Prayer Study Week Two Day Four

 “Agreeing With God”

“I agree with you”. Nothing gets to me more than a disagreement. I like it when someone sees I-to-eye with my opinion. There’s one problem with this; I am not always right. (Now that’s a newsmaker!) Here is one thing I am sure of; God is always right and yet I’m not always in agreement with Him.

Believing God is agreeing with Him and acting on this agreement; this is faith. Disagreement with God is a lack of faith and a willful act of disobedience. Agreeing with God is professing our faith in His perfect will and supreme authority. Agreeing with God is essential to an effective prayer life.

Read Hebrews 4:14. Who is our High Priest? 


What are we to hold firmly to?

Jesus, our High Priest, has gone before the Father on our behalf and has made a way for us to have a right relationship with Him. When we profess our faith in Jesus, our belief that He is who He says He is, we are in total agreement with the Lord God Almighty.

I used to picture this particular verse differently. In my mind I saw myself dangling from a lifeline that was attached to a helicopter. I had just been rescued from a flood and was holding on with all my might as Jesus flew the helicopter away from the dirty, swirling flood waters. This mental image is partially true ~ I was drowning in the dangerous flood of my sins and the influences of the world that pulled me into its strong current, but the rescue is entirely different. Instead, Christ Himself reaches into the water and with His strong arms and lifts me out of this swirling promise of death. The assurance of the strength in His mighty embrace surrounds me as I lay my head on His chest and listen to His sacred heart beating. This is the faith I profess, that Jesus is my true rescuer, my comfort, my strength, my love and the source of eternal life. I’m not letting go because I know that He will not let go of me.

Read Hebrews 4:15. Answer the following questions:


What is Jesus able to sympathize with?


Why?

His sympathy and compassion for us is strong. It is not a patronizing, “You poor thing,” but a strong loving response of “I know what you’ve been through and have been tempted by, because I’ve been in the position you are in.” When we profess our faith in Jesus, we have a Rescuer, our Savior, who has been through the battle of this world and is victorious over it.

Read Hebrews 4:16. Answer the following:


What kind of throne do we approach?


What do we approach the throne with?


What do we receive?

Because of Jesus we can approach His throne of grace and mercy with confidence. Let’s look at each component of this particular verse:

Grace ~ Confidence ~ Mercy

The Throne of Grace
We see a throne as a symbol of authority, exalted position and majesty. God’s throne is different than all other thrones because it is a throne of grace. It represents the kindness of God towards people. God’s grace is kindness given to the undeserving. The grace we receive from God is unmerited favor because of the actions of Christ on our behalf.

Read Ephesians 2:4 & 5. What is the reason for the salvation God gives to those who accept His Son as their Rescuer? 

Just like the old hymn says, “Grace, grace, God’s grace; Grace that is greater than all our sin” we receive grace from God. It is a grace that is definitely greater that all our sins. If it weren’t then we’d be lost forever.

A Confident Approach
We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence because of what Christ has done for us as our High Priest by making the perfect sacrifice for our sins. It isn’t by anything we have done that allows for us to come before God. It’s all because of what Jesus has done.

The Greek word for “confidence” is “parresia” which means “freedom in speaking."We are free to tell God all we have on our hearts with confidence. And the great thing about telling Him everything is that He hears us and doesn’t break our confidence. It’s just between God and us, no one else.

He has given us freedom 

to come to God in confidence.

Look up the following verses and describe why we can approach God’s throne of grace. What is the manner be which we can approach God’s Throne:




Verse                                                         Manner in which we approach Gods’ Throne


Ephesians 3:12        


                                                          
1 John 3:21 & 22




1 John 5:14                          

Jesus, our High Priest, has made a way for us to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence through faith in Him, obedience to His commands and according to His will. Another line of the old hymn tells of the grace of God. We receive His grace that forever exceeds our sin and our guilt when we approach His throne with a belief in His Son Jesus and accept His forgiveness:

“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!”

Receiving God‘s Mercy
We have great need of God’s mercy because without it we are in a hopeless state. We are fortunate beyond all we could ever imagine by having access to the mercy room of God. Realizing this ability through God’s love for us through Christ and accepting His love and forgiveness is the key to a successful and meaningful prayer life.

Read Ephesians 2:4-9. (NIV) Fill in the blanks:


Verse 4 God is great in _________________ God is rich in ____________________.


Verse 5  We are made _________________ in Christ when we were ___________ in our _________________. It is by ________________ we have been _________________.


Verse 6 God raised us up with _______________ and God seated us with Him in the ________________ ________________ in _____________ __________________.


Verse 7 He seated us with Christ so God could show us His _____________________ ____________ of His ________________.


Verse 8 It is by _______________ we have been _____________, through ___________


Verse 9 Salvation is not by ______________. Our works cannot save us so that we cannot ____________________.

In order to receive God’s mercy at His throne of grace, we must acknowledge God’s great love for us and view His Son’s sacrifice as sufficient to provide access to Him. We must receive His mercy. It is for the taking ~ a free gift of God’s incomparable riches of grace.

Prayer Time
Are you in agreement with God? If you are, take this time to approach His throne of grace with confidence and receive His mercy.  Go to your Prayer Journal and write out your prayer of agreement with God. Maybe you don’t agree with Him. Go to your prayer journal and tell Him about it.


Discussion Questions
1. Believing God is agreeing with Him and acting upon this agreement; this is faith. When you go to God in prayer do you believe God and that His way is always right? Why or why not?


2. When we profess our faith in Jesus, we have a Rescuer, our Savior, who has been through the battle of this world and is victorious over it. Have you experienced His salvation? Do you depend upon this salvation as you pray? Explain.


3. We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence because of what Christ has done for us as our High Priest by making the perfect sacrifice for our sins. It isn’t by anything we have done that allows for us to come before God. Do you feel that you have to prove yourself or earn merit to enter God’s presence in prayer? Why or why not?