“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” {Hebrews 4:16}
I’m hearing these thoughts lately from some people: Who are we to demand from God and tell Him what we want and expect Him to do as we asked? He knows better than we do. We should just leave it in His hands.
Well, that’s almost like saying, Why pray? He’ll take care of it. He knows what we need.
But the Lord Jesus told us to ask. Didn’t He say, “Ask and it shall be given you?” {Matthew 7:7} And another scripture, “ye have not, because ye ask not.”{James 4:2} Apostle Paul said, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”{Philippians 4:6}
Sure, Paul doesn’t want us worrying about our problems but he definitely saw the need for us to ask God.
I understand that we shouldn’t dictate how God should fix things. Sure. But nevertheless we should ask; we need to ask…He wants us to. And furthermore I’m not averse at all about demanding from God (for lack of words) or being forceful about our desire what we want done! Yes! Absolutely! We can surely tell God what we want even to the minutest detail. We are not dictating how He should fix things; we are telling Him our desires. And why should that be wrong? If we are His Bride and He is our Bridegroom why should we tippy-toe around Him about what we desire? Let Him decide what will be done. That is His prerogative. Yes, He knows best, in everything. Definitely. But that doesn’t mean we can’t tell Him how we feel and what we would like to happen. Again, even to the smallest detail.
If we are to read the book of Psalm, there are a lot of pretty bold prayers in there!
“O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” {Psalm 80:4-6}
“…how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people?”
Imagine? That’s basically saying, “God, why are you angry at us? Why are you not hearing our prayers?”
And another, “You’re giving us tears to drink in great measure…” I mean, talk about bold prayers! Telling God what He’s doing wrong.
Shocking, isn’t it? But it’s really simple. When you are upset…when you are in the throes of despair, you need to voice out how you feel! You can’t beat around the bush about it. You want God to see what is wrong. You need Him. You’re desperate, He must come! He is your God who cares and understands. When you have a relationship with Him and you know where you stand with Him, you can definitely be bold with your prayers – as a child to his father who knows that he is loved.
Here’s one from king David:
O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set Thee before them.
But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thine handmaid.
Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because Thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me. {Psalm 86:14-17}
King David tells it like it is. To paraphrase: “There are proud and violent people out there, Lord God, that’s after my soul. I know that You are a God full of compassion, gracious and merciful. Have mercy upon me! Give me strength! Save me! Show me something good that those that hate me may see it and be ashamed! Because they will see that You have helped me and comforted me.”
I mean, talk about confidence; one who knows God and knows he is loved by Him. David wasn’t shy to ask that his enemies will be ashamed of themselves, was he? After all, that’s what he wants. And you know what, we can’t hide anything from God. Even if we don’t ask it, He knows the intent of our hearts. So, we might as well tell Him like it is.
Here’s one from Asaph:
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever? Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Pluck it out of Thy bosom. {Psalm 74:10-12}
“Why withdraw-est Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Pluck it out of Thy bosom.”
“Pluck it out of Thy bosom.”
See, that prayer? It’s basically saying, “God help! It’s not time to be relaxing! I need You to come and help!”
Here’s a famous one, that Jesus Christ Himself prayed, while hanging at the cross:
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Why art Thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season and am not silent. {Psalm 22:1-2}
You get what I mean. Be confident, be bold, tell God how you feel.
These are prayers said by people that knew God – had a relationship with God. They were the people of God. They talked about Him, saw His power, and felt His glory. They knew who He was. They made these bold prayers and weren’t afraid of it.
How much more then should we be bold today with ours, now that Jesus Christ has come to become our intercessor to God and has died for our sins, and is our Bridegroom? How much more then should we tell Him exactly how we feel and how we would like it to happen?
Let Him decide what is best for us…definitely we will tell Him, “Lord, do what is best in Your eyes, for You know the truth and the future and what will be good for me.” But nevertheless we can boldly say, “But Lord Jesus, this is what I wish – what I desire – please if it’s good with You, grant it; and let Your name be glorified in my life.”
Be confident. Know that you are very much loved. There is nothing that He will not do for you that is good in His eyes.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” {Hebrews 4:16}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I come to You because You are my God who loves me very much. I thank You for Your great love for me. I thank You that there is nothing too hard with You. You will never leave me nor forsake me.
You are my God who is my help and holiness and righteousness, please Savior help me to believe in Your great love for me and come boldly before Your throne always. Help me not keep anything from You but always be opened to You and transparent to You. Help me not to be afraid to be myself to You. You are my God and You are my help. Please Father, forgive me of all my sins and of all my iniquities. If there is anything at all that is not right in my heart before You please I pray that You will make it right in my life and help me to repent of them. Cleanse my heart and my soul from all unrighteousness and make me pure and holy like You. I pray in Your most wonderful and lovely name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
