Praying the Mission (7): The Family of the Father, Part 2 - Defending the Unity of the Father's Family

8/8/2019 Praying the Mission (7): The Family of the Father, Part 2 - Defending the Unity of the Father's Family

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P r a y i n g t h e M i s s i o n ( 1 ) : K n o w i n g t h e F a t h e r Page 2

Church Power + Church Politics + Church Money = A Nasty Underbelly of Division

The nasty underbelly Ive come to see more clearly is that so much of the church today is runlike a business. That means many churches are too often about money, namely making it andspending it. While I agree that certain business principles can be brought into the church to

make things run smoother and more efficiently, essentially helping us work smarter and notharder, I also deeply feel the inward tug of desiring worldly gain like any other Americanbreathing the air of the American Dream. Too many churches, at least in America, havebreathed this air deeply and find themselves drifting into an atmosphere of biblical unreality,totally blinded to the black and white teachings of Jesus regarding money. So Ive seen severalchurches split in my lifetime over money.

And with the urge to make and spend money, to bu ild a big and successful organization, alsocomes politics. Where theres power to be had and money to give and spend, there are peoplewanting a piece of it, many of them vying for the biggest piece so they can have the biggest say.This is another part of the nasty underbelly of church, and Jesus hates it, frankly. Thosechurches whom Ive been a part of who have also had a healthy or even enormous amount of money in the bank have been those where the most politicking has occurred. Decisions aremade based on pragmatics and human reasoning all of which are called wisdom by manyleaders, but foolishness to God. And so Ive seen several churches split in my lifetime overpower and control in the local church.

Reading Between the Denominational and Doctrinal Lines That Cause Division

Then we have those who have attempted to draw some pretty bold and dogmatic lines forchurches and denominations in the past. Those lines say things like inerrancy of Scriptureand sound doctrine. But no matte r how boldly you draw those lines and writes those words,theres a very deep chasm of inconsistency between those lines into which many fall into whocannot tow the line or are not on the same page. So Ive also seen churches split becauseof doctrinal disagreements, which of which, Im convinced, were not entirely untainted bystruggles over money, control or power.

Its hard to imagine it, but according to the World Christian Encylopedia , Christianity consistsof 6 major ecclesiastico-cultural blocs, divided into 300 major ecclesiastical traditions,composed of over 33,000 distinct denominations in 238 countries. 1 Within Christianity, theauthor of this article in the Encyclopedia counts 33,820 denominations. And his article was

written in the 2001 edition, some nine years ago. At the risk of sounding a little juvenile, I justthink thats the most retarded thing I can possibly imagine. But its true.

1 David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson. The World Christian Encyclopedia: AComparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001),1:16, Table 1-5.


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The reason I think its so retarded is because we split up and separate from one another o verthe most bizarre and stupid and asinine things. The Baptist denominations were founded as aresult of separation from other groups around or just after the Reformation. The reason wasonly their difference regarding the mode of water baptism. The Reformation brought with itthe continuation of infant baptism from the Catholic Church, but a group of believers scornfully

labeled the Anabaptists believed that once a person had been truly converted, they ought tobe water baptized by immersion again as an adult. And just to show you how bizarre this issuegot, many leaders in the reformation vein actually persecuted and murdered Anabaptists. Overwater. The history is shocking and horrifying and serves as just one small example amongmyriads that Christians have a tendency to hurt one another and separate from one anotherover doctrinal lines they boldly and dogmatically and arrogantly draw. One would think, forexample, that if baptism were that kind of issue, worth killing each other over, Jesus wouldhave been a little more clear about it in His gospels.

The Enlightenment and Its Contribution to Division in the Church

I cant help but think that this line of thinking has largely been handed down to us through theembedding of the Enlightenment into our cultures for the last five hundred plus years. Thatperiod of history brought about a Renaissance of the intellect whereby scientific discovery bymen like Isaac Newton and others forged the way for a new kind of thinking. That thinkinglargely di smissed mystery and replaced it with rationale. If it couldnt be tested, observed,examined, analyzed or proven then it had no place in life. And that kind of thinking has been sowoven into our cultures, throughout the world, that we have come to largely base our doctrinalsystems and beliefs and alignments with what can be intellectually worked out on paper.

As a result, we end up with thousands of doctrinal statements which various groups want to getsigned by whoever will agree with them. The result is that further and deeper divisioncontinues to be forged between Christians who have so much to agree upon, namely the life,earthly ministry, death, resurrection, ascension and heavenly ministry of Jesus Christ for Hischildren right now. Im not sure Ive ever met someone who called themselves a Christian whodidnt agree on these things.

But when we come to other matters like the end of the world, the judgments in Revelation, themode of baptism, spiritual gifts, church government, Bible versions, etc. are these really of suchmassive significance that they warrant, if not somehow demand , a separation from otherChristians who dont agree with us? I mean, do we really have to have all these areas analyzed

with our enlightened rationale so that we have hammered them all out with such a deepdegree of agreement in detail? Science continues to press into the knowledge of matter, whichdrives them to understand how things work on the most microscopic, subatomic, nanoscopic,string theorized levels. And I say, Go for it! Lets work on figuring all this out because, Ibelieve, its part and parcel of taking dominion over the earth God gave us.

However, there will always be points at which our knowledge and ability to observe, analyze,and rationalize will be severely and massively limited. We bump up against this brick wall, and


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its called mystery. But enlightened minds arent satisfied with this, so we move on, drivingdeeper and deeper, trying to peer further and farther. This essentially does nothing more thanbuild and develop and refine two idols in our lives.

The first is the idolization of our own thirst for knowledge. We want to know. Period. We

simply cannot be satisfied until we have analyzed and understood everything we get our handson. The second is the idolization of knowledge itself. We want to know . We are frustrated andderailed when we dont have answers. We let the lack of answers so totally throw us off thatwe spend our entire lives trying to figure it all out.

But what about mystery? Is this not the territory where God makes His majesty known to usand pr esents Himself to us asGod? Is this not what makes Him God and us humans? Isnt itmystery that makes Him infinite and us infinite? So when we bump up against mystery, whichis simply something we cannot answer, then why do our minds race and stomachs churn? Whydo our hearts fret? Why do we give in to frustration? Why do we submit to what we call

confusion, yet what God simply calls mystery?

This is where we can thank the Enlightenment for derailing the church from its marriage tomystery. The Enlightenment filed divorce papers between the church and mystery, so that nowwe have been able to sleep with Enlightenment for the last five hundred years. And look at allthe children weve had out of wedlock! About 33,820and counting.

What About Agr eementDoctrinally and Practically?

On this point I have always been countered by the argument, how can two walk togetherunless they be agreed? And to that I counter, Love one another. Thats how. Thats why

Jesus repeated it and exhibited it as the theme of his life . Thats why Paul repeated it. Thatswhy Peter repeated it. Thats why John repeated it. Love is the most significant, foundational,elemental piece of this whole thing we call Christianity. And when love for one anotherabounds, we care more about each other than we do our doctrinal distinctives anddenominational lines.

Thankfully, the maturing process of postmodernism is eroding the effects of the Enlightenment.It is bringing to the surface the most obvious point of all: any rationale and enlightenedthinking I bring to the table about anything is tainted by my imperfection and by my culturalbackground. Therefore, any objectivity I attempt to apply to a matter is actually, and

necessarily, trapped within a sphere of subjectivity. There is objecti vity. But its always guidedand influenced by my subjectivity. And its impossible for it to be otherwise. The result of thisline of thinking is that it seems to be producing a greater sense and desire of forbearance andpatience with one another so that we can more and more genuinely love one another.

John Pipers attempt several years ago, for example, to change the doctrin al stance of hischurch to receive those baptized as babies into the membership of the church is so obvious inlight of what Jesus actually died for. Jesus Christ didnt die for doctrine. He died for people. He


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so loved the world and not our so -loved theological interests. His blood unites, while Hispeople have shed blood to divide. Unfortunately, his church was not at a place where theywanted to take that step. But Piper did, and it reflects an attitude or milieu of the times which,with all the baggage it brings with it, offers a more loving approach to dealing with people, byinsisting on a reintroduction of mystery back into the equation. Just because I cant understand

it, analyze it, comprehend it, rationalize it, observe it, or whatever, doesnt mean it isnt true.One author has stated.

Did we, under a clearer sense of our adoption of God, with a deeper convictionof the debt we owed to Him for this signal bestowment of His grace, walk incloser converse with God, the things which separate us from the family of God, -the differences of ecclesiastical polity, of modes of worship, the hard speeches,the slights, the woundings, the misunderstandings which engender so muchsuspicion, coldness, and alienation among the saints, - would be buried and lostsight of as the rugged rocks appear beneath the flowing tide. Love love to theone Father

would prompt us to throw the mantle of love over the one

brotherhood 2

But this denominationalism, sectarianism, and religious class-warring is nothing new. Ithappened in the Old Testament, Gods people killing their own to get what they want. Ithappened in the New Testament church, according to James (3:1 ff.). It has happenedthroughout church history. But in all of this is seen a much grander picture than simply theoutward unity which I so passionately long for. In the midst of all the divisive chaos so manychurches have both caused and experienced, we see the patient, kind, forbearing, gentle, andinfinitely loving work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all workingtogether to embrace those who have a hard time embracing each other. In other words, whenwe are faithless, He remains faithful (2 Tim. 2:13). He remains faithful to His covenant madewith His Son, Jesus Christ, for the life of His bride, the church. A whole lot may separate ourlove for one another like He has commanded. But nothing separates us from His love. And thatis frankly amazing, outstanding, breathtaking, and almost unbelievable.

The Love of the Father is the Soil in Which the Unity of His Children Takes Root

It is here in the unstoppable and inseparable love of the Father for His own that we find thebasis for the type of unity Jesus prayed for in John 17, which is the basis for the type of unityamong His children that He intended to teach when He prayed, Our Father. Jesus prayed that

we would all be one just as He and the Father are one (John 17:21, 23). In other words, justas the Father and Son cannot be separated, neither should the children of the Father and thebrothers of the Son.

Its unthinkable that two members of the Trinity could possibly be separated from each other inheart, mind, soul, and mission. So also, it ought to be unthinkable to us that any two or more

2 Winslow, pp. 35-36 .
http://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA34#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA34#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA34#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA34#v=twopage&q&f=false


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believers would be separable from each other in heart, mind, soul, and mission. And what isthe mission of the Father? Only the mission of the Son! And what was the mission of the Son?Only the mission of His church. And what is the mission of the church? Through their unity tolead the world to believe that the Father sent the Son and loved them (17:23).

Being United to the Father Also Means Being United to Each Other

The whole mission of the church then is predicated upon this concept of unity, Jesus prays foreven now ! And that unity is predicated upon rather simple facts like this one: If I am a child of God, I am a brother to all Gods children. 3 The existence of one relationship inseparablymeans the existence of the other relationship. When Jesus reconciled us to God the Father, Healso reconciled us to one another. That is essentially the single theological point driven homehard by Paul in Ephesians 2, perhaps one of the most significant chapters in the entire Bible onreconciliation with God and each other.

When He teaches us how to pray, Jesus is implicitly clear inOurFather that when we turn our voices and hearts to the Father,

we do not ever turn our back on our spiritual kin. In perhaps thegreatest devotional book I have read on the Lords Praye r byOctavius Winslow in 1866, his words capture my passion themost.

I am indeed privileged and oh, how great and preciousthat privilege is! to call God My Father, but I mustnever forget that Jesus taught me to say, in concert withone family, Our Father. And that when I enter into my

closet it is my privilege, as my duty, to bear before myFather, not my personal sins and sorrows only, but thosealso of the holy brotherhood to which, by divineaffiliation, I belong. 4

He goes on to write an amazing paragraph that exalted my view of Christ like never before.

The unity of His Church was a truth dear to the heart of Christ. As the hour of His mysterious passion darkened, this truth dilated before His mind andoccupied a more distinct and prominent place in His discourse. Foreseeing the

divisions of sect and the differences of judgment and the alienation of affectionwhich would spring up in His Church after His ascension to glory defacing itsbeauty and impairing its strength standing as beneath the shadow of His cross,He prostrates Himself at the feet of His Father, and binding the whole

3 Octavius Winslow. The Lords Prayer: Its Spirit and Its Teaching (London: John F. Shaw & Co., 1866), p.27 .

4 Ibid, p. 28 .
http://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA26#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA26#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA26#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA26#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA28#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA28#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA28#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA28#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA26#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA26#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA26#v=twopage&q=if%20i%20am%20a%20child%20of%20god&f=false


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brotherhood around His heart, He prays, That they all may be ONE, as Thou,Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they all may be one in us; that the worldmay believe that Thou has sent me. This sublime petition of the GreatIntercessor is being partially answered now in every act of brotherly love, inevery recognition of fraternal relation, in every lovely, loving effort to manifest

and promote the visible unity of the Church.5

Winslows insights into the connection between what we call catholicity and the Lords Prayerare undeniable. If the Father is a Father of a family, and if the Fathers love is imparted andinstalled into His sons and daughters, then that Fatherly love will reach out and connect toothers who have been loved by the Father. John taught this in his first epistle.

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we shouldlove one anotherWe love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God,and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom hehas seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment wehave from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother (3:11; 4:19 -21).

Two Reasons Jesus Teaches us to Pray OUR Father

Pretty obvious then, isnt it? So when it comes to praying to the Father, Jesus says Our Fatherbasically for two reasons.

The first reason Jesus teaches us to pray Our Father is because He cant conceive of Hisbrothers and sisters the sons and daughters of the Father not praying together . Prayer inthe closet is one thing, and it is a good thing, as Jesus taught in Matthew 6 just previous to Histeaching on the Lords Prayer. But He moves from teaching about private prayer tounderstanding the corporate na ture of prayer. And in simple, heres what it looks like :Christians praying together .

This is not modeled anywhere better than in the early church. After the resurrection of Jesusfrom the dead, the church is huddled together as a corporate praying people. They were unitedin grief by their murdered Messiah. And they were united in joy by their resurrectedRedeemer. Then they were united in prayer by their hope in the Spirit of the Savior. Whenthe day of Pentecost arrived, they were all togethe r in one place (Acts 2:1). After Pentecost,they were united in prayer together in devotion to worship. And they devoted themselves

tothe prayers (Acts 2:42). Later they were united in prayer by their partnership with theirPersecuted Prince.

When *Peter and John+ were released, they went to their friends and reportedwhat the chief priests and elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they

5 Ibid, pp. 28-29


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lifted their voices together to God And when they had prayed, the place inwhich they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the HolySpirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:23 -24).

I have often wondered as a pastor if my shepherding attempts throughout my years of ministry

efforts have not been impeded and inhibited by a lack of corporate praying. Praying together as a body is the greatest reflection of unity in a local church. Man! That makes me want toradically alter and shift and change the way I do things as a leader. Praying together is the bestway to be the unified people Jesus prays that we would be in John 17.

The second reason Jesus taught us to pray Our Father is be cause any approach to theFather necessarily and inherently and explicitly acknowledges and embraces that He hasother children besides me. Christians must go to the Father in prayer with no otherunderstanding of the Father except that which understands Him as a Father to many other sonsand daughters. In other words, when we come to the Father in private prayer we simplycannot pray to Him without a heart-attitude about our unity with one another that isinterwoven into the very fabric of our attitudes and words in prayer. Coming right off the heelsof private prayer, Jesus begins His teaching on prayer with first-words that group me intogether with everyone else in the family of the Father. So if Im going to engage in privateprayer, I simply cannot do it without this mindset dominating my prayer life.

In short, there can be no individualism when it comes to praying to the Father. While you arebringing your needs to the Father, and while He cares about them, those needs must betempered with the same needs other brothers and sisters have. Peter speaks like this, forexample, when he teaches the persecuted and scattered believers about spiritual warfare andprayer.

casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober -minded;be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeingsomeone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kindsof suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world (1Pet. 5:7-9).

This is a call to all of us now to defy individualism. I isnt part of our. Believers cannot thinkin terms of I but us and we and our. We are a familyall of us. And that is so anti-cultural, isnt it? Were trained from birth to worry and fight and secure comfort for ourselves

and then for one another. So we bring our worlds culture into our relationship with God sothat He is my God. And thats good and necessary, but to a certain degree.

It is good in one respect because many of us have never had anyone to love us and nurture usand take care of us, especially in a generation where fathers have abdicated their roles to theirwives and pursued their careers. But this also can be dangerous when not tempered with the

fact that Jesus died for a group of people, and not just for me. I cringe when I hear statementsor songs that tell me that if I were the only person on earth, Jesus would have died for me. The


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Bible always couches Christs death and Gods love in terms of a corporate group of people, andnot in terms of individualism.

Inherent in individualism is thinking of God as a Father only to me . We think of Him in ourindividual terms and concepts. We view Him through the filter we had of our own father, for

example, or perhaps as a Savior of our own personal hell or suffering. But this always run therisk of falling into the pothole of idolatry, or making God after our own image, after our ownlikeness. God is not my Father, but our Father. R. C. Sproul concurred when he wrote,

When I talk to someone who is having difficulty using the word Father andwants to choke on it when he refers to God, I usually advise him that, as hard asit may be, to focus on the word that comes before it, our , because our Father i snot his father. Our Father is not the father who violated him. Its our Father inheaven, our Father has no abuse in Him, who will never violate anyone. We allneed to learn to use this phrase and transfer to God the positive attributes thatwe so e

arnestly desire and so seriously miss in our earthly fathers.6

Two Reasons Why There Can Ultimately Be No Personal Relationship With Jesus

What Im trying to say here is that there can really and ultimately be no personal relationshipwith Jesus Chr ist. Christianity is not a me and Jesus thing. This is so for two reasons.

First, Jesus Christ is identified and known and interpreted by the world through His body, thechurch. To have a relationship with Jesus is to have a relationship with His body. Any claim tohave fellowship with Jesus but not with other believers is a farce. Its simply not possiblespiritually, theologically, or metaphysically. Paul taught this theology to the Corinthians.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of thebody, though many, are one body , so it is with Christ . For in one Spirit we wereall baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and all were madeto drink of one Spirit Now you are the body of Christ and individually membersof it (1 Cor. 12:12, 13, 27).

And to the Ephesians he taught the same thing. Referring to the wall of hostility between Jewsand Gentiles, Paul writes about the unifying person and work of Jesus Christ.

For he himse lf is our peace , who has made us both one and might reconcile usboth to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostilityForthrough him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are nolonger strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints andmembers of the household of GodChrist Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

6 Sproul. p. 26.


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in whom the whole structure, being joined together , grows into a holy temple inthe Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for Godby the Spirit (2:14, 16, 18 -22).

This leads me second to the fact that to focus on Jesus Christ is to also focus on His body, the

church. If you want to savor Jesus, you do so by serving the saints and loving one another. Youcant love Jesus and dis His Bride. He has chosen to manifest Himself through a corporatepeople called the church. So any conception you and I have about Jesus and our relationship toHim must be guided by and built in this theology of one people. He is inseparable from Hispeople.

Thats why, for example, in the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25, the goats weresent to hell. Because they did not do the things Jesus mentions there to the least of these mybrethren the goats did not in reality do those things to Jesus Himself. There is an inseparableunity and oneness Jesus has with His people so that they are intertwined, and what happens toone affects what happens to the other. Unity to Jesus necessarily and inherently means unityto other people who are united to Jesus.

So it is in light of this truth about our oneness together in Christs person and work that Paulwrites to the Ephesians about how they should be living with each other.

*W+ith all humility and gentleness, wit h patience, bearing with one another inlove, eager to maintain the spirit of unity in the bond of peace. There is onebody and one Spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs toyour call one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all , who isover all and through all and in allBe kind to one another , tenderhearted,forgiving one another , as God in Christ forgave you (4:2 -5, 32).

To the Philippians again, he writes,

*C+omplete my joy by being of the same mind , having the same love , being infull accord and of one mind . Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humilitycount others more significant than yourselves . Let each of you look not only tohis own interests, but also to the interests of others (2:3, 4).

Praying With This Mindset Will Morph and Guide Our Prayer Life

As we pray with a fuller, more richly theological understanding of the corporate body of Christand our unity together with Christ in the Father, I see several ways from Scripture in which ourprayer lives will be morphed and guided. We will be taught how to pray. We will becomeintercessors. And we will develop thanksgiving. Let me break these down briefly.

1. Praying With This Mindset Teaches us How to Pray Better


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It is crucial for sons and daughters of the Father then, to come to their Abba in prayer with acorporate sense of identity, instead of our own individual needs and wants as our culture andselfish nature trains us to do. I realize that the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8: 26 that, wedo not know what to pray for as we ought. But I also know that Paul is not saying, Dont learnhow to pray better. If that were true, then the Spirit would not have guided him to write

down so many of his prayers for the churches so that we could read and learn what prayer doesin fact look like.

In the Lords Prayer, Jesus teaches how to pray and what to pray for, as Paul says in Romans8:26. The fact that He is teaching us means that prayer is not something that comes naturallyto us. That, I believe, is the essence of what Paul is after in his statement about prayer inRomans 8, by the way. Jesus teaching on prayer is part of the renewing of our minds so thatwe can be transformed people (Rom. 12:2).

While we are born again, and while the old has gone and the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17), ournew nature inherently inclines us pray with the right attitude and heart. However, we still mustbe taught to do it and to think about prayer within the context of our corporate identity as onebody, and our unity together in Jesus Christ . So this is hard work were talking about her e, bothpraying and learning how to pray at the same time. Realizing that I am only a part of a huge family of the Father will effectively temper, shape, form, and morph the way I pray to theFather. In fact, t he mere word Father makes me immediately think of His other children sothat I am thrust into their needs and their sufferings.

2. Praying With This Mindset Develops a Biblical Intercessory Prayer Life

Commands and teachings like these are seen more clearly in light of how Jesus teaches us topray. Take this one for instance: Bear one anothers burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ(Gal. 6:2). Or this one: in humilit y count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil. 2:3 -4). Bearingone anothers burdens and counting others needs as more important than mine should happenfirst and foremost when we address our Father in prayer . This is called intercession and theApostle Paul defines it this way. Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer andsupplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all thesaints (Eph. 6:18, 19). When I have a deep sense of my oneness with my other brothers andsisters, praying for them will just flow rather naturally from my heart.

3. Praying With This Mindset Develops a Heart of Thanksgiving in our Prayer Life

Then theres thanksgiving which Paul modeled so well for us. Youll notice how many of theletters he writes begin with his personal prayer life and how the people he writes to actuallyshape his prayers. In other words, he actually engages with the content and substance of theirlife and allows that to guide how he prays. He doesnt pray cheesy -traditional prayers forpeople that weve heard so many times.


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You remember what Im talking about here: God we just wanna thank you for your servantsJohn and Joanna who so faithfully serve in ways we just have dont time to list. And we also just wanna lift up all our missionaries who are so faithfully serving you in foreign countries.Time just doesnt permi t us to remember each one of them here and now, but we just wannalift em up and ask you to bless em, Lord. Remember prayers like these? In churches w here I

grew up they were usually prayed by older people during Wednesday night prayer meetings, or just before the offering on Sunday mornings.

But if you compare this mindset and prayer life with what we actually see in the life and lettersof Paul, we get an altogether different picture of how a corporate identity and unity andoneness and togetherness in the body of Christ actually shape and morph our prayer life. Allowme to take a brief survey of Pauls personal prayer life to make this point. Ill then follow it upwith two simple observations.

Prayers Motivated and Guided by a Group of Believers

To the Philippian Church: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you , always inevery prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now (Phil. 1:3 -5). Listen to Pauls usage o f superlatives like all, always, every, and all. It doesnt appear that he left people out!

Likewise, since he was writing to them from prison, their prayers for him were shapedby a one -another mindset. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that thr ough your

prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance(1:18, 19).

To the Colossian Church : We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love youhave for all the saints (Col. 1:3, 4). Notice again the superlative, always. In otherwords, every single time he remembers one of the Colossians, he is always led to prayfor them and thank God for them. Also notice that Pauls personal prayer life is guidedand morphed by something remarkable he notices about the Colossian church. Therewas something specific about them that sparked him to thank God for them and prayfor them.

Conversely, his imprisoned situation should guide the Colossians as they pray for him.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the sametime, pray also for us , that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare themystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear, which ishow I ought to speak (4:2 -4). Then, we get another snapshot of one of Pauls apostolicteam members, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesusalwaysstruggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured inall the will of God (4:12).


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God so loved the world that He sent His only Son (John 3:16). God loved the world so much.He loved the world so much. He loved the world so much, that He gave . He gave by sendingHis only Son. The Father loved you and I and the world so much that He send His Son on amission to get us back to Himself.

The Father has handed that mission to Jesus, who has handed that mission to the disciples, whohave handed that mission down to us. And in each generation, the mission is still guided by thesame thing: so much love for one another that we are sent into the world to give of ourselvesso that others may believe in Christ and have eternal life. It is this love for one another that wecall unity. And when it pervades and dominates our lives, all the way down to the private areasno one sees or rewards (except for God, of course), then we are one people whom the worldcannot dismiss. We are a force to be reckoned with.

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the worldI do not askfor these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, sothat they may all be one, just as you Father, are in me, and I in you, that theyalso may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Theglory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even aswe are one, I In them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, sothat the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you lovedme (John 17:18, 20 -23).

Listen to Winslows words in closing on this issue of love.

Why should we not love, even though we differ? Why should we not unite,even though we are separated? Why should we not bear each others burdens,

and sympathise w ith each others trials, and aid each others efforts, and bowtogether at the footstool of the same Father, even though we are labouring forHim in sundered departments of the one house? If our love to the Father isgenuine, our love to the offspring of that Father will be true. Love to the one willbe the measure, as the evidence, of our love to the other. Oh, for more love!Were I asked what the first great need of the Church was, I should unhesitatinglyreply love . And what the second love . And what the third love .

I marvel not that our Lord added a new commandment, as it were, to theDecalogue That ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Love would

veil infirmities; love would seal the law of kindness upon the lip; love wouldrebuke slander, reprove falsehood, and suppress every thought, feeling, andword that would dishonor the Father through the child, wound the Saviorthrough the disciple, grieve the Master through the servant.

Realising our personal interest in Gods love, and remembering that He lovesalike all the children of His family, with what holy guardedness should we respectthe feelings, and shield the reputation, and promote the happiness of all the


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sons and daughters of God! Oh, how can I look coldly upon him whom Godsmiles? How dare I disown one whom Christ accepts? Where is the evidence of my own sonship if I unite not in heart and voice with my brother in saying, OurFather , who art in heaven? and while I breathe the filial words, feel not abrothers love glowing in my heart? 8

Why should we not, though of dif ferent communions, break through the fenceand leap over the wall of separation, and pour out our sorrowing hearts togetherin mutual fellowship at the feet of OUR Father in heaven? Could these happyspirits [in heaven], who have fled from the religious divisions and strifes of theChurch on earth, bend from their thrones and speak, with what holyearnestness, with what glowing love, with what celestial and touch eloquencewould they exclaim

Your different forms of church polity and worship are human , your essentialfaith and heavenly hopes are divine ! Oh, love as brethren! We now see the follyof our divisions, the sin of our contentions, the iniquity of our jealousies, strifes,and alienations. Here there are no different communions, no separating walls,no exclusive altars, - nothing to impair the power, or shade the lustre, or disturbthe music of that love which now knits every heart in the closest fellowship, andblends every voice in the sweetest song.

We are now with Christ! In the effulgence of His glory all is absorbed andannihilated that once created a cloud, or inspired a jarring note. His love sooverflows our souls that we are transformed into love, we are all love, andnothing but love toward one another. All our thoughts and feelings, worship andservice, so centre in Christ, that, forgetting earths divisions and strifes, or,remembering them but to deepen our humility and heighten our song, we nowfeel, as we have never felt before, how human, how light, how insignificant werethe things which once separated, - and how divine, how real, how lasting arethose which now unite us in a fellowship as holy, as close, and as eternal as theunity of the God we adore.

Let us endeavor to approximate, in some measure, to the sentiments andfeelings of the glorified saints. Let us realise in some degree what that love inheaven is that constrains the most fierce polemics and the widest sectarians,

who once wrote and spake and strove with each other so fiercely and so bitterly,each for his own communion, now to meet in the embrace of a love that buriesall the past of earths infirmities in its infinite depths of its eternal flow.

Oh, in the light of the one close view of eternity, in the experience of onemoments realisation of heaven, how unimportant and puerile the contentions

8 Winslow, pp. 37-38 .


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as to whose orders are the most valid, or whose church polity is the mostapostolic! OUR Father , who art in heaven! Look down upon Thy one family!And so fill it with Thy love, that, casting out all selfishness, coldness, andalienation, all may meet at Thy feet, and love as brethren, and worship Thee asthe one God and Father of all. 9

Do not speak ev il against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against abrother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law(James 4:11).

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart,and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on thecontrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing (1Pet. 3:8, 9).

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put awayfrom you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgivingone another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, asbeloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,a fragrant offering an d sacrifice to God (Eph. 4:31 -5:2).

Were these divine and holy precepts more conscientiously and strictlyobserved, were they entwined more closely with the intercourse of saint withsaint, and of the saints with the world in daily life, how much evil would beprevented, how much alienation of affection would be averted, how Christianbrethren, now sundered in the intercourse and fellowship bymisrepresentations, evil-speaking, and mischief-making, would be united in thesweetest communion and in the holiest service for Christ! Oh, to remember thatevery shaft hurled at a brothers fair fame pierces him through the heart of Jesus! 10

*A+s we approach eternity, and realise more the heavenly glory, do we not feela closer drawing towards all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity? Standingonce by the dying bed of a child of God, he stretched forth his emaciated hand,cold and clammy with the moisture of death, and, grasping mine, exclaimed,The nearer I get to heaven, the dearer to my heart are the Lords people of

every branch of His one family.

Such, too, was the testimony of, a few days before his death, of an eminentprofessor of an American university The longer I live the more clearly do I prizebeing a Christian, and the more signally unimportant seem to me the differences

9 Ibid, pp. 44-46. 10 Ibid , pp. 48-49 .
http://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA44#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA44#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA44#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA50#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA50#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA50#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA50#v=twopage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8rUCAAAAQAAJ&dq=octavious%20winslow%20lord%27s%20prayer&pg=PA44#v=twopage&q&f=false


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by which true Christians are separated from each other. How sweetly thesedying testimonies to the unity of the Church of Christ chine with the dying prayerof Christ Himself for His universal Church, That they all may be ONE. 11

11 Ibid , pp. 51-52 .

Documents

Praying the Mission (7): The Family of the Father, Part 2 - Defending the Unity of the Father's Family