Prayer: Getting into the Throne Room

I thought I'd share an image of my experience praying that I had tonight. One of the things I love about how Jesus taught is that He used imagery. He connected to images and experiences that people would be able to understand. Sometimes the images might seem opposite because they convey a different aspect of the truth.

One image that has meant a lot to me in the past is:

God the Father, running to His prodigal son who had wandered away from Him. This is indeed a powerful image for God's love for us. One that, to be honest, I still haven't fully appropriated in my own life. However, the image I had tonight was actually the "opposite" image.

My prayer life is kinda like this:

God the Father, the true Dad, is sitting in his majestic throne room. It's glorious and amazing. He's there and, astoundingly, has invited me to come and be with him. I, though, am not going into the throne room. Instead, I'm peering around the corner of the entrance. I want to meet with Him badly, but I can't believe that He hasn't come and met with me. In frustration I call out, "So, you gonna meet with me or not?!" The Father is in the room--the room that is so full of joy and life--waiting for me to come in and accept His invitation. Instead, though, I am getting angry at the entrance because we're not together.

This, to me, is the opposite of what God wants. He tells us to "approach the throne of grace with confidence." I'm not confident. Instead, I'm letting fear of not meeting with God prevent me from accepting the chance to spend time together. The image is corrected when the little child (because I'm always a child in my images interacting with God) finally stops throwing a hissy fit in the hallway and goes into the throne room. Once I step in, of course, joy is sweet and I realize how foolish I was for not stepping in before.

As I thought about this image, I wanted to find the way it connects with the image from the Father running to His son. I know God seeks me out and that I need to come to Him. I believe that the Holy Spirit is the one with me in the hallway whispering, "Go ahead! Go in!" I just need to calm down enough to hear His encouragement.