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Boldness in Prayer
By Tom Brown
 One
of the greatest qualities necessary to get your prayers answered is
“boldness.” Hebrews 4:16 affirms this:
“Let us therefore draw near with
boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find
grace to help (us) in time of need”
(Heb 4:16, ASV). Even Abraham was quite bold in talking with God, “Now
that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but
dust and ashes” (Gen 18:27). You do not have to be arrogant to be bold;
you can still be humble while at the same time be bold.
Unfortunately some
people associate boldness with being “brazen” or “forward” or
“presumptuous.” Boldness is not the same as these qualities. To be brazen is
to be proud to flaunt one’s sin, such as a prostitute very proud of what she
does and doesn’t mind telling people. To be forward is to think you and your
needs are more important than other people and their needs. And to be
presumptuous is to be overconfident and act beyond God’s Word or one’s level
of faith, such as someone borrowing more money than they should so God is
forced to take care of their needs. None of these things are boldness.
Jesus explains the
characteristic of boldness regarding prayer. Jesus taught the necessity of
boldness if we are to see results from our prayers. He said there was a
friend who needed some food for some guests who arrived late, so he came to
his friend at midnight and began to knock on the door. Jesus said, “Though
he will not get up and give him bread because he is his friend, yet because
of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs”
(Luke 11:8). Boldness is essential in getting answers to prayers.
Boldness is
courage. It is daring to trust God to keep His promise to us. It is not
going beyond God’s promise, but standing confidently on God’s Word. I have
discovered there is one important understanding that a believer must have if
he is to have boldness and that is he must understand that he is righteous
in God’s sight. He feels a sense of equality even though he knows God is
greater than him. Righteousness is a gift that gives us this confidence.
Reverend Kenneth
E. Hagin said, “A lack of understanding of righteousness holds more people
in bondage than perhaps anything else. Not understanding righteousness
almost cost me my life.” Kenneth was born with a deformed heart, an
incurable blood disease and became paralyzed. However, at the age of sixteen
the Bible gave him hope to be healed. He started to read the Bible and
discovered that God answers prayers. As he crossed referenced the subject of
prayer, he came to the passage in James 5:15 about the prayer of faith will
save the sick. His heart leaped for joy because this is exactly what he
needed to hear. As he continued to read, he came to the passage that says, “The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16,
KJV).
He says the devil
took advantage of his lack of understanding true righteousness. While he did
not know it was the devil talking to his mind, he thought, “Oh, no, I can’t
pray the prayer of faith and be healed, because I am not a righteous man.”
At that time he remembered all the bad things he did as a boy, and as he
remembered his misdeeds he began to sob, “Oh God, if I could only live
longer I could perhaps become a righteous man someday.” But he feared it
would be too late. He closed the Bible in discouragement.
Months later while
being confined to his bed because of his illness, he tried the Bible again.
He picked up to the place where he last read and proceeded to read the next
verse: “Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are, and
he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth
by the space of three years and six months”
(James 5:17, KJV). He
thought since Elijah was the example of a righteous man he would study him
in the Bible. He was surprised in what he found out. He saw how on numerous
occasions Elijah failed God, especially concerning Jezebel. Instead of being
willing to confront her, he ran for his life in fear. The more Kenneth read
about Elijah the more he noticed that he made mistake like everyone else.
Then it dawned on him what James said, “Elijah was a man subject to like
passions as we are.” That was a fancy way of saying that “Elijah was
a man just like us.” At that point, Kenneth realized that being
righteous is not the same as being sinless.
So he studied more
about righteousness and discovered that through the blood of Jesus Christ
all believers have become righteous in God’s sight. One scripture in
particular helped him, “God made him who had no sin to be sin
for us, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God”
(2 Cor 5:21).
He figured if he had
become the “righteousness of God” he could not have a better
righteousness. How can you get something better than God’s own
righteousness? At this revelation, Kenneth Hagin in boldness told the devil
to get his hands off his body, and claimed his healing. A few months later
all his symptoms disappeared and he was healed by the power of God. He
continued to live out a long life until he went home to heaven at the age of
86.
One of the
greatest needs of the hour is to understand righteousness. So what is
righteousness? It is “right standing” before God. When a person stands trial
in court and is pronounced “not guilty” then the person is in right standing
before the judge and is released from the allegation, and all charges are
dropped. This is what Christ did for us at the cross. By bearing all of our
sins He took away the charges against us and nailed them all to the cross.
When we come to Christ and make Him Lord, His righteousness becomes ours.
Yet too often we
associate righteousness with good works. While good works are important it
is not the same as righteousness. Paul makes clear the differences between
works and righteousness: “Now when a man works, his wages are not
credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who
does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited
as righteousness” (Rom 4:4-5).
Notice that his faith
is “credited as righteousness.”
Many of us can
relate to “credit.” It is money that is forward in advance to you. You do
not have it in your hand, but you can buy anything you want with credit. The
same is true with righteousness. We may not look like we have
righteousness—because we recognize our present sins and weaknesses—yet, like
credit you can use righteousness in prayer. Do not focus on your sins,
because if you do, then you will lose the sense of righteousness that is
yours.
Today some people
use “debit cards.” This means they have to have the money in the account
before they can use the cards. The debit cards act more like checks, where
you must have the money in the account before you can use it. I think many
treat righteousness more like “debit cards.” They consider how they are
presently living—if they are doing good works—then they feel they are
righteous and so they pray boldly. If they have failed recently, then they
feel like they are not righteous until they can make up for their bad deeds
by doing good deeds. Does this sound like you?
Faith is not
“debited” from your account of righteousness but it is “credited” to your
account. You do not have to have enough good deeds presently to be
righteous. Quit using your faith as a debit card and see it more as a credit
card. You don’t have to have enough good deeds in your life to see yourself
as righteous. You can tap into the credit. You know one day that you will be
like the Lord, so instead of waiting for that day, tap into your credit now
and claim all the benefits that would be yours if you were just like the
Lord. How bold would you be if you lived just the way Christ lived? Ah, you
would be very bold. Well, you can be bold today by using your faith a credit
card and use the credit that is in your account in heaven to receive the
blessings now.
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