One of the Christ Community staff values is that we expect God. We work for him and we expect him to be present in all we do. Because he is the source of our sufficiency, we can approach him with boldness. What this does not mean is that we expect God to just bless whatever ideas we come up with on our own and ask for his stamp of approval. Instead, we expect God to be at work and to invite us to join him.
One of the ways we join him in this work is through prayer. Since the time of Genesis, God’s people have called upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26). This communication is now made available to Christ’s Church because Jesus took the sins that separated us from God upon himself so that our Spirit-empowered prayers can approach the throne of the Father. The writer of Hebrews says:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).
As his children, we don’t just approach the throne because we can but because he invites us to. It says let us approach so that we may receive mercy and grace. Passages like this lead me to wonder what we forfeit when we neglect to make this approach to the throne.
There are three areas of our Christian walk that I believe are diminished when we fail to approach God’s throne.
Spiritual Service
In 1 Samuel, the prophet Samuel intercedes on behalf of the rebellious nation of Israel who demonstrated their lack of trust in God’s leadership by asking for a king to rule over them, thus following the patterns of the surrounding nations. Eventually the people realized the error of their ways and while they stumble toward despair, their prophet Samuel encourages them by reminding them of God’s commitment to them and his commitment to intercede for them: “As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way” (1 Samuel 12:23).
Samuel was coming to the end of his days, but even then his priority was approaching the throne of God on behalf of the people he loved. Samuel had relayed the word of the Lord to the Israelites and anointed their first two kings. But as he comes to the end of his life, he sees the best way to serve the people is to intercede on their behalf.
I have always been struck by the fact that Samuel would have sinned against the Lord if he stopped praying for the people. Samuel would have failed in his call as a leader if he did not serve his people through his prayers. Samuel did not see this as an optional part of his call; he saw prayer as a part of his call to serve.
Spiritual Vocation
God is not beckoning us to prayer through guilt. That approach would not reveal confidence or reverence, but a misunderstanding of who God is. But I do not believe that God desires us to see prayer as an optional practice. What would have happened to Lot if Abraham did not intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:16-33)? What would have happened to Israel if Moses did not intercede for them after the golden calf incident (Exodus 32:31-35)? What would have happened to Israel if Samuel failed to pray for the people in 1 Samuel 12?
How God’s perfect knowledge and power interact with humanity’s prayers is beyond the scope of this blog, but God has chosen to operate according to the prayers of his people. N.T. Wright wrote:
We are caught up, vocationally, in the work that God is presently doing to bring about the redemption of creation. Our prayers, more specifically the anguished prayers that come when we are overwhelmed and don’t know what to pray for — they are part of the vital means by which the triune God is doing and will do the work of liberating creation from its corruption and decay.
The call to prayer is a vital part of our vocation as believers as we join God in his good work. It is a part of our service to intercede on behalf of those around us. It is also a part of our own process of spiritual maturing.
Spiritual Maturation
What if God was not just interested in liberating the world from the corruption and decay on the outside, but also desired our prayers as a part of his liberation and protection of our hearts; the inside? The people entrusted to Samuel’s care were not an easy group to lead. In fact, at various times in Samuel’s role as prophet, we see his frustrations come to a boiling point (I Samuel 8:4–6, 15:10–30). What if one of God’s desires for Samuel’s prayer was not just heeding those requests on Israel’s behalf? What if God was also concerned for the tending of Samuel’s own heart?
When reflecting on prayer, Tim Keller said:
“…rather than simply running down a quick list of things we want, we should reflect on what we want in light of all we know from the Scripture about the things that delight and grieve God, in light of what we know about how his salvation works and what he wants for the world. Those who practice this discipline find that it helps them revise–sometimes deepening, sometimes lessening–their desires and purposes.”
The more Samuel approached God on behalf of these stubborn people, the more he would comprehend God’s promises, plans, and desires for them instead of getting caught up in an alternative agenda. The more he prayed for these stubborn people the better he could see them through God’s eyes rather than becoming bitter toward those who made his life more difficult. Samuel was not just to expect God to be at work in the hearts of the people of Israel, he was also to expect God to work on his own heart as he interceded for him.
Consider Putting This Into Practice
Who is someone in need of your prayers right now? Serve them by approaching God on their behalf. Over the course of time he may lead you to address those needs in practical ways.
What concerns do you have for your local community? God is inviting you to be a part of the solutions to those problems through prayer. He may even direct you to ways to be the hands and feet of that redeeming work as you continue to pray for these needs.
Are you feeling distant from God? Approach him asking for mercy and grace to help you in your need. For “Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:9–11).
Do not just approach the throne, approach it expectantly.
