As Jesus was preparing Himself for the crucifixion, he began to speak plainly to his disciples about what was to come after his death, resurrection, and ascension. In the times before He came to dwell among men as God in the flesh, the people had to go through the High Priest each year to petition God for the forgiveness of their sins. In John 16:26-27, He tells the disciples that after his ascension back into Heaven, they will be able to petition God directly. These verses are powerful! He says "In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God (NIV)". In other words, they were told that once He was seated at the right hand of God, they could go directly to God the Father in Jesus’ name, and ask whatever they might - whether for blessings, forgiveness of sins, guidance, undergirding, or whatever one might wish to God about - and He would hear them and answer their prayers. What a change from the days before Christ’s sacrifice on the cross! And we have that same privilege today that Jesus’ disciples had then, to go directly to God with our prayers and petitions. There is no need to go to a priest or pastor to confess our sins or present our petitions to God. We can boldly approach the mercy seat of grace, and God will hear us and respond to us!

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But notice that there is a pre-condition to this amazing privilege. We have this marvelous direct access to the Father "because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God". This is a confirmation of John 3:16, but it goes even farther. Not only do we have the assurance "that whosoever believeth in [Jesus Christ] should not perish, but have everlasting life (KJV)", but also that we can boldly approach God directly, any time and any place, and speak to Him from the heart about our concerns, our needs, our burdens for others, and for forgiveness of our sins. All of this, and more, is a free gift, all for simply accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, submitting our lives to Him and striving to live according to His Word. We cheat ourselves of a tremendous blessing if we merely ask our pastor, or someone else, to pray for us, but fail to pray to God ourselves!

If you are a Christian, do not deprive yourself of the blessing of talking directly with God. As the old Southern Gospel song says "Well now, let’s have a little talk with Jesus, let us tell Him all about our troubles; He will hear our plaintive cry, and He will answer by and by". What a glorious privilege!

Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard