Read: Hebrews 4:12-16
Key Verse: v16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
What Does it Mean?
Through Jesus, we have direct access to the throne of grace – to our Heavenly Father, who gives us mercy and grace when we ask Him for it. The word the writer of the letter to the Hebrews uses to describe the way we are to approach God’s throne is confidence (NIV) or boldly (KJV). We don’t have to be timid or meek, or afraid to be honest with God about how we feel, what we’re struggling with, or what we need. We come before Him, with our prayers and petitions, with confidence that comes from an understanding of our relationship with Him. He is our friend, our counsellor, our defender, our security. We know we can trust Him because we know that Jesus knows what it’s like to be human (verse 15). He understands our weaknesses, our difficulties, and He can sympathise with us. Our God is not some distant deity who looks down on us with disdain when we are weak, troubled, or have stumbled into sin. There’s something reassuring about understanding this truth. Really absorbing it can have profound effects on the way that we approach prayer. We don’t have to worry that Jesus will think us foolish or weak because we need help when we face temptation and trial. He gets it. He’s been there, done that, defeated death, and gone before us as our great High Priest so that we, too, can step confidently into God’s presence and ask Him for what we need. The key is to understand our relationship with God. We’ll never approach Him confidently if we don’t comprehend the fullness of what Jesus has done for us; we’ll never be bold in our prayers if we see God as distant or intimidating. The picture we need to take from this passage is of Jesus taking us by the hand and leading us into the presence of our Heavenly Father, who gives us grace and mercy.
Bottom Line
Sometimes when we think of God, especially when we think of how big, awesome and powerful He is, we can feel intimidated by the thought of entering into His presence. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, however, tells us that we can come boldly into God’s presence, to receive grace and mercy – and everything else that we need. Jesus died on the cross to give us this direct access to our Heavenly Father, and we need to remember that God wants us to draw close to Him and depend on Him.
Journalling and Reflection:
- Re-read verse 16. How do you approach God in prayer? Are you confident or intimidated? Why? How can you take steps to follow the advice of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews?
- When we understand the intimacy of our relationship with God, we don’t feel intimidated by Him. Spend some time thinking about your understanding of intimacy with God. How can you develop a stronger relationship with Him?
- God wants us to draw close to Him and depend on Him. We know this because He sent His Son to die on the cross so that we could be in relationship with Him. How does this make you feel? Why?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You that through Your Son Jesus Christ, we can approach Your throne of grace with confidence and not timidity. Help us to depend on You for our needs, and draw us ever deeper into relationship with You, so that we may experience the fullness of Your presence. Amen.