The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together

by Jared C. Wilson

First Timothy 2:5 tells us, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This means that Jesus bridges the gap our sin creates between God and humanity, and because sin encompasses more than just our behavior but also our natural separation from God, and because Jesus’s atoning work satisfies more than just the penalty of sin but also reconciles us to God, it means that his intervention covers both our weak prayers and our unprayed prayers. I am not making this up. Even better, not only does Christ’s sufficiency cover the insufficiency of our prayer life, he himself is praying for us. Take a look at 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.” Jesus’s sacrifice and resurrection and exaltation mediate salvation to us and sustain that salvation. He is always interceding for us. His work is an eternal prayer to God on our behalf, and if the prayer of a righteous person is very powerful (James 5:16), then the prayer of Jesus, the very righteousness of God incarnate in man, is all-powerful. And this prayer is made on our behalf. But wait, it gets better. Can’t think of what to pray, how to pray, when to pray, or what to pray for? The Holy Spirit has you covered, just as the Son does. Paul writes: Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself interc...