“For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.” Daniel 9:18b
How often do I approach the throne of Grace in prayer with a heart that does not understand the weight of what I am doing. I am going before the King of the Universe, not a bank teller, not a Santa Claus at the mall, but how I so treat it that way. I often flippantly throw up some prayers that suggest I am talking to another man, maybe a respected man so I show some level of reverence, but not the level that should go to the King of Kings!
Just thinking through what Daniel is saying here. The reason we can come to God and not only do we not get destroyed, but he listens to us as a Father listens to a child is because of His mercy. And with our New Testament lenses on we can see that this great mercy ultimately was showcased in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, fully man and fully God, God in flesh.
We can come to our Father in Heaven and know he hears because he forsook his Son in our place. We come and do not face wrath because his Son took it for us. For Daniel it was the sacrifices of animals that shadowed a Greater Sacrifice to come.
Put simply we can come before our God, and He hears our pleas because of Jesus. We come because of His great mercy and love that shine brightly from the cross. His Mercy. His Love. His Grace.
That has to change how we think about how we pray and why we can pray and know that our pleas are heard!!
Thanks--I really needed to hear that.
ReplyDeleteIt is an amazing thing that we can not only go to the Creator of the Universe but we can have an intimate relationship with Him. The closer we draw to Him, through Jesus, the vaster and powerful we realize He is. To propose to have an intimate relationship with someone so powerful is impossible in some circles, I am just glad I don't run in any of them.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work
Blessings
Dave
http://dadtalk.wordpress.com