about Jesus Christ; how much you love God and tell all your major experiences with God. Gradually he will soon develop an interest in God because there is always a tendency in all of us to find interest in the likes of our partners. Once he show any small symptom of interest, tell him the benefits and necessity to develop a personal relationship with God. Then guide him to develop a relationship with God by reading bible, praying and attending church.

Gradually make sure that he is reading a certain number of chapters or pages from bible and pray for a certain period of time. It is very important that he does this everyday. At first he may feel bored or tired, but it is okay to make him read by your love. As his interest grew, gradually increase talking about Godly things and understand and support him in the area where he needs help. Even if he might have started to do these things for you, surely he will develop an interest for himself within a time of 1 to 2 months.

Second Phase: Within a period of 3 months, you can notice tremendous difference in his words and actions as well as changes in behavior and character and by that you can make sure that h is growing spiritually. Understand that when he develop a personal relationship with God, he will also develop an interest to follow your faith and your God. Then you can guide him to involve in other activities at church and gradually take water baptism. After that you will be also able to guide him to receive the baptism of Holy Spirit. Along with these, you can also help them to follow the other commandments of Jesus.

Regarding Marriage: By his words, actions, behavior and character, you can know if he is growing spiritually. Even though it is okay for both of you to get married once he has taken the water baptism, the best thing is to wait until he is baptised with the Holy Spirit. Because once he received the Holy Spirit, it will be a great confirmation for him to realize that all things he believed was true and he will be so thankful for you. This can also give him the power to stand for Jesus Christ even if he has to face any opposition that may arise from his family, relatives or friends and regarding following this new faith or to getting married to you. Also by any chance if he was just pretending and making you a fool all these time, he cannot do the same to receive Holy Spirit. So once he received the baptism of Holy Spirit, you can confirm 100% that he is good. And beyond you can be proud for gaining a soul and surely God's blessing and favor will be there upon your marriage.

What if he is not interested?

If his love is true, he will surely be interested within a certain period of time. In such cases, gradually and slowly take your relationship to a situation in which you tell him that, if you want me, you have to read bible and pray like I guide you. Do not tell that you are going to get me only if you accept my God and my faith because by giving external pressure, we are not going to get the result we want.

Try your best to tell him and explain him that accepting Jesus Christ is the best thing you ever had in your life and you are assure that Jesus Christ is the Lord by various things such all your testimonies, Holy Spirit and the gifts of Spirits. Tell him that more than anything else, what you want is for him to know the truth about God which I know. Make him in situations with questions like, if you are not able to believe the most important truth in my life, how can I expect you to believe me in any other things?

You have to use your wisdom all these time because anything can happen during these situations. Maybe he will ask you to accept his faith and maybe even leave you saying that he don’t need you anymore. Understand that those words are all to make you feel that he is not interested in you with your God. At that time, you should also not give up. Tell him it is absolutely okay with you too because I love my God that much. After few days, if he come back ready to accept the things you said, you guide him to follow your God. In case he doesn’t come back, let him know clearly that, you will wait for 7 more days and warn him that you will say goodbye after that.

What to do if I fail?

Even after you tried your best and you failed, you have to understand the fact that his love is not true love. Remember the words of Ruth(gentile) who truly loved Naomi, Ruth 1:16 "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” If your lover’s love is true it can only produce the same result.

It is your choice weather to marry a person who cannot understand and accept the biggest truth in your life. How is your married life going to be successful if he cannot listen to one and the most important thing in your life. To be honest with you, whoever you are, it will not be hard to get any better partner than this hard hearted person. And finally you can write it down that, if you fail to achieve this before your marriage, never ever imagine that this is going to happen after marriage.

Anyway I have seen many people who have successfully made their partner a believer before marriage and I pray and bless you also to achieve the same.