By The Rev. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist

(Read: Hebrews 4:1-16).

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

What is prayer? Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God.

The Rev. Ron Purkey

Thousands of people pray only when they are under great stress, or in danger, overcome by uncertainty. There seems to be an instinct in man to pray in times of trouble.

We know “there are no atheists in foxholes,” but the kind of Christianity that fails to reach into our everyday lives will never change the world. Develop the power of prayer.

Man is more powerful when he is in prayer than when he is behind the most powerful guns. A nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into defensive weapons.

The answers to all our problems can be had through contact with almighty God.

These verses offer proof the believer cannot lose his salvation. We have a high priest who knows our temptations and weaknesses, who endured testings that we must endure. When times of testing come, we need but turn to the throne of grace for the help Christ alone can give.

The writer will elaborate on this theme in the later chapters, but he puts this exhortation here lest his readers become discouraged and say, “It is impossible for us to go on! We simply do not have what it takes!”

Of course we don’t! No believer has strength enough to cross Jordan and conquer the enemy! But we have a great high priest who has mercy and “grace to help in the nick of time!” (That is the literal meaning of verse 16.)
Why does the writer refer to a “throne” at this point? The reference is to Exodus 25:17-22, the golden mercy seat.

The ark of the covenant was a wooden chest covered with gold. On top of the ark, Moses put a golden “mercy seat” with a cherub at each end. This mercy seat was God’s throne, where he sat in glory and ruled the nation of Israel.

But the Old Testament mercy seat was not a throne of grace, since the nation was under a yoke of legal bondage. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Christ is our mercy deat (“propitiation” in 1 John 2:2). When we come to him, we come to a throne of grace, not a throne of judgment; and he meets us, talks to us, and strengthens us.

Read this chapter again, and you will see it is not warning us against losing our salvation. Rather, it is encouraging us to live in the word of God and in prayer, and to let Jesus Christ take us into our spiritual Canaan where we will find rest and blessing. Spiritual progress is the result of spiritual discipline. Live for Christ!

Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines free at rcpbibleoutlines.com. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.