Confidence Rooted in Christ - Your Nightly Prayer - April 26th

Lynette Kittle

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Your Nightly Prayer

Confidence Rooted in Christ
Your Nightly Prayer
By Lynette Kittle

TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE

“In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”—Ephesians 3:12

SOMETHING TO PONDER

Stirring ourselves up to be confident in ourselves is like riding a roller coaster, where one day we’re on a high and feel good because someone affirmed us, and the next we’re on a deep-dive downward because someone said or did something that shook our confidence to the core and swept us off our feet. Unfortunately, our culture pushes us to act confident, even if we don’t feel it or believe it, to “fake it till we make it,” with the thinking behind this popular and trendy saying being that faking it is motivational, and acting like we’re confident when we aren’t, will help build our confidence until we believe it ourselves and are able to achieve and reach it.

Sadly, we’re pushed and prodded to hide our weaknesses and frailties, to prove ourselves confident in all that we do, to everyone around us; to show ourselves as smarter, stronger, and more productive than everyone else, in an effort to demonstrate our worth and value. But with God, we don’t have to prove ourselves to be worthy through performance, firstly, because we have no way to prove that we’re worthy in ourselves, and secondly, because we already belong to Him, so there’s nothing to prove. It’s a waste of time and energy to even try to do so, and completely unnecessary.

God deems us worthy not because of anything we do on our own, but because of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. As Ephesians 2:8 explains, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Because it’s not because of anything we’ve done or are doing, as Hebrews 4:16 urges, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” As well, we can come to God confident in the work of Christ on the cross, and not ourselves, rather than pretending we are holier than we are, as Hebrews 10:19-22 encourages,

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Dear Father,
Thank you that my confidence is not found in how well I perform, or if I perform at all, but in my belonging to You through the work of Jesus on the cross, through His death and resurrection. Help me walk freely in Your confidence and boldly approach Your throne with my needs, knowing that You have called me to do so because I belong to You. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

Where are you finding your confidence, in yourself or in God? Take some time to consider where you’re drawing it from.
Look for ways to cultivate confidence in Christ through studying His word, spending time in prayer, and letting the truth of scripture strengthen your faith.
Practice being rooted in confidence in Christ this coming week, by stepping out and approaching God, free from fear, knowing He loves you and is calling you to come before Him.

Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

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