I have made it my goal for this year to concentrate on my prayer life and work towards making it what I think God wants it to be. Towards that end, I've been going through a devotional book entitled Love to Pray by Alvin Vander Griend.
The verse that opened this morning's devotional was Hebrews 4:16: "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence (some translations use the word "boldly") so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Even before I got into the author's devotional, some thoughts came to my mind as I read this verse.
The first thought that struck me about this verse was that we don't already have to "clean" or "perfect" in order to approach God's throne in confidence in order to receive His mercy and grace. Yes, we do need to have already been washed in the blood of Christ, but we can approach boldy in order to receive the mercy and grace we need. It is God's work - not our own - that makes it happen. We just need to have the faith and confidence that it will.
My second thought was that we don't approach the throne anonymously. God knows who we are and why we are there. He welcomes us with open arms. This verse is His invitation. He says that He is simply awaiting our attention to Him so that He can lavish upon us - His adopted sons and daughters - all that He has for us. The greatest of these gifts are His mercy and His grace.
We don't have to wait until we are "worthy" enough to approach His throne. He is the One who makes us worthy in His presence.
What freedom and confidence this is for us who believe - to be able to bring our praise, our concerns and wants, and our worship to our awesome heavenly Father!
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