Sunday 3rd November 2024
Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven, and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NIV)
Slow down
We are used to saying that we can come confidently into the presence of God, certain of being heard. After all, “we have peace with God” and “have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:1-2). Also, “we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” and we are invited to “draw near to God” (Hebrews 10:19, 22). And that is right.
But this verse from Ecclesiastes encourages us not to treat this access lightly or presumptuously, and to remember that the free and open access we have to God was won for us at enormous cost to God himself – costing nothing less than “the blood of Jesus” offered in sacrifice (see verse 1).
Yes, we come before a loving heavenly Father, but our Father is still the Lord God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. So it is only right that we are careful about what we say when we come before him in prayer.
Indeed, the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ that Jesus taught his disciples seems to be a model of such careful praying and it certainly avoids the danger of “babbling like pagans” (Matthew 6:7).
Another example of such careful praying is the prayer the believers pray in Acts 4:24-30 when Peter and John are released from prison: they address God in terms used by Scripture, they appeal to a specific text from Scripture, they give their understanding of how that text applies to their situation, and they ask God to act accordingly. And that’s it. Job done!
The key to prayer according to the Teacher in Ecclesiastes seems to be to remember who God is and who we are: “God is in heaven, and you are on earth.” A certain humility is in order! Our God knows what is in our hearts. He knows what we need before we ask him. He is “able to do more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). He is God!
Prayer
Father in heaven, teach me to pray to you confidently and yet carefully, enjoying the access I have to your throne of grace while remembering what it cost you to give me that access – nothing less than the precious blood of Christ. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)