Dare To Pray Bold Prayers
Joseph Prince, a renowned speaker and author, delves into the foundational concepts of Christian faith, emphasizing the power of prayer under grace, the true source of righteousness, and the ongoing, present-day ministry of Jesus Christ as the High Priest. This message encourages believers to approach God with boldness, trust in Jesus’s completed work, and focus on the coming of the Lord.
Coming Boldly: Prayer Under Grace
The source material encourages believers to come boldly when they pray. This boldness stems from the assurance that believers are already close to God and are praying to use their influence with Him. Prayer is an act of asking in Jesus’s name, which means recognizing that Jesus is representing the believer; the words being prayed are “as if Jesus is praying” that prayer.
The Imperfection of Prayer
A key spiritual provision highlighted is that God is “not looking at the imperfection of your prayer”. Worrying about wandering thoughts, lack of fervor, or insufficient passion in prayer is discouraged because it leads to introspection and stress.
This is because Jesus, the High Priest, purifies everything believers pray. He “bears the iniquity of the holy things”—meaning the sin and imperfection found even in our best acts, gifts, and worship.
- The High Priest’s Role: Jesus removes what is unnecessary or superfluous from the prayer and adds His perfume and sweet aroma before presenting a perfect prayer to the Father.
- The Result: Because of Jesus, even a small revelation of Christ is still a “sweet aroma to the Lord”.
Discipleship, Not Content: The True Need of the Next Generation
In a previous discussion, the issue of the next generation was addressed, noting that young people are not starved for content but for connection and real relationship [Skelton, “Solving the Next Generation Crisis”]. They seek an embodied, communal experience where they are known [Skelton, “Solving the Next Generation Crisis”]. The emphasis on Christ as the filter for even our imperfect prayers aligns with the need for discipleship centered on genuine connection to Jesus, rather than performance.
Righteousness: The Core of Spiritual Warfare
The battle for the believer is often focused on their own performance or obedience. The enemy’s objective is to point the believer to themself, leading to guilt and hard thoughts toward God. The correct response in spiritual warfare is to point away from self to Christ.
One Man’s Obedience
The foundation of Christian righteousness is not the believer’s performance but the “one man’s obedience” of Jesus Christ.
- Source of Sin: By one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience, all were made sinners.
- Source of Righteousness: By one man’s (Jesus’s) obedience, particularly the “one act of obedience at the cross,” many are made righteous.
- The Warfare: The devil wants believers to focus on their obedience, but the weapon against the enemy’s strongholds is knowing that “it is his obedience that has made me righteous”. This realization is what the Bible calls the “obedience of Christ”.
This correct belief—right believing—is the obedience of faith and will naturally lead to right living.
Found in Him: Completeness in Christ
Trying to achieve perfection or complete spiritual fervor through introspection is deemed a harmful attempt to be “complete in ourselves”. God states that believers “are complete in him”. This completeness is not a journey to be started but a starting point for the believer. The Apostle Paul’s experience reflects this: he sought to be “found in him” (Christ), not having his own righteousness based on the Law.
Jesus: The Present-Day High Priest
Jesus’s ministry did not end with the cross and resurrection; it continues today as the High Priest.
The Right to Be Seated
Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand “having purged our sins”. His right to sit is directly tied to the sin issue being fully dealt with. The Old Testament priests were always standing, performing sacrifices, but Jesus sat down because His work was finished.
Representation and Acceptance
The High Priest’s garments in the Old Testament represented the people, showing intrinsic truths about Jesus.
- Heart and Power: The jewels on the breastplate represent all believers—individual and unique—held equally in Jesus’s love. The names on the shoulders represent His equal power to bear all believers.
- Holiness to the Lord: The plate on the High Priest’s forehead, inscribed with “Holiness to the Lord,” is “always on his forehead”. This ensures that believers are “accepted before the Lord” (the word ratson, meaning great favor/delight). As long as this truth is on Jesus’s forehead, the believer’s acceptance and favor are guaranteed.
The Dispensation of Grace and Coming Judgment
The source material provides theological context for the current period, known as the dispensation of grace, and speaks to the future return of Christ and the concept of the rapture.
The Acceptable Year of the Lord
Jesus, when reading Isaiah 61 in His hometown, closed the book after quoting the phrase “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (the year of Radzon, or great favor). He stopped before quoting the final phrase in Isaiah: “and the day of vengeance of our God”.
- Grace, Not Vengeance: Where the Lord closed the book, believers should close the book; it is “not time to talk about the vengeance of our God”.
- God’s Longsuffering: The current dispensation of grace has lasted approximately 2,000 years, compared to the 1,500 years of the Law. God’s reluctance to judge is due to His “longsuffering,” as He is “not willing that any should perish”.