(Heb 4:14-16 NLT) Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
This morning we continue our series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life.” Let’s close out the week with a message about the confidence and boldness I have been writing about for weeks. You can’t have faith without confidence and you won’t have confidence if you don’t understand who you are Christ. But assuming that the issue of righteousness is settled in your heart now, and that you understand the right you have to pray because of Jesus’ finished work on Calvary’s cross, then let’s talk about Jesus’ role as High Priest.
In the Old Testament the priests served as the intercessor between God and man. The people took their concerns to the priests and the priests laid the concerns before God. The priests were the ones who heard from God and came back to tell the people what the Lord said. The High Priest had the privilege of making an annual entrance into the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was where the Ark of the Covenant abided. The Holy Spirit Himself dwelled above the Ark of the Covenant and once a year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) the High Priest entered the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Fast forward to the New Testament and the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus the Christ is now our High Priest. Back then the vast majority of the general population did not have a personal relationship with the High Priest, so they were counting on someone they basically did not know to serve as their chief intercessor with God Almighty, but we don’t have to count on some unknown and unfamiliar person. We have an intimate High Priest who not only sacrificed His life for our sin, but also endured every temptation known to man, without succumbing to them, so that He could identify with our weaknesses. Understanding all of this the writer then tells us “Approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. The only priest in between God and man is Jesus Himself. While seeking help from other humans is often necessary and beneficial, nothing substitutes our direct access to the Father through Jesus our High Priest.
2. We have a High Priest who can identify and sympathize with our struggles. You should make every attempt to pray, even when you don’t feel like it, because Jesus will identify with Your struggles and help you through your prayers.
3. The reality of our redemption and the access we have through Jesus should give us confidence. Not only should we pray, but we should come BOLDLY, with complete confidence in who we Christ made us to be, in order to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You once again for Jesus. I don’t have an unknown High Priest. I have a High Priest who knows me, who loved me enough to die for my sin, and who is acquainted with all my ways. I come to You Father, in the name of Your Son Jesus, going through my High Priest, with the full confidence that You will hear me and respond to my prayers. Not because I am coming in my name, but because I am coming in His name. Not because of my own righteousness, but because of Jesus’ righteousness. When You look at me You see that I am covered by the Blood of Your Son and since I am redeemed, You see me as Your own son and you treat me as such. Furthermore, while I am praying to You my High Priest, Jesus the Christ, is also pleading my case on my behave. This gives me even the more confidence to pray to You, fully expecting to receive mercy and the grace to help in the time of need. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
