5 Habits - Prayer #5
Welcome to Everyday Devotions. These daily Bible readings and Prayer Pathways are designed to help you go deeper with God each day in response to what you are hearing at the Everyday Church services and Life Group gatherings.
Friday 17th January
In this week’s Everyday Devotions, we are learning several Prayer Pathways together – simple structures to help us marshal our thoughts and focus our prayers. The first two pathways that we have looked at this week were The Lord’s Prayer and the Moses Prayer. Today, we will look at the third and simplest pathway. We are going to teach you The Trinity Prayer.
Bible Meditation
2 Corinthians 13:14
14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
1) It may sound obvious, but it isn’t. What does “the love of God” really mean? Why do you think Paul particularly singles love out as something that we experience through God the Father?
2) What does “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” mean? Why do you think Paul particularly singles grace out as something that we experience through God the Son? Why do preachers often claim that grace ought to stand for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense?
3) What does “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” mean? Why do you think that Paul particularly stresses the fellowship or oneness or partnership with God that the Holy Spirit gives us? (all valid meanings of the Greek word koinonia here)
Revelation 3:11-12
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.
Did you notice what Jesus does in these verses. He doesn’t refer to the name of the Father, the name of the Son and the name of the Spirit, as we might have expected. He refers to the name of the Father, the name of the Son and the name God’s City, the New Jerusalem, or the Church. Jesus expects us to enjoy such deep partnership with the Holy Spirit that Father-and-Son-and-Spirit is roughly the same thing as Father-and-Son-and-You-and-Me!
Prayer Pathway
The Trinity Prayer is the quickest of our prayer pathways. You can use it on days when you are in a hurry, but you can also pray it slowly, lingering over the rich meaning of each of the three elements of 2 Corinthians 13:14. It is a prayer pathway that helps us to connect with God in all his Triune glory – knowing him as Father, Son and Spirit.
THE LOVE OF GOD: Thank God the Father for his deep love towards you. Be specific about the ways in which you have witnessed his love towards you. Thank him that he is your Father and that love lies at the core of his character.
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Thank Jesus the Son of God for his grace towards you. Thank him for dying on the cross to be your Saviour and for rising from the dead to be your Lord. Thank him that all that belongs to him is now yours through your faith in him. Thank him for grace – for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Thank the Holy Spirit that he is your Senior Partner. Thank him that has come to dwell inside you so that you can participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Thank him that you can know God closely through him and that you can experience the character and the power of God through his dwelling in you.
This prayer pathway is the simplest of them all. It takes only a moment to learn 2 Corinthians 13:14 and you can pray through this pathway in only a minute. At the same time, it is as deep and rich as the Triune God that it describes. This one isn’t just for days when you are busy. It’s a glorious meditation on the character of God for any day of the year.
THE LOVE OF GOD: Thank God the Father for his deep love towards you. Be specific about the ways in which you have witnessed his love towards you. Thank him that he is your Father and that love lies at the core of his character.
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Thank Jesus the Son of God for his grace towards you. Thank him for dying on the cross to be your Saviour and for rising from the dead to be your Lord. Thank him that all that belongs to him is now yours through your faith in him. Thank him for grace – for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Thank the Holy Spirit that he is your Senior Partner. Thank him that has come to dwell inside you so that you can participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Thank him that you can know God closely through him and that you can experience the character and the power of God through his dwelling in you.
This prayer pathway is the simplest of them all. It takes only a moment to learn 2 Corinthians 13:14 and you can pray through this pathway in only a minute. At the same time, it is as deep and rich as the Triune God that it describes. This one isn’t just for days when you are busy. It’s a glorious meditation on the character of God for any day of the year.
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Connect: We’d really like your feedback on how these Everyday Devotions are helping you and how we might help you even better. Talk to us by emailing: devotions@everyday.org.uk
Continue: your connection with us by attending our Online Church Service
Connect: We’d really like your feedback on how these Everyday Devotions are helping you and how we might help you even better. Talk to us by emailing: devotions@everyday.org.uk
Continue: your connection with us by attending our Online Church Service