0059. The Avenue of Prayer

The Avenue of Prayer

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If ye shall ask any thing in My Name, I will do it" (Joh_14:13-14).

We have but one approach to God. There is but one way open through which we can have access to the Father.

Our access must be upon the merits of Jesus Christ. It is in His Name that we are commanded to pray. We do not have an approach to God upon any claims of our own. We do not deserve God’s favor, nor can we demand His blessing.

Jesus Christ said: "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me".

Ofttimes in the lodge room there may be Jews present and there may be Buddhists, or Mohammedans, and all of these deny the Lord Jesus. Therefore, in the lodge room, it is customary to pray unto God, but not in the Name of Christ. To mention Christ’s Name would be an offense to those who defame Him. Therefore, there is no real prayer possible. There may be a form and a fashion of prayer, but there is no approach to God.

There are some who vainly think that it is through the mediation of Mary, the mother of our Lord, that we must have our approach to God. This is also wrong. Mary did not die the just for the unjust, that she might bring us to God.

We approach God in Christ, because it is through the death of Christ that we are justified and made whiter than snow.

God is a holy and a just God who can neither fellowship the unclean nor justify the ungodly. Jesus Christ is our Daysman, who by virtue of His atonement became sin for us and made us the righteousness of God in Him.

When Christ died the veil in the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom. Now, in Christ, we can enter the Holy of Holies and have communion with the Father.

Blest hour of prayer, blest hour of prayer,

For thee I would my heart prepare,

And thus approach the Father’s throne

Upon no merit of mine own;

But in Christ’s Name, I seek His face

And plead the merit of His grace,

And thus approach in righteous dress

While God comes down my soul to bless.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR