No Greater Privilege

 

Going to bed with a need on my heart can make sleep elusive. I prayed, but the need nagged. Yet in the morning, the prayer was answered. God keeps surprising me with such things. Prayer is a tremendous privilege.

This morning, I did some reading on this topic and am so blessed with what God showed me. One commentator pointed out how the history of Israel was one of failure to trust and obey God as His ‘sons’ ought. Then when Jesus was baptized, God says: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22) and this author adds that heaven must have sighed with relief for finally here is a true Son who can (and will) perfectly trust, obey, and please His Father. He adds that to Jesus alone belonged the full privilege of prayer and access for only He could say with confidence to God, “I know that you always hear me” (John 11:41–42).

Then this: when we believe in Jesus Christ we are united to him and what is true of Jesus is true of us. We also have His perfect and secure access to the Father and when we pray in Jesus’ name, we do so with supreme confidence and yet humble dependence on His unmerited grace.

Now prayer means I can go into the presence of God without any mere hopes, fears, aspirations or my own thoughts. I am going to have communion with the living God! In Him, I can abandon being self-centered, always wanting something, but realize the greatness, glory and privilege of prayer — the everlasting God is listening to me! I am praying in the name of Jesus and letting my requests be made known to God, and doing this with confidence and assurance because all that is Christ’s is also mine…

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14–15)

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. (Hebrews 4:16)

A great need today is Christian intercession for a lost world and a church that needs revival. This was always a need. In the OT, God “saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede” (Isaiah 59:16). With great needs and the privilege of prayer so wonderful, why so little attention to the throne of grace? One writer suggests it is how we view God. Isaiah 51:13 says, He is the One who "stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth" and Isaiah 64:3-5 adds, “When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways….”

How can I more often take advantage of this awesome privilege of prayer. I set times to pray. I mean well. I forget. Or my mind wanders. Or I read off a list of I-wants. I know He cares about everything yet I can be self-centered, or worse as I sometimes tell Him what to do — as if I know the better than He does. Such impertinence!

For many, prayer is an escape from obedience. I’m thankful that weakness and need motivate me, and a desire to be so reliant on Him that I must obey, and that He will fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me all that is needed. I want Him to work in me, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13) and not quench or grieve Him by being lazy and disobedient. I want Him to “work in me that which pleases Him, through Jesus Christ.”

PRAY: My heart knows that prayer is not a means to tap into Your generous grace for what I want, but to know You better, to share my heart and hear Your heart, and to be filled with awe as well as getting answers for the perplexities that are all around me. I want others to be reconciled to You, healing for the broken, and so much more to happen that brings our needy world to their knees before Your throne of grace. Prayer is a huge topic, but even more, a huge privilege. Forgive me for neglecting it far too often and enrich my desire and obedience to draw near to You.

Taking burdens to God

Our quilters group met last night. Besides sewing and sharing, we read a devotional and shared our prayer requests. We were burdened for a woman who is stuck waiting in the most unsuitable part of a local hospital for placement in a nursing home, a woman whose pregnancy is in danger, another who is pregnant with twins and already has three children under four, and another who awaits a biopsy to verify an ovarian cancer diagnosis. 
 

Those in the group also spoke of children who have no respect for any authority, over-burdened leaders, and wayward family members. I’m sure many of us also had on our mind recent multiple deaths from car accidents, the murders and crime in our city and many troubles in the world around us. 

In a world where there is so much to distress our spirits, how wonderful that we can be assured of God’s presence and that we can take our cares to Him.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

Events in our lives and in the lives of those we love can upset our composure and rob us of our peace. There is much out there that can sadden and depress us. We are privileged to have communion with our Lord, the One who is our true source of gladness and abiding joy. 

All these burdens can seem insurmountable to us, but nothing is too difficult for God. No illness, no problem, no disaster is beyond His ability to repair or to use for His glory and our good. What privilege we have to consecrate the burdens of our hearts to the God who is able to do all things. 

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Lord, just as “even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you” (Psalm 139:12), so are the difficulties of life. You are equal to the challenge of our need for daily wisdom as well as help with unexpected problems and sorrows. You grant victory and grace, even solutions to all our problems and challenges. For You, grace in disaster and peace in sorrow are as simple as giving life to the lilies of the field and a song to the sparrows. You can change hearts, even the hearts of those that seem the least likely to change. You can heal the sick, give strength to the weak, even use all things for our good. How wonderful that we can bring any and every burden to You in prayer, knowing that You hear us and knowing that You will answer with the right and best solution. How gracious You are —how privileged we are!

(photo source)

To Live is Christ — before His throne

When I was a teen, meeting a celebrity was a big thrill. I have pictures of myself with a famous singer. We loved to look for stars at every parade and big event. However, I got over it, partly because I realized stars are people just like everyone else. They have good days and bad, and they are super stars only in their field of expertise.

We know a famous preacher who regularly misplaces his car keys. I’ve met many well-known authors whose quirks and foibles are just like mine. One locked herself in a public washroom. Another spent an afternoon shopping before she realized her skirt was on inside-out. One considered a super saint became crabby at a lunch in her honor. Ordinary folks, all of them. And having an audience with the queen or talking to a head of state would not be a big deal either. While I respect those who have positions of responsibility, I’m not in anyone’s fan club.

I’m saying this because there is One in whose presence I sometimes tremble. I’m also totally astounded that He wants me to talk to Him every day, even continually, all day. This is the Lord of hosts, the Creator of the Universe, God Almighty, my King and my Savior. Me? He wants to talk? He listens to me?

But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me! (Psalm 66:19–20)

In the ancient world, at least one kingdom had a rule that if you approached the king without his express invitation, he would put you to death. Yet God invites His people to approach Him. This is utterly incredible.

The New Testament says that it is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that I have access to God. He earned for me the privilege. It is not my doing nor could it be, for I have no worth apart from Christ. I certainly have nothing that would allow me to come before the throne of a holy God, never mind talk with Him. Yet He invites me, just as the writer of Hebrews affirms, and even more . . . 

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Sometimes I try to imagine this happening in a visual and literal sense. God is seated on His throne. Light brighter than the sun. Colors beyond the rainbow’s spectrum. Gold’s sheen pales compared to His glory. No diamond is as bright. He is holy, pure, powerful. I am lowly and in need. I know that He can do anything. Nothing is too difficult.

Then He leans toward me and says, “Tell me about it.”

And at that — I become undone.