Beloved Kinney,
Perhaps you’re noticing a pattern over these last few “Word from the Pastor.” We’re talking about prayer. Last week, we talked about how prayer is our response to God’s initiating word to us. The emphasis of the blog was on the truth that God first speaks to us. He speaks to us primarily and authoritatively and infallibly through the Scriptures. We only talk to God in prayer because he first talked to us in his Word.
In this part, I want to focus on what it means that prayer is our word-response to God. Let’s use (what is often called) The Lord’s Prayer as an example. Jesus said,
“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”
Why would Jesus tell us to pray for these things? Why address God as FATHER? Why address his name as HOLY? Why pray for the KINGDOM to come? Why pray for daily provisions? Why pray for FORGIVENESS? Why pray away EVIL?
The answer is simple: God has already revealed these things about himself, us, and our world. In fact, Jesus has been teaching all these things in the sermon on the mount. He’s already revealed that God is our Father and he rules as King over the world and we are sinners with anger (5:21-26) and lust (5:27-30) and marriage (5:31-32) and loyalty (5:33-37) and envy (5:38-42) and love (5:43-48) problems!
Our prayers are a response to God’s word-initiative about himself, ourselves, and our world. This is why our prayers should be Trinitarian—we prayer TO the Father, THROUGH the Son, BY the Spirit…because God is Triune (one God who has eternally co-existed in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit). We would not know to pray like that unless God first told us.
So we pray according to who God is—Triune. How would we know that about God unless he first told us?
Prayer is our word-response to God’s initiating word of self-revelation. We must talk to him because he first talked to us! Amen.
Love,
Pastor Josh
Perhaps you’re noticing a pattern over these last few “Word from the Pastor.” We’re talking about prayer. Last week, we talked about how prayer is our response to God’s initiating word to us. The emphasis of the blog was on the truth that God first speaks to us. He speaks to us primarily and authoritatively and infallibly through the Scriptures. We only talk to God in prayer because he first talked to us in his Word.
In this part, I want to focus on what it means that prayer is our word-response to God. Let’s use (what is often called) The Lord’s Prayer as an example. Jesus said,
“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”
Why would Jesus tell us to pray for these things? Why address God as FATHER? Why address his name as HOLY? Why pray for the KINGDOM to come? Why pray for daily provisions? Why pray for FORGIVENESS? Why pray away EVIL?
The answer is simple: God has already revealed these things about himself, us, and our world. In fact, Jesus has been teaching all these things in the sermon on the mount. He’s already revealed that God is our Father and he rules as King over the world and we are sinners with anger (5:21-26) and lust (5:27-30) and marriage (5:31-32) and loyalty (5:33-37) and envy (5:38-42) and love (5:43-48) problems!
Our prayers are a response to God’s word-initiative about himself, ourselves, and our world. This is why our prayers should be Trinitarian—we prayer TO the Father, THROUGH the Son, BY the Spirit…because God is Triune (one God who has eternally co-existed in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit). We would not know to pray like that unless God first told us.
- We just read from Jesus in Matt. 6 that we are to pray TO the Father. (Which is a glorious truth to ponder: If you’re a Christian, God is your Father, not your judge. Pray to him like that!)
- Jesus says in John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask IN MY NAME, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything IN MY NAME, I will do it.” So we pray in the name of Jesus (i.e., THROUGH the Son).
- Ephesians 6:18 says we are to pray “in the Spirit,” which can be translated “BY the Spirit,” which I take to mean: It is the Spirit of God who empowers/compels us to pray rightly. As Paul says in 1 Cor. 12:3, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
So we pray according to who God is—Triune. How would we know that about God unless he first told us?
Prayer is our word-response to God’s initiating word of self-revelation. We must talk to him because he first talked to us! Amen.
Love,
Pastor Josh
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