I remember reading a verse from Ezekiel 14:14 that said even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were to stand before Me their righteousness could only save themselves. I immediately thought in Old Testament terms of how prayers might be answered on a merit system. People like Daniel would get their answers but lower tier believers like me might be ignored. I joked one time that I thought sometimes I might call Heaven and an angel would answer my prayers, put me on hold, and God would say, “just take a message.” But now I realize what it means to have a new covenant and stand in the righteousness of Jesus. That really changes everything. We all get to move to the front of the line.
Abraham Lincoln was famous for having his son Todd walk right into the oval office during meetings. Others criticized him for not keeping his son out. Lincoln said, because he is my son, he has 24 hour access to me.
When it comes to faith and prayer, it makes all of the difference in the world how we think of our “righteousness.” If we look to ourselves to be worthy to approach God, we will have little or no faith that God will answer us. If we approach God with a “sin consciousness” we will always wither in doubt. But it is completely different if we have a “son consciousness.” If we realize as 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “God made Him who had no sin, sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,” we come with an awareness that because of Jesus we are worthy to receive all that God has.
To approach God with an awareness that we have the worthiness of Jesus, to bring our request before God gives us confidence, boldness, and faith in God’s presence. I remember reading about a man who saw a homeless man he knew in High School. He wanted to help him get housing so he wrote him a check for $5000. A few weeks later he saw him in the same condition and asked him why he hadn’t cashed the check. The man said, “O, I am so dirty and stinky I was sure that if I went in the bank they wouldn’t cash my check.” The friend said, “Don’t you realize that they aren’t going to cash the check because of your cleanliness, but because my signature is on the check.”
Come boldly to the throne of God, clothed with your robe of righteousness and bringing your prayer checks signed by Jesus in His blood!
To watch a short video on the subject go to: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=592316334702485
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