Before moving away from this topic of prayer, I want to take a moment to recognize how this has impacted me and what I need to do to personally apply this. It is one thing to talk about it, but another to live it out and apply it. Now, from all the learning and studying on this topic, I must put this into practice. It is not enough to say or write these things, they must be applied. They must be lived out. A wise man told me when you are going through seminary or any type of deep spiritual journey there are two things that must be focused on. One is to make sure that the material is grasped and learned. If not, your theology may be off. We must keep studying the unlimited well that is the Father, Son, and Spirit. Two, we must ask, “How does this apply to me?” What am I to grasp from all this knowledge and how do I apply it. Another way to say this is: “With this knowledge, how do I live it out to glorify the Father?”
What lays ahead in the next two posts is a personal reflection that I don’t normally share but one that I will. It is a moment to show you my own struggles with this Christian life and I need so much help and prayer. I hope and pray that we all do better about spending time with our Lord. May we all thirst for more of Him and delight in Him.
Christian prayer is offered under this basis: “Not by my authority or according to my fitness or anything I have done to be deserving, but on the pure basis of the finished work of Christ am I able to even approach God. Even when I pray to Jesus, I am still approaching God the Son on that same basis: not by my own authority but on the basis of the finished work of Christ.[1]
In applying what mature Christian prayer is to look like, the application is that when I address the Son, it is to include thanksgiving for what He has done (Rev 5:11-14). I can thank Him for interceding for me and praise Him for His return and what that will mean. In doing so, He will be honored by paying him homage as Lord of all. In addressing the Spirit, it is to offer Him praise and thanksgiving. While I may petition Him to work in me and areas of this world, I will need to do better by properly petitioning the Father to send the Holy Spirit to engage in such work.[2]
Petitioning the correct Person of the Trinity has been difficult for me until I was able to understand more about the separate roles. Following the principles laid out in this writing, I should direct to Jesus request that pertain to His ongoing work. I may request Him to be my advocate in a situation, or groan for His return. However, I need to cultivate the practice of directing my petitions to the Father who is the source of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17), just as Jesus Himself instructed us in the Lord’s Prayer.
There will be times in my hurriedness or busyness that I will pray to wrong member something that is not part of their distinct function, and while that is not a damnable sin and may not even be sin at all, through this exercise I believe it is about creating a proper understanding in my prayer life. This exercise has helped me understand each Persons different functions and roles specifically in my prayer life, but also how I should properly worship and praise them. In living life, we are to display Christ and His love to all, live for the glory of the Father all made possible by the power and strength of the Holy Spirit in dependence upon Him.
[1] Ibid, 213.
[2] Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 75.