The Trinity

"I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.........And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne." - Revelation 5:1,6-7

The passage got me thinking about what I believe regarding the Trinity: God as a triune Being. By triune, I mean someone who is 'ever three, yet ever one.' But what does that really mean?

I looked to Desiring God Ministries for help. They have an article dedicated to explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. The writer of the article makes three major assertions:

1) The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons.
2) Each Person is fully God
3) There is one God

I agree with all three of these statements. Yet I struggle with how they fit together. The article's author states that God is One in Essence and Three in Person. Essence there is defined as 'what you are' or 'Being', while Person is 'something that regards himself as "I" and others as "You" '.

And so I wonder - 1) Does God maintain three distinct, yet unified streams of thought at any given moment? 2) Does 'prayer destination' have any significance (in other words, directing your prayer toward a particular Person of the Trinity)?

Admittedly, I have little insight regarding the answers to these questions. The article's author suggests that Ephesians 2:18 is the general model of prayer found in the Bible. Prayer should 'to the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.' Again, what does that mean? That I should direct my prayers to the Father, recognizing that I am able to communicate with Him because of Jesus Christ the mediator, and that what I communicate to Him are not my words, but the cries of the Holy Spirit?

I don't know the answers, but I do know that Romans 8:26 says "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;"

One thing I discovered after reading the article is how inaccurate one of my previous analogies was in illustrating the Trinity. I used to say something like, "In the same pattern as there is Graham the worker, Graham the housemate and Graham the friend, there is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit." However, my analogy does not speak of three distinct Persons, but merely one person with three roles. The second half of the pattern actually is God the Father the Creator, God the Father the Sustainer and God the Father the Judge (or any other set of His roles). Clearly, this pattern leaves out mention of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, who both are active in all of God the Father's activity, for they are all One, and yet Three (are we back to square one??)

If you have any comments about this topic, or illustrations that help convey the concept of The Trinity, feel free to respond to this post.