Our Confidence in Prayer
There are certain things that often amuse me in life. By amuse, I mean they often stop me dead in my tracks and cause me to shake my head and ponder. For instance, in the last year I have seen two groundhogs in two different trees on two different occasions. They seemed so comfortable and confident being in those trees. I was amused! People also amuse me. Consider peoples' actions in their automobiles. Some people drive like they have all the confidence in the world and then you see them off the side of the road or pulled over by our faithful law enforcement. Confidence is such an amusing thing. Confidence can be defined as assurance, reliance, trust in self or some other. With it, we can accomplish great tasks and with out it, we are hesitant and unsure.
Something else that often amuses me is people's confidence, or lack thereof, in God. I often wonder why some people have such confidence in God and why others don't. It is also amusing to consider the ungodly things people claim to have confidence in. For example, people often quote scripture out of context in order to meet a personal want or desire and they appear to have confidence in their request being heard. An often misquoted verse is Romans 8:28. Many people confidently say God will work all things for my good. We know God actually says, "He will work all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." Jesus says in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
Consider
1 John 3:16-22,
"16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him."
Apply
Is our confidence before God right? Are we confident in the right things of God? Sometimes we put confidence in our ability to listen well and to act right. Oh, how detrimental this is to our confidence before God. Our confidence is in Christ and Christ alone.
Read
Hebrews 10:14-22
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Pray
When you pray today spend time thinking about why you can come to God's throne of grace with confidence. Is your confidence in you or in Him?
In Christ, Bryan
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