Should We Pray To Jesus Or To God, And How Do We Explain The Trinity To A Young Child?

Q: Should I pray to Jesus or to God, and how can I explain the Trinity to my seven-year-old daughter?

A: You can pray to Jesus. It's not wrong to pray to Jesus; He receives prayers and worship. However, the normal pattern of prayer presented in the Bible is to pray to God the Father, through the access and mediation given to us by God the Son, Jesus Christ, and with the empowering and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

This division of praying to God the Father through the name and work of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is more of a theological construct than a strict rule. It's not wrong to worship the Holy Spirit or Jesus Christ; they are both God and worthy of worship. The normal pattern reinforces the idea that we need a mediator and help in our prayers. Our mediator is Jesus Christ, and the one helping us in our prayers is God the Holy Spirit.

While it's okay to pray to Jesus, He Himself encouraged us to pray, "Our Father who is in heaven." So, while you can explain to your daughter that it's not wrong to pray to Jesus, the normal pattern is to pray to God the Father through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

As for explaining the doctrine of the Trinity to a seven-year-old, you can simply say, "One God in three persons." This is a straightforward way to introduce the concept.