21 Days of Prayer ChallengeSample

Day 14: Am I praying to the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit?

From Pastor Mark Zehnder

So let me set up my answer to this question with a real-life experiment that I have conducted several times over the years. I have begun a message or a workshop or a sermon inviting everyone to speak a silent one-minute prayer in various settings. After a minute, I'll simply ask: "How many of you began by saying, 'Dear Heavenly Father, or dear Lord, or dear God?'" A good number of hands go up for each. When I get to the question, "How many said, 'dear Holy Spirit,'" hardly ever a hand goes up.

I find that interesting, intriguing, and, honestly, a little disappointing. Why should the third person of the Trinity, the one who is our Comforter, Counselor, Teacher, be left off the list of who we address our prayers to?

Now, admittedly, understanding the Trinity, how God can be one and three simultaneously, etc., is challenging and a topic for another discussion!! But be assured that when you are praying to any of the three persons of the Trinity, you are praying to the one true God.

But for our purposes today and to answer the question for the day, I would offer these encouragements.

First, it is MOST CERTAINLY a wonderful thing to pray to the Father. Of all the ways that Jesus could have begun the prayer he taught to his disciples (and us, of course), he chose to say, "When you pray, say our FATHER."

When I pray to my heavenly Father, I thank Him for creating me, making me, being a kind and compassionate Father, and sending His Son to be my Savior. You can never go wrong praying to the Father, in the name of the Son, through the Holy Spirit.

When I pray to Jesus, I thank Him for dying on the cross for me, for rising from the dead, and for making my salvation possible. I thank Jesus for being my brother and my friend. I ask him to take up his rightful place on the throne of my heart—to be my Lord and Master. When I pray to Jesus, I ask him to live in me and through me so that when others see me, they see him.

When I need comfort, I direct my prayers to the Holy Spirit. When I need wisdom, counseling, teaching, I pray to the Holy Spirit. I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me with boldness that I can proclaim Jesus to the world. I thank the Holy Spirit for interceding with Jesus for me to the Father.

Day 14 Challenge: Spend three minutes each addressing your prayers to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Prayer Prompt: For your friends