Prayer is one of the most powerful spiritual tools a Christian can have. Our prayers put us in direct communication with God. However, what was true under the old covenant of the law may no longer be true under the new covenant of grace. This includes how we pray.

Under the law, man was required to ask God for blessings. The expectation was that he would beg and plead for God to move. Man was in a difficult place because sin was an issue. His iniquities separated him from God; his sins caused God to hide His face so that He wouldn’t hear man’s prayers.

The law reminded everyone that curses awaited anyone who didn’t perform perfectly and pray according to strict specifications. Even Job, who was described as “perfect and upright” prayed out of fear because of sin-consciousness. His motivation for going to God wasn’t to come into His presence to give thanks and praise, but to make sacrifices to try to atone for any sins his family may have committed. He did this continually.

All that changed, however, with Jesus’ death and resurrection. The blood sacrifice He made ended the law, and with it the need for endless self-efforts to please God. If we’ve been born again, sin no longer has dominion over us because we’re not under the law, but under grace. We can now pray with confidence and boldly go before the throne of grace because we’re no longer sinners, but saints.

Now, we don’t have to suffer with a guilty conscience because of our past; Christ has rescued us from that emotional shipwreck. As God’s beloved, we’ve been forgiven and made His children. We have confidence that when we pray according to His will, He hears our prayers. The knowledge of what God has done to reconcile us to Himself frees us on every level.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Son gave His life for us so that we would no longer have to fear punishment for sin. This radically transforms our prayer lives by allowing us to pray out of thankfulness and gratitude. We thank You and praise You for what You did. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Isaiah 59:2

Job 1:1, 5

Romans 6:14

Hebrews 4:16

Revelation 5:8

Hebrews 10:22, NLT

1 Timothy 1:19, NLT

Ephesians 1:5, 6

1 John 5:14

For more on how what Jesus did impacts how we can relate to God, click on the link to find the CD series The Power of Grace-Based Prayer, in our eStore.