The Best Invitation

By Carol Lazar

“Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

Hebrews 4:16

I am always humbled and amazed that the God of the universe would invite ordinary me into His throne room. While it’s beyond our comprehension, this is our invitation, our privilege through prayer. God Himself waits and welcomes us in. Through Jesus we can come into the presence of a holy God, who is also our Father. We come to receive mercy and to find grace.

In the light of His presence, we see the depth of our need and God’s promise of provision. Through His Spirit and His Word, He both speaks and listens to us. Our human frailty and weakness, our battle with the flesh, are obvious. We see our need for sanctification and transformation, a supernatural work that only He can do. He alone can change a heart, heal our brokenness, produce the fruit of the Spirit, continue to fill and use us. Only He can lovingly correct us and teach us to pray according to His will. Only He can accomplish His eternal purpose in our lives and in the world.  

At the throne of grace, we lay down our self-sufficiency and pride, confess our sin and thank Him for saving us. There we learn that our hardest work and best efforts will fall short without His supernatural intervention. We lay down our fears. There we bring Him our requests and believe that He knows best. There we find peace for the day and confidence that He is working His eternal purpose. As we open His Word, we ask Him to teach us truth and guide us. We trade self effort for dependence on Him, and rejoice to see Him do what only He can do. We are amazed at His faithfulness and power. Worship and praise, joy and trust flourish. The work He gives us to do, He enables us to do, and we give Him the glory. And then, in His presence, we find that we truly do love to pray.  

Let us approach the throne of grace!