by Jon Rowe<\/p>\n
The Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus is God (John 1:1, Colossians 2:9, etc). So, in an attempt to dismantle that claim, skeptics may ask, “Then to whom did Jesus pray?” While it is true that there is only one <\/b>God, He exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We like to try to explain this as one God in simply three different forms, like liquid water, vapor, and ice. That actually makes it more difficult to understand how the Son was praying to the Father. Did Jesus keep “morphing” back into a different form (i.e., from water to ice) while He was praying to God?<\/p>\n
Let’s get a more biblically based picture. When Jesus was baptized, the Son was in the water, the Spirit descended from above, and the Father spoke from heaven. God did not switch costumes to complete this scene. All three were there simultaneously. This wasn’t even a new reality, as we can see by going back to the beginning. In creating humans, God said, “Let Us <\/b>make man in Our <\/b>image<\/em>” (Genesis 1:26). God was not talking to Himself. Instead, He was speaking with Himself, within the fellowship of the Son and Holy Spirit. Concerning the Son, from the beginning, the Word (Jesus, see John 1:14) was with God and was God (John 1:1).<\/p>\n So, let’s look at this interaction with His Father while Jesus was on earth. Jesus modeled the frailty of human flesh (Philippians 2:6-7), submission to God (Philippians 2:8a), and obedience to the point of death (Philippians 2:8b). One reason Jesus came into our world was to show us what a healthy relationship with God looks like. That includes prayer. Jesus spent significant time in prayer – and those prayers were not God talking to Himself in an incoherent monologue. The Son (as a distinct person) was in communion with the Father. Before going to the cross, He “fell on His face and prayed, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will’<\/em>” (Matthew 26:39). The Son submitted His will to the Father’s will through prayer. That means Jesus had a will, and so did the Father. Although there is one God, we see two wills.<\/p>\n While all of this may still sound a little confusing to us as finite beings, it makes more sense that the Son can pray to the Father when you realize that they are two distinctly different beings, while still being part of the one triune God. The Jews quoted Moses (who quoted God) when they recited, “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew word for “one” is “echad,<\/em>” which refers to a singular entity that can encompass multiple components as a composite unity. By contrast, the Hebrew word “yachid<\/em>” refers to a singular, individual entity. Is your brain still hurting? By faith, just realize that “God is in heaven and He does whatever He pleases<\/em>” (Psalms 115:3).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Jon Rowe The Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus is God (John 1:1, Colossians 2:9, etc). So, in an attempt to dismantle that claim, skeptics may ask, “Then to whom did Jesus pray?” While it is true that there is only one God, He exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[90,73,87],"class_list":["post-97020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-trinity"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13743,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-whom-should-we-pray\/","url_meta":{"origin":97020,"position":0},"title":"To whom should we pray?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: To whom should we pray? To the Father, or to the Son, or to the Holy Spirit, or to any of the three? Can we say \"you died for us\" during prayer? Answer: The majority of the prayers are directed to God in general or to God, the Father,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-i-pray-to-god-am-i-praying-to-the-father-or-the-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":97020,"position":1},"title":"When I pray to God, am I praying to the Father or the Son?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am reading your lesson on Who is God? Let me see if I am understanding this. God is three beings: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God's Son, but when we refer to God in prayer or in time of need, so am I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43652,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-praying-in-the-spirit-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":97020,"position":2},"title":"What does “praying in the Spirit” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please explain to me Jude 20 when it said \"praying in the Spirit\"? Answer: \"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29528,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-and-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":97020,"position":3},"title":"Jesus and Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Wolverton Sentry Magazine, December 2002 Jesus as Our Intercessor The intercession of the Holy Spirit does not set aside the intercession of Jesus Christ. \"And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1365,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":97020,"position":4},"title":"Who Is God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 145 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You run into many strange ideas in the world concerning God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We have people stating that there is only one being called God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses claim that His name is Jehovah \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are Pentecostal sects who claim he is Jesus \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93936,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-testimony-of-the-three-witnesses\/","url_meta":{"origin":97020,"position":5},"title":"The Testimony of the Three Witnesses","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 by Kenny Chumbley via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 3, September 1994 \"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood, And it is the Spirit that beareth witness... there are three that bear witness in earth, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}