February 24, 2016

Hebrews 4:16  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Do you ever feel like you are far away from God?  Do you ever feel like your prayers aren't even reaching the ceiling, let alone God's throne?  I know there are times that I feel that way, and it often times overwhelms me to the point that I just don't pray.  Or many times I find that when I walk away from prayer and then feel guilty, it is because I didn't know what to pray in the first place. When I consider the above Scripture, I find that I struggle with lack of confidence to boldly approach God's throne.  I think too often we make praying way too difficult.

First of all, we need to remember it is a throne of grace we are approaching.  Secondly, we need to remember we don't have to offer the solution to our prayers as we pray, for instance:  give me wisdom.  Maybe it is not wisdom that we need.  If you reread the above Scripture, you will see that what we receive when we go the throne of God with confidence is mercy and grace.  Isn't that enough?  Absolutely!

Remember the sinner in Luke 18, whose prayer and attitude was applauded by Jesus; he merely muttered, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"  Between his words and his posture, he got his prayer across to God.  Sometimes I think it is acceptable to think about coming to the throne confident, but confident that you are a sinner in need of mercy.  Let God put the rest of the equation together.  Is there ever a time you are not in need of God's mercy and grace?  I think not.

So pray, and pray often confident in the fact that you are a sinner in need of God's mercy and grace.  That is a prayer I can guarantee you will always break through the ceiling and soar to the very throne of our Merciful God.