Prayer Letter 26

2/20/2026

Prayer Letter 26

Jay Ayers

Dear Friends –

About twenty years ago, I was going along on youth mission trips with the high school kids at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, listening to their concerns and occasionally answering their questions. I realized that I wanted to write a book for those students: The Trinity for Teens. I started writing it. I quickly got bogged down. My efforts to get unstuck were unsuccessful.

So time went by. I served as pastor for other churches. I wrote some other things. I got sick, and retired, and got sicker. Cancer, surgery, chemotherapy. Heart blockages, surgery, recovery. Dialysis. Slow recovery of strength and stamina. (I walked a mile and a half this past Wednesday. That’s progress.)

I still have those computer files from two decades ago (five or six computers ago, ha!). Dang, some of that twenty-years-old writing was … let’s call it: pretty clunky. But just before this past Christmas, I suddenly saw how the book should go. I’ve been working on it for two months now, and have five chapters pretty well drafted, out of twelve (I think).

Here are a few of the main ideas.

An introductory understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity is approximately as hard as an introductory understanding of chemistry. That is, if you can pass high school chemistry, you can get a basic understanding of the Trinity.
Also like chemistry, the doctrine of the Trinity is non-intuitive. If we give you the final exam on the first day of chem class, you will fail. You can’t fake your way through it on the basis of everyday life experiences. You have to do the homework to learn the material.
The doctrine of the Trinity can be presented in such a way that high school students can get it. We often tell them they can’t, that the Trinity is a deep mystery that no one can grasp, all we can do is accept the doctrine and bow before the mystery. But let’s not sell our teens short. Sure, no human can understand everything about the mind of God; but we can understand a great deal, if someone shows us how.
And it’s really worth it. It is a wondrous thing, to have a basic understanding of how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit touch our lives, with specific ministries and blessings.

As I work on the remaining chapters, I’m looking for some preliminary readers, who would be willing to receive the introduction and the first few chapters, read them, and provide some feedback to me. (You might not be a teen now, but most of you were at some point in your life.) I’m looking for answers to questions like these:

How would you assess the level of the writing? I’m not trying to dumb down the topic so teens can get it; I’m trying to present challenging material with enough clarity that teens can get it.
Do you find the material persuasive? Or does it feel like the text doesn’t quite make the point it wants to make?
Could you see your Sunday School class or book club discussing a book like this? Or would they dismiss it as ‘too easy’ or ‘too hard’ or …

If you’d be willing to take a look, I’d be grateful. Send your email address to jayers55@gmail.com, and I’ll send the sample material to you. Thanks!

In the meantime: My last chemotherapy treatment was two years ago this month. I won’t be eligible for a kidney transplant until I’m five years past chemotherapy. That seems like a long time to wait; but it’s closer than it used to be. Tomorrow will be my 71st birthday. I am nearing full recovery from heart surgery this past June, with an occasional twinge in my sternum when I sneeze. Today I am in our home dialysis lab, getting my fourth treatment for this week. At-home dialysis has been a terrific blessing for us. Micaela has become an experienced and competent partner, running prep, inserting the needles, monitoring the process. It’s so much easier for us to do this in our own house, rather than driving to a lab in Grand Rapids three times a week.

Ash Wednesday has begun the season of Lent, a time for each of us to rededicate our hearts to loving devotion to our Lord. Perhaps you have chosen a particular discipline to follow, with the intention that you will grow in grace thereby. Perhaps you have not. Either way, I pray that your heart will feel the presence of the Lord in these days, and rejoice.

Thank you, again and always, for your prayers for Micaela and me.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all –