IN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
This is the introduction to a prayer booklet that I have written for the congregation I serve for Lent 2013. I am posting the prayers on facebook. If you are not on facebook, please friend me there.
I had some difficulty coming
up with a theme for a Lenten guide for this year. I hope that my decision to write prayers
related to the work of the Holy Spirit among us was a decision inspired or influenced
by the Holy Spirit.
Writing about the Holy
Spirit for Lent may seem to be jumping ahead of things a bit, since we don’t
see the dramatic outpouring of the Spirit until after the resurrection, at
Pentecost. But as we look at the life of
Jesus, as witnessed to in the gospels, we see that Jesus’ birth is described as
a work of the Spirit, and we see Jesus invested with the Holy Spirit at his
baptism. In other words, Jesus’ entire
life and ministry are done with the guidance and in the power of the Holy
Spirit.
If I were to write a more
systematic treatise about the work of the Holy Spirit, I could reasonably
include discussion of every event in Jesus’ life and in the life of the church
as described in the book of Acts. I have
not written something like that. So, I have
had to make some choices: first, I have chosen to write prayers related only to
passages that actually mention the Spirit or Holy Spirit; second, I have chosen
not to write prayers related to parallels.
So, for instance, there is only one prayer related to the Holy Spirit’s
presence at Jesus’ baptism, even though there are four baptism stories. Third, I have chosen not to be
comprehensive. So, instead of trying to
cover all that the Bible says about the work of God’s Spirit, I have started at
Matthew and written until I had enough prayers for the forty days of Lent. This has taken me most of the way through the
book of Acts, which means I can keep writing on this theme for a prayer guide
for 2014 (a sequel including much more about the gifts and fruit of the
Spirit!).
There is plenty of theology
in these prayers if you are inclined to think about a theology of the Holy
Spirit. In some quarters of the church,
we sometimes seem to forget about the Holy Spirit’s presence and work in our
lives. Our God seems more like a duality
than a Trinity. Perhaps these prayers
will be a reminder of the Spirit’s presence and God’s fullness.
The primary point of the
prayers is to get us or keep us praying for God’s guidance and empowerment in
our lives.
Please use these prayers to
guide you into more personal and specific prayer for yourself and for the life
of the Christian community to which you are committed. Edit the prayers for yourself. Go off on tangents. Let the Spirit lead you!
I have followed my usual
pattern of writing prayers in the first person plural, as a reminder that we
always pray as part of the church. We
are part of the holy people that God is creating for communion and for God’s own
glory. We are not individual stragglers
in the faith, even though it sometimes seems that way.
I have not followed my usual
pattern of providing an overwhelming number of scriptural passages to
read. Anyone who previously felt
compelled to read all of them can breathe a sigh of relief.
I always welcome feedback
(try: facebook David Antieau, send a message through my blog, or speak to me at church).
If I receive positive feedback, I smile, thank God, and move on with some sense
that I’m on the right track in terms of the use of the gifts God has given me,
while trying to keep my head from expanding beyond the size of my hat. If I receive negative feedback, I get a
little bit grumpy at first (maybe more than a little sometimes!), then think
about the feedback until I have discerned the truth that may be contained
therein. I then try to let that feedback
correct my own thinking, theology or writing as it seems appropriate.
If I haven’t lost you
already, I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide and empower you for your
journey of faith as you pray these prayers and add your own.
David K. Antieau
Pastor
St. Nicolai United Church of Christ
