The nearness of God to those who call on His Name

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:14-16

By faith, we can have a relationship with God. This relationship paved the way for us to come to His throne of grace. When we start to grasp the implication of this privilege, we cannot imagine the possibilities we have. One of these possibilities is the transformation of our lives. He starts to change our weaknesses into strengths; from empty or shallow living into a life of meaning and fullness. We also start to claim His promises found in His word. We gain confidence in asking Him in our prayers. Our prayers change. No longer focused on just meeting our needs instead we begin to ask Him on how we can be more in tune with His will. He made an amazing promise that when we ask Him in accordance with His will, He will hear our prayers. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). We also begin to realize that part of our intimacy with God is to be called as “fellow heirs” with Christ (Romans 8:14-17). Because of this position we have in Christ, we have the assurance that God hears us and we can be expectant of His answers to our prayers. We find that prayer becomes an integral part of our life that we come to His throne of grace with boldness (Hebrews 4:15). Prayer is no longer a burden but becomes a source of joy because we are drawn closer to our loving Father. As promised from the text, “we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” You cannot live your Christian life and expect fruit from it when you are detached from God. You need to experience the working of God through the Holy Spirit so you can experience the power that raised Christ from the dead. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11). When you grow appreciating the value of prayer in your life, no matter what trials you have, you will be confident to know that you can come to God and trust that He cares. Always remember that God is just a prayer away.

Blessings,

Noel De Guzman

www.my-wbc.com