When praying to God, remember the cost of P&P

In praying to God sometimes we are as bold as brass. There are so many occasions in which we approach our Heavenly Father that we may get used to it and forget it is God Himself who we are addressing in prayer. God had to pay an enormous price for our redemption, His only son Jesus, who was agonizing in Gethsemane just by thinking about the task he had ahead.

Praying to God
Jesus restored through obedienceeven unto death that which the disobedience of man had taken away: the access to the presence of God. His sacrifice on the cross tore the veil of separation that our sin had created. No longer was the presence of a high priest carrying the blood of an innocent lamb needed to have access to the holiest of places. Jesus had gained for us a complete and irrevocable heavenly green card. Now we are citizens of heaven with full rights. The downside of this is that by obtaining full citizenship we consider ourselves entitled to certain privileges denied to the majority of applicants. We portray ourselves as sons and daughters of the King, so we dont feel compelled to behave in a fashion considerate to others or to God. Because we have so many prerogatives, almost anything we do we regard it as our birthright. We behave like spoiled children and so we have very bad manners.

Praying to God: The cost of P&P

Jesus commanded His disciples to pray in His name. This instruction serves many purposes, as we have seen in other articles. One of these is that we must pray in a way that honors Jesus life and ministry on earth. We must imitate Jesus in everything we do, for our goal is to be made in His image.

When we find ourselves praying to God we must remember how Jesus addressed the Father while praying and regard God with the same love and awe. It is not acceptable that we use our identity as sons and daughters of God to present our petitions and problems without the due respect and reverence. God may be our Father thanks to the work that Jesus performed on the cross, but we are not to take this as an excuse to approach the Maker and Ruler of the universe as if He were just there to satisfy our any whim. When the kings sent a letter, they put a stamp on the envelope that signifies their endorsement and approval of what the letter says. When we are praying to God in the name of Jesus, we must remember that as well.