Week 2 | Connection: In the Gaze of God, Matthew 3

As we engage in contemplative practice, we experience a shared awareness with the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:16 expresses the reality that “we have the mind of Christ.” This is an intimate picture of our shared awareness. As we surrender ourselves to God in quiet prayer, we are opening ourselves to the mind of Christ.

In the profound prayer found in the middle of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we see the Trinity at work leading us into the experience of being safe, seen, and secure as we surrender, sit, and see.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. 

Ephesians 3:14–21

Notice the way this passage parallels the words spoken at Christ’s baptism: the Father names us, the Son grounds us in love, and the Spirit strengthens us to see (know) that love at work in us. We are invited to knowthis “baptismal” identity in the context of prayerful attentiveness. In the last part of the prayer, notice the confession that this knowing happens beyond what we could ask or think. And the “knowing” of His love is an experiential knowing that goes beyond knowledge. These are realities that we become present to in quiet prayer.

In prayer, the Lord affirms with our spirit that we are safe, seen, and secure. Romans 8:16 makes this clear: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” As we hear the voice of the Spirit – as we rest in His gaze – we are listening in on the conversation (prayer) that is happening between Father, Son, and Spirit. Notice what is written a few verses later: 

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26–27

Jesus is a part of this prayer as we read in Hebrews 7:25, “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” 

This is explained in the Gospel of John, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (16:13–14).

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are holding us in prayerful conversation each moment. Truly, we are always on the mind of God. And as we enter into listening prayer, this is what we hear.

Certainly, there are times when the prayer shared within the Trinity is a quiet holding of our lives. So, while we may not have any words, there is a knowing – a sense of God’s presence and love.

Set a timer for a few minutes and simply listen. Surrender to His presence, sit in His love, and seek to see what He sees.

Prayer: Lord, may I be strengthened by the Spirit in my inner being, knowing the expansiveness of Your love. Amen.