Day #9: “Trinitarian Prayer” (MK)
Galatians 4:4-7 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
People can get stuck on the doctrine of the Trinity, thinking of it as abstract pondering. Granted it is hard to pin down what we mean when we say that God is one substance (one God) in three persons. Admittedly, looking directly at the doctrine of the Trinity is hard. But looking through the doctrine of the Trinity illuminates the meaning of Scripture. Galatians 4:4-7 is a rich Trinitarian passage of Scripture. It does not give us a working definition of the Trinity, but in it we see all three persons of the Trinity at work in perfect harmony. The Father sends the Son, who does the work of redemption. The Father adopts those who have been redeemed and sends the Spirit to assist them in prayer.
Let me say that again… the Spirit assists us in prayer.
Prayer is a deeply Trinitarian activity. In particular, the Spirit is called by Paul the “Spirit of the Son.” And when the Spirit works in us, he makes the life of Jesus come alive in us. In other words, the work of the Spirit is to make us like Jesus. Of all the things the Paul could tell us about being formed into the image of Christ, first on the list is prayer. While on earth, Jesus described his life as perfect communion and communication with the Father. Regarding prayer, he said, “I know that you (God the Father) always hear me (John 11:42.)” Jesus, was living out in human form the relationship that he has always known as the eternal Son of God throughout all eternity. And now, the Holy Spirit begins to form that same connection in us. We experience through adoption, the type of relationship that Jesus had with God the Father…we are sons, with all the rights and privileges. And in the power of the Spirit we begin to act line sons. In particular, we have the privilege of praying to our Father and being heard.
There is more to be said on this subject, but let’s step back and once again look at the big picture. What we see in Galatians 4 is found in other places in the NT. The pattern of prayer is Trinitarian in structure. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Luke 11:2) he taught them to say, “Father.” He also taught them to ask “in his name” (John 15:16.) And now we see that the Spirit assists us in prayer.
This is wonderful news! While prayer is simple, it can often feel hard to focus and engage well. The good news is that God, himself, meets us at every point in prayer. God the Father is the object of our prayers, God the Son is the mediator who makes our prayers acceptable, and God the Spirit is working in us to help us to pray. We pray to God the Father, through the mediation of Jesus, in the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit. While it is not strictly wrong to pray to Jesus or even to the Holy Spirit (and we see a few examples in the NT), in general it is great to reinforce this Trinitarian structure in our prayer. This is what theologian Fred Sanders* calls, “praying with the grain of Scripture.” In doing so, we are reminded that we have divine assistance at every point of the process. May this divine power assist you today as you meet with the Lord in prayer.
*The Deep Things of God, by Fred Sanders is a wonderful book on the Trinity. It is a very readable book which combines theological precision with practical application.
