EPHESIANS 3:12

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

TO PONDER

Do you ever think about how you come to God in prayer? I know some people who are still full of reverence and it sometimes also feels like apprehension when they timidly and cautiously offer a prayer to the God of the universe. I think there is a place for reverence, but that kind of timid fear can be left at the door, especially in light of this vers from the letter to the Ephesians.

However, I have also heard people pray in such a way that suggests God is no more than just another friend you might bump into on the street and have a casual conversation with, a peer, if you will. Someone who is no more significant than I might consider myself to be. I'm not sure that this is always helpful either.

So what then to we do? What is the model that helps us to come to God in the right way? Jesus give us that answer in the Lords Prayer. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed (holy) be your name. We can come with freedom and confidence when we come to God, our Father in Heaven, our Father who loves us. We can come because he is holy and in Christ, he makes us holy.

But those of us who have been lucky enough to have had positive, loving relationships with our own human fathers, might remember the sense of awe and wonder; the kind of esteem in which we held these human figures who for some of us, seemed to have almost superhero like qualities. To our younger selves our dad's were strong and could open things that we as children thought were closed shut forever. They could fix things and solve problems that we, as children, thought were impossible. That's the kind of dad we have in heaven, that's the kind of confident respect, with which we can freely come to God and offer him our, thanks, praise, concerns and hurts. He's not a cranky and vengeful dad, waiting for an opportunity to smite us, He's the father of the prodigal son, sitting on his verandah looking and waiting eagerly for his children to come home and be with him. So what's stopping you?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that in Christ, I can come to you with freedom and confidence and lay before you my thanks and praise, my hopes and dreams, my concerns and fears, my triumphs and failures, and know that I will always encounter a loving Heavenly Father ready to help, console, encourage and instruct me in whatever way is necessary. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle