And When You Pray For Others

"And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. .....  Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness." Leviticus 16:11,15-16

I am currently reading in Leviticus as part of reading through the Bible. We have been given both the Old and New Testaments for our spiritual benefit. Reading the Bible is not a mental drill like reading a text book - but a spiritual experience that speaks to our hearts and not merely our minds. There are parts of the Old Testament, in particular, that are difficult to understand - difficult to see the application in my life. It can seem more informational than transformational. I must confess that is what I was thinking as I was reading in Leviticus this morning. But then it was if the Spirit turned the light on. 

In Leviticus 16 God gave instruction to Moses to give to Aaron that before Aaron offered a sacrifice for the sins of the people, he must first offer a sacrifice for his own sin. Just because Aaron was the high priest did not mean that he was given a pass for his own sins. 

And that caused me to think about when I or any of us, for that matter, pray for others. When we approach a holy God on behalf of others do we consider the condition of our hearts first? We are given access to the Holy of Holies - enter God's presence through the sacrifice of Jesus. And yet we are instructed to confess our sins. 

"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart" - Psalm 24:3-5

We have been granted access to the Father only by the sacrifice of the Son. I must be on my guard that I don't become casual in my attitude toward how I approach the Father. When asked to pray for someone - I need to first set my heart right with Him. Approach the Throne of Grace with a clean heart and clean hands.  As Jesus told the disciples - you don't need to wash your whole body - but only your feet.  (John 13) In a similar way Moses was reminded to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. 

When we pray for others, we are lifting them up in the name of Jesus to the Father. Remembering this

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." - 1 John 1:8-10

Be mindful that prayer is a great privilege granted to us because of our rebirth. We should always be aware that we are not placing an order at a drive through restaurant but coming to the holy Creator God with our requests. The fact that God hears us is only because of Jesus.  

Think about it – Believe it  - Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone