I cannot do this alone

From time to time I'd like to provide examples that seem to capture the 'trust and necessity' of prayer. Here's one from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written while he was imprisoned in Nazi Germany. 

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.

The role of the Holy Spirit in prayer

We've seen how prayer involves our relationship to the first two persons of the Trinity. We address our prayers (generally) to the Father, and we pray 'in the name of Jesus', the Son, with all that is implied in that phrase. But what is the role of the Holy Spirit in our praying?

We would have no relationship with God if it were not for the witness of the Holy Spirit to what God has done for us (John 15:26). It's the Holy Spirit who brings us to repentance and faith (Titus 3:4-7). This is fundamental to our communication with God in prayer. The Holy Spirit's presence in our life then becomes the pledge and seal of our place in God's kingdom life (1 John 4:13).

In our new relationship with God, it's the Holy Spirit who enables us to experience the love of God (Rom 5:5) and to address him as Father (Gal 4:6). Sometimes this seems so natural to those who have been Christians for a while that we forget just how strange it really is, and how privileged we are to be in such a position. The Spirit also helps us to know what it means to be a child of God, in all its wonder (1 Cor 2:9-12). It is a good practice to ask the Holy Spirit to remind us of who we are in Christ and what God has done for us before we pray.

It's also good to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what and how to pray, so that we are truly praying 'in Jesus name' and in step with God's will. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to show us what to pray. But the Spirit also prays for us, particularly at times where we are unable to shape our thoughts into words (Rom 8:26-27). When our desire to pray far outweighs our ability to pray, our relationship with God is not severed, but kept alive by the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit conveys messages from God to those who are praying. In Acts 13:2, for instance Luke records that 'while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ' Sometimes he equips people for the work that God has provided for them to do through prayer (Acts 4:31). Often he reminds us of God's words in scripture as we pray.

Our prayers and the work of the Holy Spirit in the world appear to have a complementary role. Paul tells the Philippians that 'through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance' (Phil 1:19).

As the Holy Spirit is active in our life, we become more like Jesus. He produces in us the 'fruit of the Spirit' - love, joy, peace, patience and so on (Gal 5:22). These qualities then affect the way we relate to God and to other people and influence the way we pray. Clearly, then, the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in our prayers, and our life in relationship to the triune God.

Praying for God's glory or praying for our needs?

In a previous post I said that one of the essential elements of prayer was a sense of our own or others' need, the 'necessity' of prayer. Yet recently I've been writing about praying in Jesus name in order to do God's will and bring him glory. Aren't these contradictory? Aren't we being selfish or at least human-centred rather than God-centred if we pray for the things we need in our own lives? If we want to glorify God and pray according to his will, shouldn't we focus our prayers on things like evangelism and mission, rather than bothering God with our anxiety over an exam, or the health of our Auntie June?

This sense that our prayers aren't acceptable unless we're constantly praying about great, "spiritual" issues can be crippling to our prayer life. It leads to all sorts of less-than-Christian attitudes to prayer. We might bring our own apparently petty needs to God and then try to parcel them up with some prayers for outreach and missions, in an effort to make them seem more acceptable. In effect we try to strike a bargain with God - if you give me what I want, I'll pray for what you want.

Or we might ignore our own needs altogether and pray only for the big issues. But that leads to self-sufficiency and pride. "Look at all those silly souls praying for their own trivial needs, while I co-operate with God in changing the world."

The problem arises from an inadequate understanding of God's rule and God's kingdom. The kingdom of God is not about ever-so-holy people doing ever-so-spiritual activities. It's about the whole of life being brought under the lordship of Christ. It's about honoring and serving God in everything we do, with our bodies, minds, words, relationships and goods. And it's about longing to see all people, all of creation doing the same.

So in fact we honour God and bring him glory when we acknowledge our needs to him. We extend his kingdom when we pray for the means to overcome sickness, pain and suffering in those around us. We serve him better when we seek his healing for our own weaknesses and failings. We demonstrate his rule in our lives when we bring our relationships to him in prayer.

If we can't acknowledge our trust in God's goodness and reliance on his power to provide for our own relatively simple needs, where will we get the faith to ask for big, world-changing things? And there's no doubt that we are told to pray for governments and leaders, for the sending out of missionaries and evangelists, for the salvation of the lost, for the spiritual growth of other Christians, for the perseverence of those facing persecution for their faith. But it's also God's will that we should pray for our daily bread.

More thoughts on praying in Jesus' name

Tagging a prayer with "in Jesus' name, Amen" is meaningless if we aren't praying "in Jesus name" in practice. And if we are praying in Jesus' name in practice, then (I assume) the words themselves are not really necessary.

But we need to be aware that adding "in Jesus name" to our public prayers is a powerful statement of what we believe and who we are. A prayer addressed simply to "God" will be acceptable to many, both from traditional religions and those with more new age ideas of spirituality. Even praying to "Our heavenly father" will be acceptable to some outside Christian circles.

When we add "in Jesus' name" to our prayers, however, we are effectively declaring our faith in Jesus as the only way to God. We are no longer praying to a generic God, but to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That will be deeply offensive to some. It has sometimes been deemed unacceptable to use this phrase in a multicultural setting. In 2005, for instance, a chaplain in the US navy was dismissed for (amongst other things) repeatedly using "in the name of Jesus" in public services where people of other faiths were present.

Whether or not we choose to use the words in our public prayers depends on what our purpose is. There will be times when not causing offence will be important in reaching others with the gospel, and other times when we need to declare our faith against all opposition. Either way, our prayers will still be "in Jesus name" if we are praying to God's glory.

Praying in Jesus' name

In John's gospel, Jesus told his disciples that they should pray 'in his name' to the Father, who would answer their prayers because he loved them (John 16:23-27). But what does it mean to pray 'in the name of Jesus'? It's obviously more than a slogan tagged on to the end of our prayers, but what is meant by 'the name of Jesus'?

The phrase 'in the name of Jesus' is used in several ways in the New Testament. The first describes things done 'in the name of Jesus' in the sense of doing them under his authority, on his behalf. So we find the disciples casting out demons (Luke 10:17), teaching and speaking (Acts 4:18), healing (Acts 3:6), and preaching (Acts 9:28) in Jesus name. In this they emulated Jesus, whose earthly ministry was carried out in the name of, and under the authority of, his Father (John 10:25).

The second sense in which 'the name of Jesus' is used involves bringing glory to him, acknowledging his worth (Acts 9:15, Rom 1:4-6, 2 Thess 1:11-12 ). Again, this reminds us of Jesus who always sought to bring glory to the name of his Father (John 17:26)

A third use of Jesus' name involves a sense of belonging to Jesus. Christians are those who gather in Jesus' name (Matt 18:20), who are baptised in his name (Matt 28:19), who are reviled and persecuted for his name's sake (Acts 5:41, Rev, 2:3), and who figuratively bear his name on their foreheads (Rev 22:4).

The fourth sense in which 'the name of Jesus' is used relates to the way in which Christians appropriate to themselves the work of Jesus in his death and resurrection. They believe in his name (John 2:23), hope in his name (Matt 12:21), avoid condemnation (John 3:18), receive forgiveness (Acts 10:43) and salvation (Acts 4:12) in his name. They are washed, sanctified and justified in his name (1 Cor 6:11) The Holy Spirit is sent in the name of Jesus (John 14:26).

When it comes to praying 'in Jesus name', I think all of these meanings of the phrase are involved. We pray, not as helpless, powerless, isolated individuals, but as those who carry the authority of the one who has 'the name above every rule, authority, power and dominion' (Eph 1:20-21). We are his agents, doing his work on his behalf and in his strength. We come to the Father to ask for what we need to do his will. (Of course, in order to do this, we need to know first what it is that he wants us to do.) We pray 'in his name' when we seek to bring him glory and honour.

We pray in his name because we belong to him. We are those who have been adopted as children of God, and are co-heirs with Christ. But we are only in that position because of what Jesus has done for us, in winning our salvation.

So to pray in Jesus name means that we have thought through what we are praying to see if it is glorifying to Jesus and according to God's will. And having done that we come with confidence to our Father because we belong to his Son, whose name he loves to glorify.

The pros and cons of being a Christian's kid

Children growing up in a Christian family have many advantages. They usually have caring parents who provide for their physical needs, without being so focused on material things that they have no time for their children. Their upbringing will shelter them from the worst aspects of the world around them. Their parents are less likely than most to be addicted to alcohol or drugs or gambling. And they'll be introduced to the truths of Christianity from infancy.

This will provide them with a framework in which to view the world and make decisions. Deciding to follow Christ will seem the natural thing to do, rather than a leap into the unknown. Even though they may wander away from the church and Christianity in their teenage years, they will retain the knowledge of how to return to God when they're ready.

But there are disadvantages to being brought up in a Christian home and church culture. One of them is that having been taught and trained to do the right thing from childhood, it's easy for the child of Christians to become judgmental about others' behaviour. While some children from Christian families deliberately try everything that comes their way as an act of rebellion, most children with a secure, loving family and a well-ordered life find the temptations that others face just not that tempting. It then becomes difficult for them to empathise or even relate to those less fortunate in their upbringing when they 'fall into temptation'.

Another hazard is that while outwardly holding to a gospel of grace, the life-long Christian can be subtly persuaded that their own right living must earn them some credit with God. After all, within their Christian family, good behaviour was rewarded and bad behaviour punished, and their sense of justice encouraged. This can give rise to feelings of resentment towards God, when all their hard work seems to go unacknowledged.

Sermons that describe the Christian as someone who has moved dramatically from a position of rebellion against God to one of repentence often seem a bit out of touch with the experience of the person who can't remember exactly when they adopted their parents' faith as their own. Their own more subtle forms of rebellion are less often the subject of sermons, especially in churches that are focused on evangelism. This can lead to complacency, boredom with church and lack of spiritual growth.

The 'problem of evil' - if God is both good, and powerful, why is there so much evil in the world? - is often seen as something which deters people from becoming Christians. Yet the person from a Christian family may have a greater struggle to come to terms with evil, pain and suffering than the non-believer or recent convert.

The new convert may well come from a background where the evil of the world is a given, having no explanation, and they've lived all their lives without much hope of ever being free from it. To discover God and all that he promises, to discover the gospel that confronts evil, is liberating. The world has not changed, but they have something to hold on to in the storm.

The person who has been brought up in a Christian home, sheltered from the worst of the world's evils and told constantly about the goodness and love of God is sometimes stunned by the reality of suffering and evil when it confronts them as adults. They are not prepared for the storm. They may be familiar with the various theological explanations offered for evil, but such explanations sound hollow against the pain they see around them. What sort of God would allow such things? Where is the God who answers prayer? The compassion fostered by their Christian upbringing ironically feeds their grief and doubt. They feel that as Christians they should be able to offer an explanation, yet they have nothing to say that doesn't sound trite.

I suspect that many of the atheists who throw up 'the problem of evil' as an argument against Christianity come from a Christian background. Certainly many people date their loss of faith to some tragic event in their own life or the lives of those close to them. By God's grace others, like Job, find that their experience eventually deepens their faith and brings them to a more personal understanding of God.