The throne of God

A key to confident prayer is the fact that our all-powerful God is seated on his throne, listening lovingly and mercifully to our prayers and praises.

The author of Hebrews says in chapter 4, verse 16: "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need."

Indeed, the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:6 (New Living Translation): "For he raised us up from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus."

This is a wonderful and yet mysterious verse which seems to say that we are already seated with Christ in spirit in heaven because we are united now with Christ. We are not with Christ bodily, but we are in spirit.

Over the centuries, great Christian thinkers have said that, in effect, Christians have Christ's authority in prayer.  In some cases, believers can be so certain that God has answered their prayers that they will declare God's answer and step out in faith, just as Elijah did in 2 Kings 18 when he told Ahab rain was coming after years of drought.

In Luke 10:19, Jesus told his disciples: "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy . . ."

Of course, there are conditions.  We must pray as if Christ were praying.  We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, confessing any conscious sin, and seeking what God wants.  The Bible and the Spirit can be our guides on what the Lord desires.

Wesley L. Duewel, author of Mighty Prevailing Prayer, writes:

"In yourself, you are a weak human being.  But in Christ you are seated beside Him on His sovereign throne and he delegates to you the privilege of praying in his name, resisting Satan, your already defeated foe, and crushing Satan under your feet because Satan is under Jesus' feet."