Praying with the Trinity
How our prayers are Trinitarian prayers
Prayer is an absolute necessity. And yet, we let it go by the wayside too many times. Distractions follow us everywhere, begging for our attention to be taken away from a vital spiritual discipline. Our phones buzz with Facebook notifications, group texts keep clamoring, and the latest news continues to take our focus off of praying.
I have to reorient my mind when I feel a decrease in prayer. I have to remind myself not only what prayer is—communion with the triune God—but also who is involved. It’s important to understand the what of prayer, but it’s equally important to understand the who. When I ponder the reality of God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—being involved in each of my prayers, my desire to pray increases all the more. As my pastor recently said, sometimes I feel like my prayers only reach the ceiling, but when I realize that the entire Godhead is involved, it’s easier to connect with God through prayer.
Have you pondered that, Christian? Have you considered the fact that each member of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—are involved in each of your prayers? Let’s go over something crucial for a moment about each person of the Godhead.
The Father. As elementary as it sounds, when we pray, we pray to God the Father (Matthew 6:6). We are praying to our Heavenly Father who cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and loves us (1 John 3:1-3). Though this is the normative structure of our prayers, that doesn’t mean we can’t specifically address the Son or the Spirit in our prayers. After all, Stephen prayed “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59) as he was being stoned to death.
The Son. When we pray, we pray through God the Son, or in His name (Ephesians 5:20). Although some have distorted this into a magical incantation to suit their own purposes, saying “in Jesus’ name” is not only a phrase of dependence, humility, and submission, but it shows we are acknowledging that we only come to the Father through the merits of Christ and Christ alone (John 14:6). If we weren’t united with Christ, the Father wouldn’t listen nor hear our prayers. It’s only by the Son that we have access to the Father.
The Spirit. When we pray, we pray empowered by the God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:18) and are told to pray “in the Spirit” (Jude 20). Being in Christ, all our prayers are guided by the Holy Spirit. We are never left to ourselves. The Holy Spirit even helps us in our weakness when we don’t know what or how to pray (Romans 8:26).
Our prayers are always Trinitarian prayers. When we call out to the Lord, each person of the Godhead is intimately involved.
John Piper wrote,
Pray to the Father in the power of the Spirit, in the name or by the authority and the merit of the Son. That is the Bible’s trinitarian prayer structure.
This reality of the Trinity being involved when we pray ought to drastically improve our prayer lives. When our prayers seem dull, when the words don’t come out, when it feels like nobody is listening and we’re just blabbering to the wind—we must remember the Father is listening, the Son is interceding, and the Spirit is empowering.
Truly, this should change how you understand prayer and how you do pray. Be intentional. Make your prayers intentionally Trinitarian; not as a show but as a display of your belief that the Godhead is with you in your prayers.
Here’s an example of how to pray:
“Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. First and foremost, I come to you through the merits of Christ and Christ alone. It is only through the blood of Christ that you listen and are pleased with me. And I thank you that your Holy Spirit is helping me pray—even when I can’t muster any words. [Insert petitions, praises, etc.] In Jesus’ name, amen.”
“we must remember the Father is listening, the Son is interceding, and the Spirit is empowering.”
Beautiful and powerful! Well said Blake!