Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4:16)
The saints of God are needy people. And no one knows better than God Himself just how needy we are. In fact, Scripture compares us to sheep who must depend on their shepherd for everything from food to protection.
In what is commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer” recorded in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches us how to pray. What’s interesting about this short model prayer is that a full half of it is concerned with asking God for what we need from Him every day:
- Give us this day our daily bread. Americans, among many others in the world, can be grateful that we usually have our physical needs met in abundance. So does this aspect of Jesus’ prayer still relate to us?
It certainly does! No matter how “set” we may believe ourselves to be regarding physical necessities, God wants us to never forget that He is the One supplying our physical needs. He is the One who gives… and the One who takes away (Acts 17:25, Job 1:21). We see this often in the case of natural disasters when stories emerge of individuals and families with beautiful homes and comfortable lifestyles who overnight can find themselves destitute with nothing but the clothes on their back.
The reason Jesus taught us to pray for our “daily bread” is so that we remember, with humble and grateful heart, that God is the source of everything we need.
- Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. In this context Jesus reminds us that we need daily cleansing for those sins that accumulate on the roster of our debt (duty, obligation) toward others – and ultimately against our account before God. This includes those sins we are most aware of as well as those that only God Himself knows about (Ps. 19:12).
Only God can truly forgive our sins (Luke 5:21). But He attaches a caveat. Buried here in this brief sentence about forgiving our sin debt is a contingency – as we forgive others. Jesus warns us that God will not forgive us for our wrongs against Him if we are not first willing to forgive those who have wronged us. (In fact, in the two verses immediately following the Lord’s prayer – verses 14 and 15 – Jesus stresses this in detail!)
- And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Here Jesus reminds us that we need His strength to win the battle against temptation and evil daily. And we gain this strength directly from Him, by nourishing our “inner man” with His Word seasoned with prayer (Eph. 3:14-16).
As much as God cares about our physical needs (and He does), our spiritual needs are of utmost concern to Him. 2 Timothy 1:9 explains why: “[He] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”
To better respond to His “holy calling,” do you need spiritual wisdom for life’s decisions? Ask God for it (James 1:5). Do you need spiritual strength to resist temptation? Ask God for it (Eph. 3:14-16). Do you need grace for living? Ask God for it (Heb. 4:16). He is our source, so come boldly before His throne and ask.
Thomas Manton said, “We always need to be delivered from evil; we always need to be established in good. Sometimes we need a blessing on what we have, that our comforts may be sanctified to us; sometimes a blessing on what we do, that we may begin it and end it in God. All our relations increase our necessities, so do all our enjoyments; new mercies occasion new necessities; and in the variety of our afflictions we have still somewhat to do with God. The receipt of one mercy discovers the need of another.”
We are needy… but thank God – He is our Source!
- Lord, all my concerns about approaching Your throne are removed by Hebrews 4. I can now come boldly before You. What worries could I possibly have? With this one verse all my doubts are dispelled. There is no objection that unbelief can make, or a distrustful heart suggest, that cannot be erased by looking to You on the throne of grace and viewing Your glory through the power of the Spirit.
- Boldness is a grace arising from Your Spirit that allows me to come before You with reverence and speak to You in the name of Your Son. When I come with boldness, grace can lift me no higher. The next degree of going higher will be when I bow before Your throne in Your presence in glory. Until then, I will keep a vision of You by faith, through Christ, and come before You with boldness and joy.
- Through Your Son, Lord, my justification is secure. I share in Your grace and mercy and peace through the Scripture, through the Spirit, through communion. All power and all authority, has been given to You, Lord Jesus (Matt. 28:18), so that I bow the knee of my heart to You (Phil. 2:10-11). As my Mediator, it is through You alone that I approach the Father’s throne. In You I set all my hope and all my salvation (Acts 4:12).
Further References for Hebrews 4:16
Eph. 3:12; Heb. 10:19; Exod. 25:17; Heb. 3:6; Isa. 55:6; Matt. 7:7
