Here’s one that will stir a discussion at a party: Which person in the Trinity do you pray to? Sure, take the easy way out and say "God," but I believe that answer falls short.
I think that In the Old Testament the people of Israel prayed to the God they knew, YAHWEH. When it comes to the New Testament, though, there seems to be a muddying of the waters, at least in some circles. When my children were small, I found myself praying to Jesus. You know, "Dear Jesus, thank you for my mommy…," but I can’t find a passage in Scripture that says anything about praying to Jesus, or to the Holy Spirit either. What I DO see in the New Testament is Christ giving examples as to how we should pray ("Our Father, which art in heaven…) and the gospels, epistles and the rest stating that we are to pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit.
I know this sounds nit-picky, but I think that our theology in prayer belies a theological laziness – a situation where we say something just because – not because it is necessarily true.
Another example of this, I believe, is in Romans 8:26 which states, "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." There is nothing here directing us to pray TO the Holy Spirit, but rather that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know how to pray.
This may ring a bell…
Something similar is said of Christ in 1Timothy 2:5 which states, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." So, in prayer, the Spirit’s role is as an intercessor, Christ’s role is as the mediator, and the Father is the focal point of both of those activities.
So, am I out to lunch???
Great thoughts! One more idea to consider. Maybe there are times we should pray to all three members of the Godhead. If we consider the personhood of God as integral to His nature, then it seems to me that we might address the members of the Trinity personally as their unique roles intersect with our lives. For instance, Ephesians 4:30 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God through our behavior. The point seems to be that when we sin via falsehood (vs. 25), anger (vs. 26), stealing (vs. 27) and vile speech (vs. 29), that we somehow personally violate the relationship with God\’s Spirit living within us. The Spiri is mentioned specifically, I believe, because of His indwelling presence in our lives.
So if we can grieve the Spirit personally, shouldn\’t we make things right with the Spirit personally through confession? In our human lives, we are called to confess our sins to each other and to make things right with the violated person in our life. If I sin against my wife, it does little good to go ask my brother to forgive me for that act. The personal relationship between my wife and I is broken and she personally needs to hear from me in that regard. I wonder if our relationship to the Trinity might reflect this somehow.
Just a thought!