Praying Like Jesus

Christmas was great. I got to spend some good time with many of my family members and was even able to share some spiritual experiences with my Nana. I love Mayer’s new CD, Continuum. My favorites so far are Belief and Stop This Train. A while back, he played the whole CD on Star 98.7 and gave commentary between songs. That airing is available for download as a torrent at www.score1more4me.com

I just finished chapter 2 in God the Holy Trinity. In it, Bray discusses the Trinity in light of Galatians 4:6. He starts off by reflecting on how the concept of the Trinity was one of the basic doctrines that immediately separated the Christians from the Jews. As he concludes that introductory point, he says, “…whereas ordinary Jews were kept out of the holiest place in the temple, Christians have been admitted into the inner life of God. Only in that context, and based on that understanding, can we reconcile Christian theology with the Old Testament revelation. The God who appears as One to those who view him on the outside, reveals himself as a Trinity of persons, once his inner life is opened up to our experience.” Now, this springs off one of the most interesting statements he made which was, “From the beginning, the Christian knowledge of God in Trinity was first experiential and later theoretical, an order of things that has always characterized authentic Christian understanding and confession. We may even say that whenever theory has claimed pride of place over experience, the result has been some form of heresy, as for example in the Arian controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries.” That in itself raises all kinds of questions about what we experience as Christians vs. what Scripture tells us we should experience as Christians. But back to the original quote, let me just say that this is such a beautiful thing! Now, we can pray like Jesus prayed! We can call God “Abba” (if you know any Brennan Manning, that word carries a special meaning to you)!

I sit here, I think, wow some Jews really saw some incredible things happen after they prayed and Jesus told his followers that certain great things would only happen by prayer. I am empowered much more than the disciples were when Jesus was alive on the earth. That thought really challenges me because I really don’t live demonstrating that empowerment. In Mars Hill sermon 399, Rob says that Jesus wants to save Christians from having to have all of the answers because we are simply to demonstrate his presence and then proclaim that this is God renewing and reconciling all things.

As I get ready for Passion07, I am hoping to be reenergized and motivated to live as a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, crying out Abba as the Spirit empowers me to pray like Jesus did.