7 Portraits in Prayer, Day 11: Evening

Week 2, Radiant Prayer, Day 4: Reverence

(Read Exodus 20:18–21; Hebrew 12:18–29)

 

When Moses first went to Mount Sinai, he brought the people to meet with God (Exodus 19:17). The mount began to smoke, shake, and blasts of the trumpet sounded so loud that in Exodus 20:19, the people cried out and said, “Moses, you speak with us, but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.” A healthy relationship with God is one that has both intimacy in a personal relationship, but also a holy reverence to God.

The writer of Hebrews in chapter 12 explained that our relationship with God should be even more reverent and full of awe than the people when they went to Mount Sinai, a place that made even Moses say, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling”. Instead, through prayer, we go to a spiritual Mount Zion “the city of the living God”. The passage ends with the powerful words, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire,” (Hebrews 12:28-29).

We can be real and honest with God, but we must have reverence. We must honor Him as God and not be irreverent. So how do we balance the “lowliness” and “holiness” that Andrew Murray wrote about in the quote box?

       A Greek word for “boldness” and “confidence” was used for Peter and John when they spoke in Acts 4:13. It is the same word Greek word, parrēsia, for which the early church prayed and received in Acts 4:29 and 31. “’grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word … through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.’ and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

In those passages in Acts, we see a reverent boldness comes from prayer and being filled with the Spirit.

The same word is used four times in the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 3:6, the writer stated “why” we can have bold confidence: because we are of the “house of Jesus Christ.” Hebrews 4:16 explained “how” we can come to God in prayer: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace…” on the basis that Jesus Christ is our High Priest. In Hebrews 10, the Greek word is used twice to show us that we can boldly “enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,” (verse 19) and that we must not “throw away” our bold confidence “which has a great reward” (verse 35).

To have reverence means to have honor towards God. When we see how fearful He can be and yet how bold we are to be in our prayers and speaking openly with the God of universe, we are left with a great sense of honor and reverence.

 

Pray this prayer to God: “Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all that You have made, I count it indeed a great honor that You would seek me to pray with all boldness and confidence. Lord, my petition to You is, remind me I can only come to You because of what Christ did for me. In His Name I pray, Amen.”

Click here for Day 12, Morning.