The Promise of Prayer (3)

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.1 John 2.1, 2

First things first
In prayer we enter the very throne room of God, where we may expect our heavenly Father to hear our prayers for mercy and grace in our time of need. God is ready to absolve us of the guilt of our sins and to lift the burden of shame and defeat that weighs upon us because of them.

But we need to make sure we observe the proper order of things when we come before the Lord in prayer.

Our prayers can secure mercy from God, and mercy is what we need first of all every day. If justice is receiving what you deserve from God, and grace is receiving what you don’t deserve, then mercy is not receiving what you do deserve from God. What we deserve from God is condemnation, wrath, rejection, and separation from Him forever, because all of us have sinned; and God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 3.23; Hab. 1.13; Rom. 6.23). So whenever we come to the Lord in prayer, let us make certain that, first of all, we seek mercy from Him – mercy which He is ever ready to bestow.

Our Advocate
John’s word of encouragement to us is couched in conditional language: “if anyone sins…” He doesn’t presume, and he doesn’t condemn. He simply advises us that we do not have to bear the guilt and shame of our sins, the heavy burden of our persistent failures to obey, any longer than it takes to turn to Jesus in prayer. If we sin, John says, we have an Advocate – a Counselor, Comforter, and Encourager – Who will enter with us into the Father’s presence, and intercede for us with Him, pleading for mercy on our behalf by showing the wounds of His suffering. Jesus has borne our sins – past, present, and future – in His own body on the cross. He has separated our sins from us as far as the east is from the west, so that our heavenly Father will remember them no more.

Though we must strive mightily to bring holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7.1), we will continue to sin until we are translated unto glory, and the law of sin and all its ugly accoutrements bedeck our bodies and souls no more. Thus we will continue to require mercy so that the burden of sin will neither discourage nor defeat us.

So when we come before God in prayer, making use of the access He provides through Jesus, and, with Jesus advocating for us, granting us audience with the Father, let us make certain that first of all we appeal through Jesus for the mercy we need to be liberated yet again from the burden of guilt and shame which our sins lay upon us.

Have no sin?
Someone may object to such a blanket assessment of our condition by insisting that he doesn’t sin. To assert this is to deceive oneself and to make God to be a liar, since He explains that all of us sin (1 Jn. 1.8, 10; Rom. 3.23). Why would someone hold to such a belief?

I can think of two reasons. First, a person who claims he doesn’t sin, and therefore has no need of the sin-absolving mercy of God, may not fully understand the nature of sin and the power it exerts within us. This comes about by being ignorant of the Word of God, especially of His Law, which describes the nature of sin and reveals its pervasive scope (Rom. 7.12; 1 Jn. 3.4). Sin continues within the souls even of those believe as a kind of law of our not-yet-glorified existence. The Apostle Paul identified this law at work within himself, frustrating his attempts to do good and leading him, under the burden of sin, guilt, and shame, to cry out to God for mercy through Jesus Christ (Rom. 7.21-25). If we say we have no sin, then we become ensnared in two fallacies, the first, that we are holier and more advanced in our sanctification than the Apostle Paul, and the second that we are above the plain teaching of God’s Word concerning the continuation of sin in our lives.

A second reason someone may not think he has a need for mercy is because he has not been in the presence of God as often as he should. Many people look to God more as their servant than their sovereign. God exists to do for us, to make us happy, help us during times of trouble or trial, or comfort us when things go wrong. He’s there whenever we need Him, and when we don’t, then we can handle matters ourselves.

Isaiah certainly didn’t feel this way (Is. 6.1-5). Neither did David (Ps. 51), Daniel (Dan. 9.3-10), or Peter (Lk. 5.1-8), or Paul, as we have seen. These men knew God intimately, resorted to His presence often, trembled at His holiness and might, and so pled with Him for mercy to cleanse them from their sin. If we knew God and spent as much time with Him as these men did, we would not deceive ourselves into thinking that we have no sin.

When we come to God in prayer, God promises to grant us mercy and absolution, first of all. Let’s be sure we seek such mercy humbly, honestly, expectantly, and gladly.

For reflection
1.  Meditate on Psalm 66.18. According to this verse, why must seeking God’s mercy be the first order of our prayers?

2.  How would you counsel a new believer in understanding the nature of sin and our continuous need of the mercy of God?

3.  How do you experience Jesus advocating for you before the Father?

Next steps – Transformation: Look at the references to Isaiah, David, Daniel, Peter, and Paul (Rom. 7.21-25). From these passages, compose a prayer that you can use throughout the day to seek the mercy of God as you need it. Write that prayer out and carry it with you.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.