Let Us Come Boldly
"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
We often wonder why God permits the trials and adversities of life. We become frustrated, impatient, and weary sometimes when we encounter these experiences. But in yielding to His control when they befall us, they become determining factors to develop in us a depth and measure of His grace, love, and mercy we have not known before. For it is in the trial, in the adversity, in our difficulty, and in the darkness of these hours, that the light of His Presence and Power shines brightest.
Prayer becomes a most blessed encounter with God. It is a blessing that God has provided whereby we can come into His Presence. If we would take time to think through this, it will absolutely confound us. To think, the Creator of all things, God Himself, has told us to "come boldly to the throne of grace," into His very presence, and to bare our hearts, our praise, our burdens, our hurts, and our needs before Him. That is inconceivable, beyond our understanding; yet in His condescending love, this blessed privilege is ours! If we could in some measure comprehend the magnitude of this privilege of grace, it would transform our lives and empower us to be the effective "channel of blessing" God wants us to be.
What happens when we come before His Throne of Grace? We enter into the Sanctuary of God...the Secret Place of His Tabernacle...the Holy of Holies...WHERE GOD IS! It is where we relinquish all the strongholds of "self," cast ourselves upon His mercy, and experience the "infusion of His grace." It is there we recognize our "nothingness" and lay hold of His Mighty Power. It is the place of "quiet repose" where we sense His Holiness and find solace in His Rest.
At the Throne of Grace we learn to lean unreservedly upon Him, to be strength for our weakness, wisdom for our folly, love for our hatred, grace for our anger, freedom for our bondage, joy for our sorrow, and the anchor for our faith. It is where we pour out our hearts in praise and thanksgiving for our redemption. It is the hiding place where He meets us "as we are" in our need and desperation. It is where we hear Him say, "I will never leave you or forsake you; I am with you always."
At the Throne of Grace He reveals Himself anew and afresh unto us as the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the God of all Comfort, the Source of our Strength, the Good Shepherd, and the One who is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or even imagine."
John Bunyan said, "In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart." His Throne of Grace is where we come with a "broken and contrite heart" that we may hear Him speak to us. Oh Lord, give us ears to hear, a receptive heart, and a spirit to respond to all that you want to say unto us, that we may be channels through which you can manifest your love and grace to all we encounter each day. We will not progress in our spiritual life any farther than we progress in prayer. We will never stand taller than when we are on our knees before God in fervent prayer.
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission
"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
We often wonder why God permits the trials and adversities of life. We become frustrated, impatient, and weary sometimes when we encounter these experiences. But in yielding to His control when they befall us, they become determining factors to develop in us a depth and measure of His grace, love, and mercy we have not known before. For it is in the trial, in the adversity, in our difficulty, and in the darkness of these hours, that the light of His Presence and Power shines brightest.
Prayer becomes a most blessed encounter with God. It is a blessing that God has provided whereby we can come into His Presence. If we would take time to think through this, it will absolutely confound us. To think, the Creator of all things, God Himself, has told us to "come boldly to the throne of grace," into His very presence, and to bare our hearts, our praise, our burdens, our hurts, and our needs before Him. That is inconceivable, beyond our understanding; yet in His condescending love, this blessed privilege is ours! If we could in some measure comprehend the magnitude of this privilege of grace, it would transform our lives and empower us to be the effective "channel of blessing" God wants us to be.
What happens when we come before His Throne of Grace? We enter into the Sanctuary of God...the Secret Place of His Tabernacle...the Holy of Holies...WHERE GOD IS! It is where we relinquish all the strongholds of "self," cast ourselves upon His mercy, and experience the "infusion of His grace." It is there we recognize our "nothingness" and lay hold of His Mighty Power. It is the place of "quiet repose" where we sense His Holiness and find solace in His Rest.
At the Throne of Grace we learn to lean unreservedly upon Him, to be strength for our weakness, wisdom for our folly, love for our hatred, grace for our anger, freedom for our bondage, joy for our sorrow, and the anchor for our faith. It is where we pour out our hearts in praise and thanksgiving for our redemption. It is the hiding place where He meets us "as we are" in our need and desperation. It is where we hear Him say, "I will never leave you or forsake you; I am with you always."
At the Throne of Grace He reveals Himself anew and afresh unto us as the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the God of all Comfort, the Source of our Strength, the Good Shepherd, and the One who is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or even imagine."
John Bunyan said, "In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart." His Throne of Grace is where we come with a "broken and contrite heart" that we may hear Him speak to us. Oh Lord, give us ears to hear, a receptive heart, and a spirit to respond to all that you want to say unto us, that we may be channels through which you can manifest your love and grace to all we encounter each day. We will not progress in our spiritual life any farther than we progress in prayer. We will never stand taller than when we are on our knees before God in fervent prayer.
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission
i have a confession to make Louise. I used to be a prayer warrior, but now the pressures and stresses of life, have diminished my prayer life and i feel so guilty. What should I do.
ReplyDeleteYou simply begin again Amrita. Right where you are, begin talking to our Father. I deal with the same issues you do .. I think many of us do ... and just yesterday I asked the Lord to change me.
ReplyDeleteThe answer I believe He gave me was to make time during the day to be with Him. We make time for so many other things, don't we? Laundry, cooking, caring for people, appointments, etc. I must make time for Him. I used to get up quite early and have quiet time. Then my husband retired and some mornings he's up before I am and that changes my entire day. I find myself doing want he wants done and before I know it, the day is gone. Or, I'll get busy with 'good' things and time seems to fly.
Let's agree to do our best to make time to be with our Father today and tomorrow and the day after that. Is that okay with you?
Another thing I'm learning is that He doesn't need all our fancy words, He needs our hearts first and then the right words will follow. Maybe we could do postings on prayer for awhile and ask God to renew us in and through His precious Holy Spirit.
We are to encourage one another in the Faith and that's what you've done for me today. You've allowed me to see I'm not alone in this struggle to be the person of prayer God desires me to be.
God bless you my friend. I hope this has helped you as much as it has me. My love to you.
Weezy... I so needed to hear that others struggle with the same thing I do. I am so busy leaving here early and being gone all day and caring for a 2 year old that
ReplyDeleteit had lessened my prayer life.
What I do now when Xavier climbs in my lap for his nap, I've always sang him choruses of Jesus [worship] and I pray while holding him and he's napping.
Sometimes it's just the quiet peace of being in the Lord's presense, we don't always need words.
I try to read the word at Mandy's.
Now, sometimes I don't get too much
study time because of the demands of my Grandbaby but God knows I am putting forth the effort and if I read but a chapter I have His Word in my heart.
My Mom-in-law told me, when you are raising your Children and Grandchildren that is your ministry, she became an Intercessor
when that calling was complete. What a Prayer Warrior she became,
God has plans for our lives and they come at different times...
I thank Him for you... an Encourager, certainly proves we need others to bring us through
our struggles no matter what they be!!!
I love you Dear Friend!!!!
Trish