Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Two of the biggest barriers to prayer are guilt and shame. I'll never forget playing basketball and losing my temper. I said something really foolish that I regretted and I still regret to this day. I was scheduled to preach the next day, and I remember just being filled with so much guilt and shame, thinking, "I'm not worthy to preach. In fact, I'm not even worthy to pray. I feel like if I approach God, He's not going to listen to me because I said something really foolish, and now I'm battling this shame."
Shame Wants Us to Believe We're Too Dirty
Shame wants us to believe that we are too dirty to be made new. Shame wants us to believe that when we do something foolish, God's going to be mad at us and He's not going to listen to us. In our text today, Paul encourages us and he tells us, "Because of Christ"—notice, not because of our good works. He says, "No, no, because of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross," and says, "In our faith in Him we can now come"—here it is—"boldly and confidently into God's presence."
Why can I come boldly and confidently into God's presence? Because of Christ, because of what Christ has done for me on the cross. There's going to be days where you read the Bible, you pray, you meditate. You have this spiritual high where you're like, "I know God loves me because I did this, this and this." Then there's going to be days where you're off to work, you're in traffic, it’s a busy day. You didn't read your Bible, you didn't pray, somebody cut you off on the freeway. You've lost your temper. You're going to have those days.
God's Love Doesn't Fluctuate
Here's what's crazy. God's love for you hasn't changed whether you've had that good day or bad day. Always remind yourself that God's love for you doesn't fluctuate based on how good of a person you are, based on how much you read the Bible and pray. Yes, we should read the Bible and pray, but the reason God loves us is because He's for us. He's not against us. It's because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. The reason I can approach God with boldness, even though I said something really foolish and I've sinned, is because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. See, God loves you for you. He just wants you.
Why can we come to Him with boldness? It's because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. I don't know where you're at today. Maybe you're avoiding God and maybe you've done something foolish. Or maybe you're battling a sin right now and you're like, "There's no way God wants to hear from me because He's mad at me." Can I just encourage you with this? Don't avoid God, because He wants to hear from you. In fact, He wants your heart even as you wrestle with that sin. Talk to God about that because He's a loving Father that wants to hear from you.
Draw Near to God
James chapter 4 and verse 8 will tell us that when we draw near to Him—it doesn't say He pulls away from us—when we draw near to God, it says He will draw near to you. My encouragement to you today is simple: Draw near to God, because He's waiting to hear from you.
