So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. ~ Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)
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Do we take for granted the fact that we're able to stand before the God of the universe? Do we remember Who and what makes that possible?
It's Jesus. Only Jesus.
Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
~ Hebrews 7:23-28 (NIV)
It is by Him that we are made presentable to stand before the throne of God. In our sinful rags, we're a mess and unworthy to ask anything of the King of Kings. But when we choose to follow Jesus and accept for ourselves the sacrifice He made on our behalf, we get new spiritual clothes -- Christ's righteousness. He is our ticket to God. He paved the way.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
~ John 14:6 (NIV)
So, yes, we can come boldly to God in prayer. But humbly, too, as we remember Him who loved us so much, that He gave all He had to get us there. As you talk to God today, remember to thank Jesus for granting you access to the Father. Give Him the glory that is due Him!
And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
~ Revelation 5:9-12 (NIV)
Love,
Joelene
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Verse of the Day - Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. ~ Psalm 5:3 (NIV)
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I know many people have their quiet time with God in the morning. It does help that, in the morning, we're somewhat refreshed from a nights' sleep, and can rally our thoughts into prayers to the Lord. Nighttime is not my best discussion time with God -- I'm usually so tired by then, God probably feels like the Verizon commercial..."Can you hear me now?" All He hears from me are "zzz's". I read once that one of the stalwarts of the Christian faith used to allot a full two hours to prayer in the morning before starting his day, feeling out of sorts if he didn't. Wow! And mornings are great for morning people, like me. But mornings aren't for everyone (I can hear the "amens"!), so don't worry if you just can't clear the brain fog in the morning to talk coherently with God. There is no law that says God hears better in the morning, or only answers prayers before noon. :-) Talking to Him is what's important, not so much when...
And if prayer is simply your communication with God, two hours might not seem too far out...it's like chatting on the phone with a good friend! But if prayer seems like drudgery to you, an obligation you perform because it seems the thing to do as a Christian, I'm sure even five minutes will seem like an eternity.
Relationship, not religion. That's the essence of prayer. Talking to our Father and pouring out all of our hurts, joys, needs, wants, praises, pleas. He is a great listener and hears every word. Not only that, but He has the whole world in His hands -- He's big enough to manage everything we face, to give us what we need to be His children in this world, to help us sort out His will versus our will.
David made an important point in this verse. He waited in expectation for God to answer. That says two things to me:
~ He was listening for God's answers
~ He believed God would answer
Are we good listeners when it comes to our prayers? Are we confident that God will answer?
Sometimes, we're like Chatty Cathy's --- talk, talk, talk! But the listening part gets short-changed. We say "amen" and go on about our business, and God says, Hey, I was talkin' here! Being quiet before God is a discipline, I think, that takes practice.
And as far as being confident in God's answering goes? Well, frankly, I think it's not so much that we question whether God will answer, but we just aren't confident in how God will answer, and rightly so! We don't know the big picture of God's plan, and we're fallen creatures and often pray selfishly. We want what we want, and we're afraid God will say 'no'. And He often does. Praise God for that! We need to be rescued from ourselves...we need the shaping that occurs when He answers against our grain. But this shaping is done to help us have more of the mind of Christ, to want what God wants, to submit to His plan and give Him room to do what is best.
Prayer isn't a lucky coin you wish on and plunk into a fountain. It's open conversation with your deepest and dearest Friend --that is, if you want it to be...
Love,
Joelene
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know many people have their quiet time with God in the morning. It does help that, in the morning, we're somewhat refreshed from a nights' sleep, and can rally our thoughts into prayers to the Lord. Nighttime is not my best discussion time with God -- I'm usually so tired by then, God probably feels like the Verizon commercial..."Can you hear me now?" All He hears from me are "zzz's". I read once that one of the stalwarts of the Christian faith used to allot a full two hours to prayer in the morning before starting his day, feeling out of sorts if he didn't. Wow! And mornings are great for morning people, like me. But mornings aren't for everyone (I can hear the "amens"!), so don't worry if you just can't clear the brain fog in the morning to talk coherently with God. There is no law that says God hears better in the morning, or only answers prayers before noon. :-) Talking to Him is what's important, not so much when...
And if prayer is simply your communication with God, two hours might not seem too far out...it's like chatting on the phone with a good friend! But if prayer seems like drudgery to you, an obligation you perform because it seems the thing to do as a Christian, I'm sure even five minutes will seem like an eternity.
Relationship, not religion. That's the essence of prayer. Talking to our Father and pouring out all of our hurts, joys, needs, wants, praises, pleas. He is a great listener and hears every word. Not only that, but He has the whole world in His hands -- He's big enough to manage everything we face, to give us what we need to be His children in this world, to help us sort out His will versus our will.
David made an important point in this verse. He waited in expectation for God to answer. That says two things to me:
~ He was listening for God's answers
~ He believed God would answer
Are we good listeners when it comes to our prayers? Are we confident that God will answer?
Sometimes, we're like Chatty Cathy's --- talk, talk, talk! But the listening part gets short-changed. We say "amen" and go on about our business, and God says, Hey, I was talkin' here! Being quiet before God is a discipline, I think, that takes practice.
And as far as being confident in God's answering goes? Well, frankly, I think it's not so much that we question whether God will answer, but we just aren't confident in how God will answer, and rightly so! We don't know the big picture of God's plan, and we're fallen creatures and often pray selfishly. We want what we want, and we're afraid God will say 'no'. And He often does. Praise God for that! We need to be rescued from ourselves...we need the shaping that occurs when He answers against our grain. But this shaping is done to help us have more of the mind of Christ, to want what God wants, to submit to His plan and give Him room to do what is best.
Prayer isn't a lucky coin you wish on and plunk into a fountain. It's open conversation with your deepest and dearest Friend --that is, if you want it to be...
Love,
Joelene
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