Going Boldly Before God

I recall my mother cringe whenever she heard my father pray and exclaim, “Now, you promised Lord!”  One time, after he had finished, she said, “Jim, you really should not speak to God like that!” He paid no attention.  My father, who was a pastor, knew his bible and it told him (in Hebrews 4:16) “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  The word “boldly” is translated from the Greek word parresias which also translates as “openly or freely,” and this is how God desires us to approach him, especially when claiming one of his promises.

Isn’t it interesting that God, who is unknowable in his essence, plays so many different roles in our life that we can identify with?  He is Father, Creator, King, Comforter, Friend, Judge and Jury, just to name a few, but what he is not, is unapproachable.  Contrary to some human beings, our awesome God wants us to approach him; he desires a loving and interpersonal relationship with us, yet this cannot occur if we allow timidity to distance us from him.  Yes, God is to be feared, with respect to his power and might, and that should always be kept in mind, but he is neither a tyrant, nor some angry old man “upstairs” who is ready to curse you at the drop of a dime.  God is Love, and there is nothing he loves more than his children.

It is unfortunate that God is often portrayed with anthropomorphic traits, because, as humans, we know our traits are imperfect.  Many a child has had a horrible experience with a mother and/or father.  Skewed psychically, they simply cannot conceive of God as a loving parent. It was like this for my own father.  The oldest of six children, and born during the Great Depression, his father went to prison when he was just twelve years old.  There was no love in his home, until he met my mother, and later Jesus.  When my father converted to Christianity at the age of thirty, he literally clung to God as his Father, and this bold connection lasted forty-five years until his death.  My father was convinced that God loved him, kept his promises, and wanted a true parent/child relationship.  In God, my father found stability.  In God, my father was not abused.  In God, my father trusted that he may be boldly approached in prayer.

Now, twenty years after his death, I truly believe that my Dad was a great father because of the relationship he had with his heavenly Father.   Both of my parents claimed many of God’s promises (I think there are over 500 in Sacred Scripture) and were never disappointed.  Do not fear coming before God and claiming his promises for your life.  Jesus told us, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.”  Now, we may not like God’s answer to our prayer, but he will certainly respond to it.  And of this we may be assured, his response will always be according to his good will toward us.