We pray, ‘O Lord take away my problem’, but the one on the throne, who has perfect wisdom, may instead give you strength to go through the problem and not take it away. Do not forget you come to a throne of grace. Do not be too precise in telling him how he ought to solve your problems; just bring your problems before him, he is on a throne, he is a King, he is the all-wise God, he knows far better than you how to answer your prayer.
When we come to pray, mercy is always first. What are your needs? First and foremost your need is forgiveness from sin. Remember to examine your heart, remember to bring your sins before the Lord and confess them and pledge yourself to him to do better by his help. Receive his mercy first and then ask for everything else. But it’s true that we say, if the heart is a little cold, it is almost better to start praying for somebody else and leave yourself out of it and first bring prayers for people who are on your intercession list and then come back to yourself. But broadly speaking when I am talking about my own needs – strength for this, help for that situation, strength for that situation – always start with mercy.
What is faith? Many of the elements of faith can be derived from this chapter, starting with the word ‘fear’ in verse 1. By an operation of the Spirit a deep concern enters the soul: about eternity, about prospects for eternity. These things which have been dismissed by the mind suddenly take on importance. Then from verse 2 it's quite plain that believing has to be rooted in the word of the gospel, the facts of the way of salvation, of the sinfulness of man, the coming of Christ, and his atoning death. The third matter is about the necessity of a response: ‘Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.’ If you harden your heart, you close your mind and heart and reject this message, then of course you cannot be saved. This message demands a response from you, a definite turning. Verse 10 adds another element: ‘For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.’ In other words, the believer understands that we cannot contribute at all to our salvation. We cease from our own works and trust entirely on God's free provision. If anyone tries to come to Christ thinking that they are even one percent worthy of his grace and his attention, they cannot find him. The word ‘labour’ in verse 11 could be rendered, ‘Let us be prompt’, ‘let us make haste’, ‘let us treat this with great urgency.’ The exhortation is that you urgently and desperately need to make your response, and true belief understands that. In verse 12-13 you see the need to recognise sinfulness, and to confess it, and repent of it. There is a sense that my sin is against God and before him, and I must have his forgiveness. Verse 14 emphasises once again the work of Christ as Mediator and atoning Lamb. The capstone of it all is in verse 16 – true faith, is bold. It comes to depend on God and truly believe that he is gracious and will hear us.