Christians; what person of the trinity do you direct your prayers at?

[Old_Scratch]

I was just curious. Back when I was a Catholic I always wondered which person of the trinity to direct my prayers to. Jesus inevitably got most of them, but God the Father got some too. If I had to break it down I'd say that Jesus got 96% of my prayers, while God the Father (Yahweh) and the Virgin Mary got a combined 3.9%. The Holy Spirit got less than 1% because I could never really get into the Holy Spirit or really understand what it was to begin with.

I guess it doesn't matter which person of the trinity you pray to since they are all the same, but I was just curious of personal preference.

[DekuTrash]

God for me
then Jesus

Holy Spirit and Mother Mary far behind, as in I don't know if I ever have

[Old_Scratch]

God for me
then Jesus

Holy Spirit and Mother Mary far behind, as in I don't know if I ever have

Man, in Catholic school the Virgin Mary was more celebrated than God the Father and the Holy Spirit. It was pretty much Jesus and Mary all the way, but I always thought that Yahweh would have more means of helping me than Mary so he was tied with her for prayer.

[DekuTrash]

Psh why pray to Mary? All she did was give birth to Jesus.....

[Mythre]

It somewhat depends. Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all "God" there is no wrong name to use. Generally you pray more to the One most associated with the need of the prayer.... depends though there is no right or wrong way.
EDIT: I may have been a little quick in my answer. After a little thought. God would be the primary person to pray to. He is in control, the Sovereign, and the Head. There are times when a direct prayer to the Holy Spirit and to Jesus are appropriate but primarily God should be the recipient.

[Chlodwig I.]

I was just curious. Back when I was a Catholic I always wondered which person of the trinity to direct my prayers to. Jesus inevitably got most of them, but God the Father got some too. If I had to break it down I'd say that Jesus got 96% of my prayers, while God the Father (Yahweh) and the Virgin Mary got a combined 3.9%. The Holy Spirit got less than 1% because I could never really get into the Holy Spirit or really understand what it was to begin with.

Man, in Catholic school the Virgin Mary was more celebrated than God the Father and the Holy Spirit. It was pretty much Jesus and Mary all the way, but I always thought that Yahweh would have more means of helping me than Mary so he was tied with her for prayer.

Are you sure you have been Catholic?
And in which country was that "Catholic School"?
because what you say sounds more like what the Heretics (aka Protestants) do.

Catholics pray to God or to the Complete Trinity.
Prayers to the Holy Mary are also typical for Catholicism
but thes prayers are directed towards God through Mary.



Credo

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem
Creatorem caeli et terrae
Et in Iesum Christum
Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum
qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto
natus ex Maria Virgine
passus sub Pontio Pilato
crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus
descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis
ascendit ad caelos
sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam
sanctorum communionem,
remissionem peccatorum
carnis resurrectionem et vitam aeternam
Amen



Pater Noster

Pater noster, qui es in caelis
Sanctificetur nomen tuum
Adveniat regnum tuum
Fiat voluntas tua,
Sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra
Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem
Sed libera nos a malo
Amen



Gloria Patri

Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
Laudamus te
benedicimus te
adoramus te
glorificamus te
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam
Domine Deus, Rex caelestis
Deus Pater omnipotens
Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei
Filius Patris
qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis
qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus
tu solus Dominus
tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe
cum Sancto Spiritu
in gloria Dei Patris
Amen



Ave Maria

Ave Maria, gratia plena
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei
ora pro nobis peccatoribus
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
Amen


Or did you mean personal prayers?
but for a Catholic those should be directed to God

Not a Christian, but I'd pray to Mary. She must have been a very understanding woman.

Or Jesus. Smart fellow. A pity we handed him over to the Romans. Who knows what he could have achieved.

Well not a pity a reason to celebrate for the Christians
because with his death he fullfilled his targets
took away the sins from man and restored the union between man and god.

[Old_Scratch]

Are you sure you have been Catholic?
And in which country was that "Catholic School"?
because what you say sounds more like what the Heretics (aka Protestants) do.

Catholics pray to God or to the Complete Trinity.
Prayers to the Holy Mary are also typical for Catholicism
but thes prayers are directed towards God through Mary.


Or did you mean personal prayers?
but for a Catholic those should be directed to God

I was in the US. As far as who you direct your prayers to, why should it matter if they are all going to the same place. Jesus is a prominent figure in Christianity, there are statues and numerous holidays for him. GTF is a little more mysterious and the HS an obscure concept. So what would be wrong with directing your prayers to the most prominent figure in Christianity? They're all the same person right? TBH, Catholicism confused me quite a bit since you could also pray to saints. That seemed like you were going through a middle man though.

Basically, in my Christian experience Jesus was definitely the most celebrated and talked about member of the trinity, so he got most of my prayers.

[DekuTrash]

Jesus is a prominent figure in Christianity

Really? No Kidding!

[basics]

Old_Scratch,

Did the Lord not instruct the disciples in how to pray by saying, " Our Father, who art in heaven....." Now why would that be? Well as each in their turn was brought to regeneration they were also brought into adoption as sons, saints by justification, and priests unto the most High God after the order of Melchizadec.

So when one prays it is natural to give your Father His place first and foremost. Not only that but Jesus quantifies it by saying, " Whatever you ask, ask in my name...." So here we have the sequence, Father first, the Son second, never forgetting that the Holy Spirit already knows what you will ask for, making the Three of the Godhead always involved. It's a good habit to follow.

[Sadreddine]

It is always interesting to read paulinists trying to get around theologically polytheistic issues.

[Torment]

Mother Goose!

[filmmakermennona]

You are praying to God. That would be impossible to do, however, because we are sinners and God is perfect. He won't even listen to our prayers! But with Jesus Christ, you can talk to God directly because your sins have been forgiven! It's like God sees an awful, sinful person and he looks at Jesus. Jesus says it's alright Dad, this one belongs to me. He's clean and is able to talk to You.

This is why we start our prayers with "Dear God" or "Dear heavenly Father" and end our prayers with "In Jesus' name". We are talking to God in the name of Jesus Christ!

And why would Mary recive our prayers? She's mortal just like us. It's not like she sits at the right hand of God or anything.

[Psychonaut]

You are praying to God. That would be impossible to do, however, because we are sinners and God is perfect. He won't even listen to our prayers! But with Jesus Christ, you can talk to God directly because your sins have been forgiven! It's like God sees an awful, sinful person and he looks at Jesus. Jesus says it's alright Dad, this one belongs to me. He's clean and is able to talk to You.

This is why we start our prayers with "Dear God" or "Dear heavenly Father" and end our prayers with "In Jesus' name". We are talking to God in the name of Jesus Christ!

Good point....I never thought of that, but I pray to God and end it with "In Jesus' Name" all the time. I've never prayed to Mary or The Holy Spirit.

[lord o kelly]

The Holy spirit when I need words- there is always that connotation after when he/it gave the apostles the ability to speak in tongues.

God and jesus are the most basic prayers and most usual

I say Hail Mary's for my soul and those of others.

[Claudius Gothicus]

And why would Mary recive our prayers? She's mortal just like us. It's not like she sits at the right hand of God or anything.

See many catholics have a thing for praying to Mary really hard Why? Well because as Mary is a motherly figure she's supposed to listen to our prayers much more so she is kind of a mediator between us and God because she's human so is more prone to listen to our problems and anxieties.

For me is a simple heresy

[Hiero of Syracuse]

I thought mary was in charge of the sexual desire department...you know since she was supposingly chaste, for several years of her life?

[Ummon]

It is very much like asking "Which one of the sides of God do you pray to? The left or the right? The front or the rear?"

I was just curious. Back when I was a Catholic I always wondered which person of the trinity to direct my prayers to. Jesus inevitably got most of them, but God the Father got some too. If I had to break it down I'd say that Jesus got 96% of my prayers, while God the Father (Yahweh) and the Virgin Mary got a combined 3.9%. The Holy Spirit got less than 1% because I could never really get into the Holy Spirit or really understand what it was to begin with.

I guess it doesn't matter which person of the trinity you pray to since they are all the same, but I was just curious of personal preference.

Jesus gets the most of them?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord's_Prayer

Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·
αὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,
ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,
ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
[Ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν.]

[jankren]

It is very much like asking "Which one of the sides of God do you pray to? The left or the right? The front or the rear?"

Yeah its just like saying when you kill one American soldier you literally kill the whole army because the US Army is the Army of One ... NOT!

The concept of Trinity really insults intelligence.

[Trey]

Yeah its just like saying when you kill one American soldier you literally kill the whole army because the US Army is the Army of One ... NOT!

The concept of Trinity really insults intelligence.

I would have a hard time trying to recall seeing a worse allegory in all my time in these forums.

@OP
The rare times that I do pray, I direct it to God.

[boofhead]

I would have a hard time trying to recall seeing a worse allegory in all my time in these forums.

A better one is water, steam, ice.