Come Honestly to God

Walking with Jesus: Everyday Faith

Read slowly: Hebrews 4:14–16

There are moments when understanding ourselves more clearly makes prayer feel harder. We recognize a motive we had hidden, a sin we keep excusing, or a weakness we cannot overcome. We may wonder what kind of reception awaits us when we bring the truth before God.

Hebrews speaks directly to that situation. Just before this passage, God's word exposes the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Nothing is hidden from his sight. Then the writer tells us that we have a great high priest and invites us to draw near. Jesus is the reason honest people can approach a holy God.

We have someone who represents us

Hebrews 4:14

A high priest represented the people before God and offered sacrifices concerning sin. Hebrews applies this role to Jesus while showing how much greater he is. He is the Son of God who has passed through the heavens. His ministry brings us into the presence of the God before whom our whole lives stand exposed.

The writer begins with something believers already possess: we have this high priest. Our access rests on who Jesus is and what he has accomplished. As Hebrews later explains, his own sacrificial death provides the basis for our approach. He represents people who could never establish that access through their own goodness.

For that reason, we are told to hold fast our confession. Our confession is the faith we acknowledge concerning Jesus. Holding fast means continuing to trust and acknowledge him when fear, pressure, or shame makes withdrawal tempting. Our need does not diminish his ability to represent us.

Bryan Whitfield observes the movement from exposure before God to confidence through Jesus.¹ The passage holds accountability and mercy together. We need to be truthful because God knows us. We can be truthful because the Son has opened a way to approach him.

His holiness includes sympathy for our weakness

Hebrews 4:15

Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses because he truly entered human life and endured temptation. His sympathy comes with an understanding of pressure, suffering, and costly obedience. He knows what it is to remain faithful in a world where faithfulness brings pain.

The writer also says that Jesus was without sin. We need both truths. He understands our weakness, and he remains the righteous Savior we need. His compassion does not require participation in our wrongdoing. He can recognize the force of temptation while helping us resist it.

Being tempted and yielding to temptation are different. A temptation may press upon us with real force, but its arrival does not mean we have already surrendered. Jesus' faithfulness gives us reason to seek his help in that moment. We can bring the desire, the pressure, and the uncertainty to him before they become an action we regret.

When we have sinned, the same invitation calls us to honesty. We do not need to hide behind the claim that everyone would have acted as we did. Our high priest knows the truth about human weakness more fully than we do. We can acknowledge our responsibility and ask for the mercy and renewing grace we need.

The throne is a place to seek help

Hebrews 4:16

A throne speaks of authority. Hebrews calls God's throne a throne of grace and invites us to approach with confidence. That confidence is trust in the welcome provided through Jesus. It includes reverence because the one we approach is God, and freedom because Jesus represents us there.

We come to receive mercy and find grace for our need. Mercy meets us in guilt and misery. Grace supplies God's undeserved help. Matthew Henry connects this invitation with both pardon and the help needed for a holy life.² We can ask for forgiveness and for strength to respond differently when the same pressure returns.

Help in a time of need is a deeply practical promise. The passage gives no requirement to resolve the difficulty before praying. Weariness, a hard conversation, a persistent temptation, and a failure that needs confession can all become occasions to draw near. We approach because we need help and because Jesus is sufficient to provide access to its source.

Prayer can therefore become more honest as we grow. We learn to name the actual need instead of presenting an improved account of ourselves. Our confidence belongs in the compassionate, sinless Son who brings us before the Father.

Words of Wisdom

Honesty before God becomes possible when our confidence rests in Jesus. He knows human weakness, has remained faithful through temptation, and represents us before the Father. Bring him the real need. The throne to which he invites you is a throne of grace.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for being our faithful and compassionate high priest. Help me come honestly when I am ashamed or under pressure. Give me mercy for my sin and grace to obey you in the need I am facing now. Amen.

Sources Consulted