Should Christians Pray to the Trinity or to the Father?

By: Sherene Khouri, PhD | January 8, 2023

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Question Submitted to Bellator Christi:

From Anonymous: “How should we answer the following questions 1) If God is Triune (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) why did Jesus teach the disciples to pray by saying ‘Our Father who art in Heaven’ rather than to pray to the Triune God? 2) Why do Christians pray to the Trinity (and each person of the Trinity individually) rather than just praying to the Father as Jesus taught the disciples ‘Our Father who art in Heaven’?”

Response from Dr. Khouri:

One Sunday morning, I was worshiping in a church when I heard a church member praying, “O Holy Trinity, thank you Father for dying on the cross for us.” This prayer stopped me and made me think, is the Father who died on the cross? The obvious answer is no. The follow-up question was, does it matter to whom Christians address their prayers? Does it matter if we address God, the Trinity, or the Father in our prayers? Bellator Christi received a similar question, which I intend to answer here: If God is triune (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), why did Jesus teach the disciples to pray by saying “Our father who art in heaven” rather than to pray to the triune God?

Why do Christians pray to the Trinity (and each person of the Trinity individually) rather than just praying to the Father as Jesus taught the disciples, “our Father who art in heaven”? I will try to answer these questions by discussing and analyzing three main ideas: the variant topics of prayers that Christians can pray, the different perspectives that Christians have in mind when they use the word “God” in their prayers, and to whom Christians should address their prayers.

The Variant Topics of Prayers

Prayers play a major role in the lives of believers. When Christians pray, they assume that God is there, hearing their words and listening to their agony and requests. In prayer, a person shares his or her deepest thoughts, feelings, and concerns. No one prays thinking, there is no God listening to them. However, people pray for different reasons and purposes.

The Bible demonstrates different types of prayers, such as prayers of adoration, “Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps … Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven” (Ps 148: 7-13 ESV). Prayers of thanksgiving, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1Thess 5:18). Prayers of confession, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1John 4:15). Prayers of healing and forgiveness of sin, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jas 5:15).

There are many more topics of prayers. They vary based on the purpose and the need. The common thread among all of them is that they are directed to God. Believers might pray for each other but not to each other. Christians pray for the need of their fellow believers, but they do not pray for a mere human for these needs. All prayers are vertically directed in one direction toward the divine being.

The Different Perspectives of the Word “God”

Christians believe in God as a supreme divine being; however, they use the word “God” from different perspectives. Christians believe in the Trinity and confess that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. All are God; however, the Father is not Jesus, Jesus is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. They use the phrase “Jesus is God,” but not “God is Jesus” because God is trinitarian in nature and consists of three persons of the Trinity.

It is theologically correct to say God is Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), but it is not correct to say God is the Father. It is correct to say the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but it is not correct to say God is the Father, God is the Son, and God is the Holy Spirit because God is trinitarian in nature.

God: One Being in Three Persons

The main reason for these two different perspectives of the word “God” is that theologians believe that God is one divine being in one sense and three persons in a different sense. He is not one divine being and three persons in the same sense. When theologians talk about being, God is one divine being. However, this is just one aspect of the divine and not the whole story. When they talk about persons, God is three persons. God is not just the Father or just the Son or just the Spirit. When they say the Father is God, they mean the Father has a divine nature; therefore, He is God.

The word “person/s” comes with baggage. The usage of the word “persons” connotes a personal experience. People might think of a physical body or an individual who is separate from another one. When they use the word “Father” to describe the first person of the Trinity, they might think of an old gray hair man or a grandfatherly figure who is the person of the Father and a young man who is the person of Jesus. It is important to note that when Christians use the word “person” to describe the three persons of the Trinity, they use it in a totally different sense than the common use. The divine person is not limited like the human person geographically or spatially. The divine person lives in an eternal relationship within the Trinity.

The Trinity is Three Coequal and Co-Eternal Persons

James White provides a succinct definition of the Trinity. He states, “Within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”[1] To apply this definition to the word “God,” we can say, when Christians say the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, they talk about the three persons of the Trinity who have divine nature and dwell together in a trinitarian coequal and coeternal persons. When they say God is Trinity, they mean one divine being who is trinitarian in nature.

Someone might ask, but does it make a difference to clarify what aspect of God we mean when we talk about the divine? I believe that clarifications of terms are important to teach Christians how to pray correctly. This paper will address the question of prayer in relation to the Trinity. If God is triune (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), why did Jesus teach the disciples to pray by saying “Our father who art in heaven” rather than to pray to the triune God? Why do Christians pray to the Trinity (and each person of the Trinity individually) rather than just praying to the Father as Jesus taught the disciples, “our Father who art in heaven”?

The Object of the Christians’ Prayer

It is important to know to whom Christians pray. Do they pray to the Trinity, to each person of the Trinity, or to the Father? Jesus seems to direct Christians to pray to the Father in his name. One of his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. Jesus said, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name …’” (Matt 6:9).

In the Lord’s prayer model, Jesus is addressing the Father, and this is expectable because Jesus is God (the second person of the Trinity) addressing God (the first person of the Trinity). As stated earlier, the three persons of the Trinity live in an eternal community. Jesus will not be addressing the three persons of the Trinity all at once, because He is part of the Trinity. Without the distinctions among the divine persons, the prayer will look as if Jesus is praying for himself. So, I believe it is normal to see Jesus addressing and teaching believers to call the Father in his prayers.

Options Due to Human Finitude

Believers have more options when they pray because of their finitude. They can address the Father while praying in the name of Jesus, and they can address the Son and the Holy Spirit. There are several biblical examples of people addressing their prayers to Jesus after his ascension. Stephen, while seeing the Son, prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit” (Acts 7:59). At the road to Damascus, Paul, while hearing the voice of Jesus, asked, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). Ananias conversed with Jesus when Jesus spoke to him in a vision (Acts 9:10–14). This is to say that Christians talked, asked, and prayed to Jesus in certain cases.

Learning the Roles of the Triune Godhead

Learning what role each person of the Trinity plays in creation and in salvation helps Christians address each person correctly. For instance, the Father is the one who originated and orchestrated the salvation plan, Jesus is the one who implemented it by dying on the cross, and the Holy Spirit is sustaining it by his dwelling among believers. It would be wrong to pray, “thank you Father for dying on the cross” or “thank you, Jesus, for your dwelling among us.” The Father never died on the cross, but Jesus did. Jesus went to be with the Father until his second coming, and the Holy Spirit is dwelling among us (John 16:7).

A person might ask, is it wrong to thank God for dying on the cross on our behalf? Here comes the perspective of the word “God” that was addressed earlier in this essay; what does the person mean by the word “God”? If they mean Jesus-God, the second person of the Trinity, then there is nothing wrong with it. If they mean the Trinity, then the follow-up question would be: did God the Father or God the Holy Spirit die on our behalf?

Conclusion

In a nutshell, addressing the Trinity in every prayer might not be accurate, especially if believers are praying for a particular act that not all the persons of the Trinity participate in it. However, praying for what the deity deserves, such as praise, adoration, respect, and glorification is something common to all the persons of the Trinity. Praising and glorifying God, the Trinity is true. I reverberate Paul’s prayer keeping in mind every believer who cares about praying correctly to God “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” (Eph 1:17).

About the Author

Sherene Khouri was born into a religiously diverse family in Damascus, Syria. She became a believer when she was 11 years old. Sherene and her husband were missionaries in Saudi Arabia. Their house was open for meetings, and they were involved with the locals until the government knew about their ministry and gave them three days’ notice to leave the country. In 2006, they went back to Syria and started serving the Lord with RZIM International ministry. They traveled around the Middle Eastern region—Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and United Arab Emirates. Sherene was also involved in her local church among the youth, young adults, and women’s ministry. In 2013, the civil war broke out in Syria. Sherene and her husband’s car was vandalized 3 times and they had to immigrate to the United States of America. In 2019, Sherene became an American citizen.

Sherene is an assistant professor at Liberty University. She teaches Arabic, Religion, and Research classes. She holds Ph.D. in Theology and Apologetics, M.A. in Christian Apologetics from Liberty University, and B.S. in Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute. She is also working on a Master of Theology in Global Studies at Liberty University and a M.A in Arabic and Linguistics from PennWest University.