DIRTY LINEN IN THE THRONE ROOM
By Jack W. Hayford
Honesty is indeed a prerequisite to effective prayer.
But it can also be cleverly guided on a boomerang path by our arch
opponent. “How can I pray when I know I’ve failed
God?” I may ask myself. The awareness of recent sin or even
a remote memory can haunt the mind and cripple all confidence in
prayer.
Further, I will never feel guilt but that Satan,
whom God’s Word labels as the accuser as well as the adversary,
will hound my mind with added evidence of my unworthiness and, therefore,
of my hopelessness if I do pray. You’ve botched it up so badly,
how can you seriously expect a hearing from God. You don’t
deserve anything. You know it, and He knows it! Forget it!
Some of us will even press beyond that lying attack to the point
of praying something, somehow, but the words—when the mind
is bombarded by guilt and condemnation—have a way of falling
to the floor. Absent is that sense of the creative power when we
speak boldly in simple trust to the God of all the heavens. We feel
instead like someone who seeks an audience with the head of state
of a nation whose flag we have just trampled.
Fat chance of a favor!
Thin hope of a hearing! The devil’s right. Forget it.
But wait a minute. Think clearly for a moment. What
suddenly changed Satan’s nature that he would defend God’s
glory by urging you to keep your dirty distance? Nothing. He’s
consistently opposed to my union and yours with the Father. When
the devil contests a believer on seemingly righteous grounds you
can count on it that there’s a trap in the system somewhere.
Truth starts to surface. The God of all glory is also the God of
all grace.
We need to learn how to handle our biggest obstacle to effective
prayer: guilt—the sense of having failed and thereby being
disqualified for bold approach. How can I handle my dirty linen
when I want to come to the throne room of the Almighty? Sin is,
on the face of it, an obstacle to communion with God. But, if we
look more closely, we’ll see that just the opposite is true
because of Christ’s sacrifice.
Consider:
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My sin creates the possibility for His grace to abound.
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My sin is a powerful reminder of my absolute dependence on
Him.
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My sin, when confessed, will occasion another display of His
mercy.
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My sin, when dealt with, brings me to the fountainhead of power:
the Cross, where Jesus’ blood is found again to be eternally
effective in dissolving bonds and releasing from guilt.
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My sin, when forgiven, will defeat my adversary, who said I
would be excluded from a hearing by reason of my failure.
The apostle Paul was actually accused of encouraging sin. It was
untrue and he clearly denied the charge. (Rom. 3:8,; 6:1,2)
But it is understandable that the charge was made. For any correct
teaching of God’s infinite mercy has a way of sounding to the
presumptuous like a license for sin. But we don’t enter God’s
presence by presenting an admission card certifying our sinlessness.
Nor does one stamp into the throne room with muddy feet with a glib,
“Sorry about that.” A proper balance of humility and
boldness is needed. Sin, by whatever description, cannot be skirted.
Neither should sin be honored by allowing it to inhibit our praying.
Here’s how to handle the problem:
First, understand God’s posture. He’s on the side
of sinners. Jesus’ critics puzzled that He was so frequently
in the company of people who lacked religious pedigree and moral
status: “This man companies with publicans and sinners!”
The amazing thing was not only that He was willing to move among
the sinful, but that He affected them and not the other way around.
God never condemns sinners, and He never condones sin. "My
little children," John begins, "I am writing these
things to you that you sin not." (I John 2:1) The message
registers, and could produce a guilt feeling just by casual reading...except
for the next sentence: "But if any man sin, we have one
pleading our case before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous
One. He is our sin-covering." (vs. 1-2) In other words,
the Word of God says: “Absolutely, do not sin,” then
turns right around and says, “But when you do...” Although
the heavenly Father does not hold a casual attitude toward sin,
He is not shocked by it either. He has made provision for it, not
as an invitation to sin, but to receive His freedom from its guilt.
Second, we make a serious mistake if we think God’s
mercy is the result of some “smile-and-forget-it” bent
in His nature. Humanistic theology features the Father as a somewhat
doddering, near senile, harmless old man, who forgives because He
couldn’t do much else in His defense anyway. Or it says that
God forgives whenever He is asked “simply because it’s
right and He ought to.” It’s a part of a gentlemen’s
agreement: We’ll forgive God for letting the world go on in
the generally messed up condition it is, if He will be fair about
it and forgive us for those times we’ve contributed to the
mess.
Most people never express such ideas or, for that mater,
bother to discover what they do think about forgiveness. But to
experience the full peace of forgiveness we must understand the
key to its power.
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God’s forgiveness is available and adequate because it
cost an infinite price: the blood of Jesus.
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Blood is the only price adequate to cover payment for sin.
(Heb. 9:22)
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Jesus knew and announced that His death on the cross was that
instrument of payment. (Matt. 26:28)
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It was the Father’s plan and the Son’s agreement
to this redeeming event that produced Calvary. (Acts 2:23;
Matt. 26:39)
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This message was foretold by the Old Testament prophets and
confirmed by
the preaching of the New Testament apostles. (Is. 53:4-6;
Jn. 1:29; I Cor. 15:3;
I Pet. 1:18,19)
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Both justification (acquittal for our sins) in the present
and eternal blessing in the future are granted through the blood.
(Rom. 5:9)
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Therefore, peace of mind and a clear conscience before God
are available through the blood. (Eph. 2:13,14; Heb. 9:14)
Forgiveness is abundant, but it isn’t the splash of
a supermarket display. It’s the overflow of the cornucopia
of His love designed to prompt our praise and thanksgiving...and
our bold approach to His throne, even when we have sinned. That’s
the third point: Handling dirty linen in the throne room is not
accomplished by attempting to hide it, but by openly spreading it
before God. That’s what confession means: acknowledging exactly
what we know to be so.
"If we confess our sins. He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(I Jn. 1:9)
"Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:16)
“In time of need,” That’s the time we are most
encouraged to come. But when need arises— and is compounded
by our own sense of sin and failure—that is the time we’re
least inclined to come boldly. But it’s the time we’re
most invited! Has your desire to pray been blocked by a sense of
guilt? Be done with that blockade! Let the truth about the blood
of Jesus, the truth about the Father’s mercy set you free!
I can come and be cleansed by the miracle of His creative working
through the blood:
"Purge me...and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall
be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew
a right spirit with me." (Ps. 51:7,10) Welcome to
the throne room of heaven, sinner.
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Jack
Hayford Ministries
14800 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91405-2233