| Unworthy, Alone, Insufficient?
Luke 18:1-8 tells the story of a widow woman who felt UNWORTHY when trying to make her case before an unjust judge. She was ALONE in her question for justice, and she had INSUFFICIENT resources to make her trouble disappear. Tucked inside this parable about persisting in prayer, we see a beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus who is the Righteous Judge. Here it is: We have been made worthy by His blood. Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can go to God’s throne in prayer boldly and with great confidence. The Blood of the Lamb has qualified us. We can stand in God’s presence and be confident that we belong there and that our request is important to Him. We are not out of place in God’s presence because the Blood of Jesus has put us in our rightful place with God. We can be sure that when we go to the Lord seeking mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:16) we will find the help we need at just the right time. We don’t need to be shy about coming into His presence. We are not out of place when we are on our face before our Heavenly Father in prayer. Doesn’t that give you a sense of security? A second beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus the Righteous Judge is that we are never alone. You may feel alone in your circumstance but if you are a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life, you are never alone. Hebrews 13:5 tells us Jesus will never leave us. When we pray we have an Advocate, Jesus our Savior (I John 2:1). He goes into the Courtroom of God with us. He understands what we are going through. He will vouch for us before the Heavenly Father. He constantly represents us before the throne of God as He is praying with us and for us! (Romans 8:34) A third beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus the Righteous Judge is that in Him we are completely sufficient. When we take our insufficiency to God and allow Him to infuse His Word and His power into our circumstance we have everything we need to endure a circumstance or to experience a change in that circumstance. We take our weakness to Him, and He gives us strength. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, (Philippians 4:13) and the infusion of strength comes as we trust God in prayer. II Corinthians 12:9 tells us God’s grace is sufficient when we are insufficient. Those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10). Persevering in prayer was also a main point to the story Jesus told. Persevering in prayer has more benefits than just receiving justice. When we do, we exercise our awareness of: Who we are in Christ-WORTHY Who we are with Christ-NEVER ALONE Who Christ is in us-ALL-SUFFICIENT Pastor Melissa |
