Thursday | 18 September 2025
The first dimension of prayer for a son of God is that the Holy Spirit enables us to call God ‘our Father’. Mat 6:9. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of adoption. The apostle Paul declared, ‘For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, “Abba, Father”.’ Rom 8:15. It is important to recognise that the first prayer of a son of God is not a sinner’s prayer. It is the cry, ‘Abba, Father’, which is enabled by the Holy Spirit.
The second dimension of prayer is that the Holy Spirit enables us to seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Col 3:1. This means that we are not preoccupied with ourselves and the cares of the world. Like Abraham, we recognise that we are only pilgrims on this earth. Abraham ‘dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God’. Heb 11:9-10.
As a son of God, our citizenship is in heaven. Php 3:20. We have come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly Jerusalem. Heb 12:22. When our mind is set upon the things of the Spirit, the Jerusalem from above is our chief joy. Like the psalmist, we worship the Father by proclaiming, ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.’ Psa 48:1-2.
We ‘fall from the heights’ of Mount Zion and of the heavenly Jerusalem when we set our mind on the things of the flesh. Rev 2:5. When the word of Christ is proclaimed to us, it is the conviction of the Holy Spirit that compels and enables us to remember the heights from where we have fallen.
Further Study:
Psalm 87
References:
Mat 6:9
In this manner, therefore, pray: our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Rom 8:15
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’
Col 3:1
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Heb 11:9-10
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.
Php 3:20
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Heb 12:22
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels.
Psa 48:1-2
A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
Rev 2:5
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.