In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Ephesians 3:12 (NIV)
Many believers are hesitant to pray because they feel like God is judging them.
When they do something wrong, they avoid talking to God about it. They feel like they should be hanging their heads in shame, not asking for help. But today’s verse says that we should come to God with freedom and confidence.
Yesterday we talked about Hebrews 4:16, where it says that you can come boldly to the throne of grace and get mercy and help. If you’ve made a mistake, you can say, “Father, I need mercy because I’ve messed up,” and you can know that you’re forgiven.
At the same time, you can say, “Father, I’m thanking you for grace, because I want to change this. I’m relying on your power to be the kind of person I want to be,” and you can trust that he is not only helping you to have the self-control and willpower you need, but he’s helping you to change your desires.
You’re still going to need to put some effort in, but as you do that, be aware of his phenomenal grace. It’s God’s ability within you to make great choices and carry them out.
Too many Christians struggle because somebody has taught them the old covenant mixed with the new covenant. They’ve taken the old deal, which was before Christ, and they’ve mixed it with the new deal, after the cross. They’ve mixed law with grace. When you mix the two, you get nothing but confusion.
The truth is you can be confident. You can approach God anytime and know that he’s on your side.