Prayer & The Holy Spirit

Part 9

 

Prayer, The Trinity & The Devil

Why consider this topic? Because of the difference between the Shema in the law of Moses and the way in which Jesus quoted it in the New Covenant.

Dt. 6:5, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Mt. 22:37,  Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
Mark adds the ‘mind’ as well as the ‘strength’, Mk. 12:30. Jesus is not teaching on the makeup of humanity, Paul does that in 1st Ths. 5:23. Jesus is giving a new obvious shift of emphasis on the direction of a Christian’s love for God, in comparison to the Jew’s love for God. It is more inside, rather than outside. Jesus, as our Creator knows that if we get our self centered in every way on the task of loving God, then our behaviour will be loving God.
In the context of loving God, what does the heart, soul and mind do? The heart desires, the soul prays and the mind thinks. This is exactly what Paul was doing when he wrote Romans 10:1, and teaches in 1st Cor. 14:15, his heart’s desire and prayer to God. He used his mind to teach about it and write it, he used his heart’s desire to motivate prayer for it, and he used his soul to actually pray for it. What was it? That salvation of fellow Israeli citizens.  Therefore prayer is at the center of loving God the Father.

Jesus prayed to “The Father”, Jn. 17:1.
Paul prayed to “The Father”, Eph. 3:14.

Why would God in Jesus Christ, talk to God The Father? Because God in Jesus Christ was not talking to God The Father. Who was talking? The human spirit of Jesus was addressing The Father. Why? Because God The Father desires fellowship with His creation. He designed us to have fellowship with Him, giving us a human spirit to address Him with. The Devil hates this fellowship. This fellowship or sharing of thoughts is powerful, and the Devil wants to disrupt our loving rapport with the Father.
The Apostles worshipped Jesus. Lk. 24:52.
The Angels worshipped Jesus, Heb. 1:6
The 24 Elders worshipped Jesus and presented the prayers of the Saints to Him, Rev. 5:8.
It is acceptable to express your love and thankfulness to Jesus the Son of God in prayer. This is not a sin. Many Christians may feel it is inappropriate, and that they are only allowed to pray to “The Father”, but this view fails to recognize that each Person of the Godhead is equal in deity and importance and this view fails to accept the main point of prayer, and that is to love God. We would never admit to not loving Jesus or His Spirit would we? Then why do we not want to pray to Him? There are two reasons for prayer to Jesus or His Spirit.

1. Thankfulness for His sacrifice. This should be a natural inclination and part of 1st Ths. 5:17-18

2. Request for understanding of God’s will.
This is exemplified by the Psalmist, 119:73, and inferred by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul, John and James. Eph. 1:17, 1st John 2:27-28, James 1:5, Isaiah 11:1-2, John 14:17, 15:26, Jeremiah 31:33.

Another aspect of understanding why Jesus prayed to the Father, but yet was God, is this: He was setting an example for the Church as His body, in loving God. We are the body of Christ, and we are instructed to have the mind of Christ. He is in the process of making us united in Him, being one. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, 1st Cor. 12:12. The reality of experiencing this unity, begins with prayer.
The Devil hates this unity and fellowship, his hate is demonstrated from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry to the end. The Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness to the Torment of Jesus in Gethsemane. The interesting note of the Devil leaving until an opportune time (Luke 4:13) is teaching us that whenever we enter in deeper fellowship with God in prayer or fasting, the Devil hates it and will try to disrupt our unity.

Do you know why we have distractions in prayer?  Is this part of Satan’s scheme to divide and destroy?