Christians frequently find it difficult to consistently make their practice align with their position in Christ. The saints of God are positionally blameless in Christ, but practically, each believer must strive daily to “be blameless and harmless . . . in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.” In this world, believers represent the Lord as sons of God. As such, they should “do all things without murmurings and disputings.” Why is this so very important? The importance points to the fact that believers are to “shine as lights in the world.” It is imperative that every believer strives daily to live a godly life and preserves a godly testimony in a world that has little to no knowledge of God (Matthew 5:16).
It is very important that the saint recognize that he is blameless in Christ at this very moment in time because of Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross. Yet, the Bible warns of one’s condition when the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His own. Thankfully, the scriptures also clearly address this event. According to 1 Corinthians 1:8, the Lord Jesus Christ “shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The same truth is expressed in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 when the Bible says that the Lord desires to stablish the believers’ “hearts unblameable in holiness before God . . . at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” How is this accomplished? 1 Thessalonians 5:23 offers the answer when it mentions being “preserved blameless.” This preservation is not through man’s efforts but only through the work of Christ. He preserves the Christian positionally blameless.
Some people incorrectly conclude that someone is blameless only when he does nothing wrong, but the scripture teaches that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible continues by stating that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). In other words, no one ever born upon the earth, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, has ever been sinless. This includes people like Zacharias and Elisabeth although the Bible does say that they were “blameless” concerning the commandments and ordinances of the law. How could someone be blameless and not be sinless? To be blamed suggests a failure to make wrongs right. As such, one can deduce that when Zacharias and Elisabeth sinned against the Lord, they did what the law required to make things right with God. They were blameless in the law.
The Bible clearly proclaims that believers have full access to the throne of God through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, the Bible also identifies circumstances that can and will hinder a believer’s prayer life. According to James 1:6-7, a lack of faith hinders the Lord’s response to a person’s prayer. According to 1 John 3:22, disobedience can also be a hindrance to prayer. In 1 Peter 3:7, the Bible declares that the prayers of a troubled home will be hindered. In addition to this, the Lord acknowledges the benefit of praying according to His will (1 John 5:14). It is important to pray but also important to insure that your prayer life is not hindered by your personal walk and ways.
Should prayer be kept private or can it be done in publick? For various reasons, some believers have grown increasingly concerned about the appropriate places to call upon the Lord. In Matthew 6:5-6, the Lord rebuked the publick prayers of the hypocrites and suggested that His people should enter into their closets to pray. The Lord Himself followed this pattern by seeking a “solitary place” in which to pray (Mark 1:35). Does this mean that the Lord opposed all publick prayer? It is important to consider the whole counsel of God. Obviously the Lord was not displeased with the publick prayer meeting held by believers in the early church – He answered their prayer by freeing Peter (Acts 12:12). Furthermore, the Lord expressed His will – for men to “pray every where.”
Many believers have made it a practice to end their prayers with the phrase “in Jesus’ name.” They do so because of the Saviour’s command to pray in His name. However, the command carries a far deeper relevance than simply a formula habitually added at the end of a prayer. This phrase added at the end of the prayer serves as a reminder that we are performing the action in the name of another. It is also taking place at the request of and under the authority of another person. By coming to the Father in the name of the Son, believers are approaching the Father under the Son’s authority and at His request. Because of Christ’s request and authority, believers can approach the throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16). Without Christ’s request and authority, our boldness would be turned into presumptuousness.
The 2,000-year history of the church reveals that there have been teachers and whole religions who have rejected the biblical teaching of the coexistence of a Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Others have accepted their existence but rejected the fact that these three are one with each being fully God (1 John 5:7). Some have simply been unable to comprehend or unwilling to accept that God could exist as one God in three persons. Regardless of man’s intellectual inadequacies, the Bible reveals that each member of the Godhead works together on our behalf in prayer. The Lord told us that every believer should pray to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus (John 15:16). The prayers are directed toward the Father with the Son acting as the mediator (Hebrews 7:25). The book of Romans further reveals that the Spirit of God makes intercession for us in our prayers (Romans 8:26).
One might think that prayer has always existed in the exact manner in which it presently exists, but such is not the case. It appears that the first major shift in prayer took place in Genesis 4:26. We know that Adam and Eve freely spoke with the Lord face-to-face in the garden (Genesis 3:8). However, it seems that the fall of man caused men to have to begin “to call upon the name of the LORD.” Even then, prayer was not as it is today. The very fact that prayer has not always existed parallels a time in the future when prayer as we know it will not exist. When man had full access to the Lord, there was no need for prayer. In eternity, the same will be true. For now, the Lord has given us access to Him through prayer (Hebrews 4:16).
