By Hal Green
Pondering Prayer
It is important to give you a vision of prayer in relation to the Holy Trinity. To begin with, theology, or “God-talk,” is all about prepositions. As regards to Christian prayer, this means that prayer unfolds in the Person of the Son, to the Person of the Father, and through the Person of the Holy Spirit. In relational terms, this signifies that when you pray, you secretly enter into Christ, who is your “Eternal I,” while addressing God the Father, who is your “Eternal You,” through the Holy Spirit, who is your “Eternal We” shared with God.
That means prayer is essentially relational; it happens between you and God, while unfolding in and through God. That also means prayer is less what you do and more what you enter into, namely the eternal We of the Spirit between the eternal I and the eternal You of God.
Most significantly, this also indicates that the divine relationship is as ultimate as the divine persons who share in it. The “Three-in-One” Trinity represents the eternal structure of persons, not only divine but also human, since we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). The divine-human relationship, which Christ has opened and made available to us, constitutes our salvation, our endless and unbreakable “We” with God (see Romans 8:35-39).
All this may sound profound and complicated. Yet it is as simple and understandable as any conversation with significant others. Think of your relationship with your mother, and/or your father. Think of your most significant friendships. And most importantly, think of romantic love, of falling in love, of marriage and all it entails. As the Bible says: the two shall “become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). So also shall you become one in soul and spirit with Christ. Paul says that “anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (1 Corinthians 6:17).
Relationships are where we “live and move and have our being,” as Paul said in his sermon at the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17:28). That includes your being together as well as your being alone. Your eternal being, your “I,” which you will share with Christ, remains forever in and with God. As Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). As you continue to deepen your prayer life, you will realize that prayer never really ends, nor will your love relationship with God. Your destiny is an eternal union with God, in the “We” of the Trinity. About this future, Jesus gave us a grand vision: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3).
(Hal Green, Ph.D., is the author of “Pray This Way to Connect with God.” You can contact him at drhalgreen@gmail.com.)
