As a new Christian, back in the early 1980’s, I used to wonder how could I, a converted sinner, who stilled sinned, ever expect our infinitely holy God to answer my prayers. As I grew in my faith and understanding about what took place at Calvary, I began to realize that my worthiness to approach God had everything to do with what took place at the cross and nothing to do with my own personal worthiness.
Pastor Greg Laurie summed up this understanding well: “The next time the devil tempts you to think that you are not worthy to approach God, here is what I advise: Agree. Say, ‘You are right. I am not worthy to approach God. I never was worthy to approach God. I never will be worthy to approach God. My access to God’s presence is not based on my worthiness, it is based on what Christ did for me on the cross.’”1
My friends it’s not because of our worthiness that we can come to Jesus in prayer, but by His shed blood that allows us to invoke one of the most wonderful verses in all of Scripture, (Hebrews 4:16): “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Laurie adds the following insight which has been a great blessing to me: “The devil doesn’t want you to know this, but the truth is that you can approach the throne of God any time—24 hours a day. The devil wants us to believe that approaching God in prayer is based upon a point system. He wants us to think, If I have been a good Christian, I can approach God. But if I have sinned, God will never hear my voice.”2
The key is that when we sin, rather than hide from God and think how can I come to Jesus in prayer, we need to confess our sins and repent, and seek the Lord for forgiveness. When we do this we keep the channel open to seek the Lord in prayer. The reality is (1 John 1:9) allows us to short circuit the devil’s attempts to hinder us from coming boldly to the throne of grace: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
For you see there are two types of forgiveness that Scripture teaches. The first is the forgiveness we receive when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This is what is called justification and it is a one time event that saves us. The second type of forgiveness is what we see in (1 John 1:9), which I call familial forgiveness. In this forgiveness God cleanses us from our day to day sins and it is this forgiveness as Christians that we must take seriously and practice daily. When we do we can always approach our Lord in prayer. And since we are now part of the family of God this second type of forgiveness is always available to us.
Yes, God is holy and we often miss the mark by doing unholy things. But praise God for the blood of the lamb. For it’s this shed blood that makes us able to come boldly to the throne of grace and enter into the presence of the Lord. So Chrisian, the next time you sin don’t let the devil trick you into retreating from the presence of the Lord, but meditate and carry out (1 John 1:9) and then enter boldly into His presence – where Jesus is waiting to meet you at His throne of grace!
1 Greg Laurie daily devotion – May 23, 2014 – Daily Devotional | Crosswalk.com