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The Trinity and Prayer

It’s funny to me that we are writing about the Trinity, since I’ve had a number of discussions with Grace people about this concept recently. We are all mystified by the Trinity, which shouldn’t surprise us. We are finite people with a birthday (a beginning), and another day that will be mentioned in our obituary (the end point). How could we begin to fully grasp the God who is infinite and eternal - three persons and one God?  The Bible reveals God as one God not in three parts or three phases, but in three “persons.” We see the different ways we are loved by the persons of the Trinity when we discuss prayer.

How do the persons of the Trinity operate in prayer? How does that work? First, Jesus taught us to address our prayers to our Father in heaven. I don’t think that means it is bad form to converse with Jesus or the Holy Spirit, but the pattern and practice of our prayers are directed to the Father.

Jesus is teaching us that while God is infinite and eternal, the almighty King, he is also our Father in heaven. This isn’t because we are made in God’s image. This is because when we believe, our sins are wiped out and we receive both the record of Jesus Christ (His righteousness) and the relationship Jesus has with God. We are adopted into the family of God, so we can address prayer to our Father in heaven. We aren’t just praying to God as if he were like a father¸ because he now in fact is our Father in heaven

Not only is he our father, but he is our “Abba” father - a more intimate and personal address than father…

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal. 4:4-7 ESV)

And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mk. 14:36 ESV)

Jesus himself addressed his Father as “Abba” in his most needy moment in the garden.

So, when we pray, we should consider that we are seeking to draw near to our Father in heaven. We are addressing our requests to him, and because he is Father, we know he is already inclined to hear us because we are his children.

What is the role of Jesus in prayer? We’ve already seen a huge role he played. Jesus our high priest has won this intimacy with God through his death and resurrection. He has made powerful prayer a possibility and a divine promise for us.

Additionally, we learned in the sermon from a few weeks ago about his persistent and tenacious prayer for us (Hebrews 7:25). He ever lives to intercede for us.

I think it is important to realize another part of prayer that is Jesus centric. When we pray for “your kingdom to come,” Revelation and other places make it clear that it is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ which is coming. We pray to the Father for the rule of Christ to grow. We must be asking for that rule to expand over our own lives first. The Father is honored when the Son rules over more people’s lives.

Let’s not forget the importance of God the Holy Spirit in prayer. As we pray he helps us in ways we can hardly understand. He is drawing us to the Father and shaping us into the image of God’s Son. Paul writes:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Rom. 8:26-27 ESV)

Don’t worry about being at a loss for words! The Holy Spirit is prompting us to pray, drawing us to pray, and helping us to pray. If our prayers are like an arrow that is not straight, he cleans them up so they fly right to God!

In reading about prayer in Acts, we see God’s Holy Spirit doing mighty things all through the book in response to God’s people praying. At the end of a prayer meeting which was in response to persecution and threats, these words are written:

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31 ESV)

The Holy Spirit is all in and around us when we are praying.  We are told to “pray in the Spirit,” which means at least partially to pray in unity with the Spirit’s will and desires.

So, we pray to the Father through the work of Christ. The Spirit is sent to us in our prayers, who honors the Father and the Son. The love which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for one another draws us in as we pray, and God is glorified and we are blessed.

Those are my thoughts.  What are yours?

In Him,

Don

Don Ward

Senior Pastor

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