One of life’s great privileges is being able to talk to the Almighty. After reading the Old Testament and seeing how he kept a distance between himself and people to the point of causing whole mountains to shake, it’s astounding that he allows us to approach him at all. He not only allows it, he encourages it, warmly inviting us to come into his throne room. He even suggests we “come boldly,” and that we do it “with confidence.”
One of my great joys during the last 24 years has been to sit with others for extended times in God’s throne room. This week while meeting with 4 women to pray over a list of requests given to us through the church, a spirit of discouragement flooded me.
As we got ready to pray, we divided up the requests so each of us could cover some of them out loud while the others prayed silently. We do it this way each week, but for some reason this time I felt swamped by so many needs. There were nearly 100 in all, some of which had mini-requests within the bigger ones.
How could we pray for them all in the 90 minutes available?
As the first woman began praying, my mind stayed stuck in the enormity of our task. My head was bowed, but my eyes weren’t closed. They were reading the requests: physical maladies, emotional crises, relationship divisions, financial struggles. How could our little band of 4 accomplish anything significant for this mob of needy people?
My desire to converse with God began plummeting, snowed under by the overwhelming odds against us. God’s simultaneous point of view, however, was the exact opposite. His desire to talk to me remained strong. And talk he did.
“Do you think your invitation into my throne room is so you can show me what you can do for these folks? Or is it for Me to show you what I can do?”
And that’s all it took. He had pulled me into the conversation.
I’m thankful for his timely reminder that prayer is all about God, not me. My part is just to approach him, believing he hears and answers. And sometimes he does it well before reaching #100 on the list: “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
