Let’s remind ourselves how the Trinity relates to each other.
The Trinity Simplified
First, what does the doctrine mean? The doctrine of the Trinity can be summarised in seven statements. This picture might help too:
(1) There is only one God.
(2) The Father is God.
(3) The Son is God.
(4) The Holy Spirit is God.
(5) The Father is not the Son.
(6) The Son is the not the Holy Spirit.
(7) The Holy Spirit is not the Father.
Today we are going to focus our thinking on something a little more practical, worship and prayer.
The doctrine of the Trinity is not only a doctrine, but a living Christian experience which is constantly developing; it is a fact of the Christian life.
When we say God, we mean Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Worship: All of the Trinity?
The Church’s worship is grounded in who God is and what He has done. The Father has sent His son. In turn, the Father together with the Son has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell the church. The focus of the ministry of the Spirit is to speak of Jesus and the Father:
Galatians 4:4-6: But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’
Here lies the basic premise of all the actions of God:
From the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit (Robert Letham, p 413).
This is how Father God relates to us: from His heart, through His Son, by the Holy Spirit.
Remember salvation and the relationship come from the Father’s heart. It is given through His Son, who has paid the price for sin. It is enjoyed by the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Our relationship to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is similar - at least all three of the Trinity are involved.
Ephesians 2:18: For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Jesus gives us access to God, which is ultimately access to the Father (1 Timothy 2:5). It is the Spirit who gives us life instead of death (Ephesians 2:1-10). Saving faith is the gift of God given to us by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).
So God relates to us: From the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit.
We see this pattern in the Bible:
Father glorifies the Son:
John 17:5: And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
The Son glorifies the Father:
John 12:27-28: ‘Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’
The Spirit glorifies both Father and the Son:
John 16:13-14: But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
Galatians 4:6: Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’
God relates to us: From the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit.
We relate to God: by the Holy Spirit, through Christ, to the Father.
So is it OK to worship the Holy Spirit?
In one sense we do anyway. As soon as we say, “I worship you God,” the whole of the Trinity is being talked about even though we don’t realise it sometimes. God is shorthand for Father-Son-Spirit.
The Spirit though will always take any worship directed to Him and give it to the Son and the Father? Why? because the Spirit’s role is to draw attention to what the Father has done through the Son.
That’s the whole point of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians, that we would not worship the gifts but the gift-giver.
The gifts of the Spirit work the same way as everything else in the Kingdom: from the Father, through the Son, by Spirit.
When these are manifest in the life of the believer the worship they encourage is by the Spirit through Christ, to the Father.
So do we worship the Spirit. Yes, in the broadest sense, because He is God. No, in the sense that He will always draw attention to Jesus and the Father.
In my experience when I have tried to worship the Holy Spirit I find myself speaking in tongues and end up worshipping the Son and Father. Why? Because it is the Spirit by whom we cry Abba Father (Galatians 4:6).
I think of the Spirit (in this sense) as the current preacher in Trinity. He is speaking of the Father and bringing attention to Jesus. That’s what a good, Bible based preacher will do. They will always point you to Jesus, not themselves. As soon as a preacher starts to say, “Look at me!” rather than, “Look at Jesus!” you know there’s gong to be problems. The Spirit in the relationship within the Trinity always says, “ look at father, look at Jesus!”
Prayer: To all of the Trinity?
The Christian prayer is distinctly Trinitarian. The Christian faith exists in an atmosphere saturated by the Trinity (Robert Letham, p 414).
As Trinitarians, we not only pray to the Father, in the Spirit, through the Son, but we also pray to the Father, to the Son, and to the Spirit.
Each of the members of the Trinity are to be prayed to, to be adored, to be verbally glorified, for they are all God and must be equally honoured. Trinitarian worship brings glory to each member of the Trinity equally, recognising the role each plays in our salvation.
All prayer should be directed to our Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Bible teaches that we can pray to one or all three, because all three are one.
Praying to the Father:
Psalm 5:2: Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
Praying to the Lord Jesus:
Stephen prayed this as he was being martyred:
Acts 7:59: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’
We are also to pray in the name of Jesus.
Paul exhorted the Ephesian believers to always give “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20). Jesus assured His disciples that whatever they asked in His name—meaning in His will—would be granted (John 15:16; 16:23).
The danger is that this just becomes monotonous or some kind of formula, “I press this spiritual button and out pops my answer from the heavenly ATM.”
When we pray in the name of Jesus we are using shorthand to say: “I am believing in faith that Jesus is who He says He is, that He has died for my sins and led me into a new relationship with Father God. Therefore I am ending this prayer as child of God with full rights to all that God has for me! I am declaring this to the powers that be that this prayer is powerful unstoppable and will reach the heart of the Father. I am reminding the Father that I am His and He is mine! I am praying in faith knowing that He has heard me, Amen!”
Praying in the Spirit:
We are told to pray in the Spirit and in His power. The Spirit helps us to pray, even when we do not know how or what to ask for:
Romans 8:26: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
Ephesians 6:18: And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Jude 20: But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit
Perhaps the best way to understand the role of the Trinity in prayer is that we pray to the Father, through (or in the name of) the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. All three are active participants in the believer’s prayer.
There are times when we don’t know how or what to pray: pray in tongues for then we are speaking mysteries to God and, at the same time, building up our own spirit. When this happens faith rises. I often pray in tongues for these two reasons. I also don’t do this exclusively, for I need my mind needs to come into agreement with what the holy Spirit and my spirit are praying. (1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, 14, 15).
I am primarily referring to private prayer here. In church prophecy is more beneficial than uninterpreted tongues in a public setting (1 Corinthians 14: 5, 6, 9, 13, 18-19).
So can we pray to the Holy Spirit as well as the Father and Jesus? Yes. In a broad sense we do. Like worship when we pray to God we are praying to the whole Trinity. We can, and do, pray to the Holy Spirit: “come Holy Spirit,” is not a bad prayer. Nor is, “Holy Spirit fill me now!”
John Piper observes this: So the pattern that you find almost uniformly—I say almost uniformly—throughout the New Testament is to pray to the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit… But if you got into the habit of praying to the Holy Spirit all the time—"You're my Benefactor. I pray to you"—you would be out of sync with the pattern of the New Testament. (By John Piper. ©2015 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org)
The role of the Spirit in prayer is to enable us to pray God’s will (the will of the Trinity). Remember the Spirit is present with us too, He is our advocate and helper. We can talk to Him. Again I often find I speak in tongues though as I begin to commune with Him.
When we pray something in the Spirit there is a faith and confidence level that is lacking if we don’t. The hallmark of a Pentecostal believer will be their prayer life! Prayer meetings should be full! Because the spirit of prayer is the Holy Spirit!
Faith-filled prayers are Spirit-filled prayers. Sometimes this means we pray things beyond ourselves and believe for more than we can possibly ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
When you couple praying in the Spirit and praying in the name of Jesus in faith heaven explodes. This has happened to me a couple of occasions (forgive me for repeating a story you may have heard before).
The prayer time in the home groups was about to begin. We were told by someone of their friend’s two year old daughter who had been diagnosed with a form of cancer that had spread and had been given a few days to live. They were not Christians but agreed to the group praying (who wouldn’t in the face of such circumstances). So we begin. The prayers started out like: “Lord Jesus, if it’s your will,” and “Take her quickly Lord.” Something inside me rose up and the thought came to me which I obviously said our loud because everyone stopped and looked at me: “She’s not dead yet! I don’t think they asked us to pray for her to die!” Silence! Then the group leader looked at me and said, “Well then, you pray!” I did. I prayed in tongues for a minute or so. I then prayed everything I could think of praying. In the Spirit, in the name of Jesus. Next week we came back to group and heard that she was still alive. Next week, same story. And the next, and the next and the next. She lived!
Not every prayer has been answered so dramatically. I have found this over the 35 years I have been saved: when we pray, some do get healed; when we don’t pray, none get healed!
These prayers don’t have to be loud (although sometimes faith rises and we can’t contain the excitement) but they are always earnest and passionate.
Wrapping This Up:
So the doctrine of the trinity is not merely an academic exercise. It is the reality in which the Born Again believer resides in everyday.
God has revealed Himself as Trinity, One who is Three. We can’t adequately illustrate this or describe it. Our understanding of this also affects every area of belief we have.
We also live in the reality of communing with all members of the Trinity which empowers our worship and our prayer lives!
Blog Bonus:
For further help in understanding this and some of the heresies concerning this doctrine go to http://www.gospeloutreach.net/trinity.htm for a useful article.
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