Ask, Seek, Knock

to Buckingham Palace or 10 Downing Street

and allowed us to pour out our hearts to them,

Tell them what we really think,

what we really want,

we would jump at the chance;

but when we have the opportunity to talk to God,

the King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

so many of us don’t, or feel we can't or are not good enough to.

This is really weird when you think about it.

Under the Old Covenant praying to God was not possible for anyone

except priests, and the High Priest in particular.

Leviticus tells us that there was a curtain in the Temple

which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the building,

and the curtain was 4 inches thick.

When the Romans destroyed the temple, except for the western Wall in AD7O, following a Jewish revolt against Roman rule,

it is recorded by Josephus in his book “Antiquities”

that it took 2 oxen driven in opposite directions to tear the curtain,

but in Matthew 27:51 it is recorded that at the exact moment

when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain was torn in two from top to bottom.

Some take these words literally

But some Christian Commentaries believe it is metaphorical,

But no less important or significant.

The tearing of the curtain marked the end of the Old Covenant

Based on Law and Works,

And the start of the New Covenant based on Grace,

And it proclaimed to the world

that the barrier between God and man caused by sin had been destroyed,

and that God and man had been reconciled,

which is why we can talk to Him.

Prior to this, apart from when sacrifices were offered on altars by priests,

only the High Priest could talk to God on behalf of the people

and then only once every year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement,

but now, through the blood of Jesus, we forgiven sinners,

we who have been adopted into God’s family

have access to the Throne of Grace

and we can talk to God as often and as easily

as we would talk to our human father.

In fact, bearing in mind what some human fathers are like, even easier,

and just as we do not need to use formal, “religious” language

to talk to our human fathers.

so we do not need to use long, fancy words when we talk to God,

in fact just the opposite.

God invites us to speak to Him from our hearts and emotions,

Not from our minds and intellects.

How we pray is up to us,

but Jesus said we should not show off

by making “a big song and dance about it”

for Jesus told his disciples not to use fancy or long words

like the hypocrites did,

but to talk to God honestly and simply,

relying on the grace of God, and the blood of Jesus,

to ensure our access to our Creator.

Not only has the curtain separating us from God been torn,

but St Paul, writing in Romans 8: 38 and 39 assures us that nothing in this life,

and nothing in the next, not angels, nor spirits,

nothing above us or beneath us,

will ever be able to separate us from the love of God.

So there is nothing to stop us from praying to God,

Asking for help or direction, or healing or forgiveness from God,

Or seeking His will or favour in some way,

except for our lack of inclination to do so,