Confidence

A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we're behind."

"Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're discouraged."

"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"

There are so many quotes and ideas out there about confidence. If you look around you wil see thousands of ideas circulating around about how confidence can impact your life. Lots of these quotes are from athletes and movie stars; it takes a certain amount of confidence and self esteem to become a professional in sports or acting, doesn't it? Then, there are the special athletes and competitors who take that confidence to another level- the Michael Jordans, Tom Brady’s, Tiger Woods of the world- they truly have the confidence to be the best of all time. I can remember hearing Kobe Bryant- my favorite athlete of all time- say that he believed every shot he took was going to go it- and it seemed like he really believed that.

The Bible tells us about the kind of confidence that we are called to have as Christians too. As we will see, there is something fundamentally different about the kind of confidence TB12 MJ KOBE or Tiger has and the kind of confidence we are to have as Christians. After all, their confidence is based in their own ability, and ours is based in our God and HIS ABILITY.

Timeless theologian Martin Luther once wrote that “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. Luther reminds us that faith and confidence are intertwined- if you have faith in God, then you will have some level of confidence in his work and action- and the more your faith grows the more confident you will be in the work and presence of God.

It is obvious when reading through the Scriptures that God desires for us to be confident in him. In 2 Timothy 1:7 we are told that “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” Power, love, and a sound mind- those all seem like spiritual attributes that are grounded in confidence to me, how about you?

But let’s face it, our world is thriving on skepticism in these days. Every time we turn around another scandal rocks our world. Politicians connected to international crimes, pastors caught in adultery or abuse scandals, community leaders in financial schemes- it is as if the world around us is screaming “DO NOT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN ANYONE! THEY ARE ALL LIARS, CHEATERS, AND THIEVES” and let’ be honest, some are, but many are not; and the challenge is that many times we project these feelings onto the innocent, and some people even project them onto God.

Hebrews 4:14-16 was a game changer for my prayer life the first time I really began to understand what these words were saying. The Hebrew writer’s thought here is that we can be a people of confident prayer because Jesus is our new high priest. Let’s take a moment and unpack this idea so that we can wrap our minds around what he is saying.

First, let’s talk about the high priest. What, or who was the high priest? This can be very confusing for us, because we do not have such a thing these days. Having a high priest is something that we will probably never experience.

The office of High Priest is a central theme of the OT. The first High Priest was Aaron, and all of the high priests were in the family line of Aaron. It is supposed that there were 83 High Priests altogether- most of which served for life. The High Priest was part of all the duties of the other priests, like caring for the Temple and providing worship and teaching for the people. But the most important task of the High Priest came of the Day of Atonement each year.

Every year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and offer an atoning sacrifice to cover the sins of the entire nation of Isreal. The High Priest was the only person allowed in this place. This was the most Important spiritual responsibility any man could take on- standing in the gap for the people.

But here was the problem, the HP was still a sinful, fallible man. They were not God. But the people of Israel were still commanded to allow this man to cover their sins with a sacrifice- and they did; year after year on the Day of Atonement the HP would do his duty and the Nation of Israel would trust that what he did was noble and true- talk about a confidence.

So, this is the Hebrew writer’s claim to the people who had spent their lives under the ministry of the HP- if you trusted, if you had confidence in the sinful, fallible high priest, how much more confidence should you have in the very Son of God?

In Ephesians 3:11-13 Paul elaborates on this same idea:

Ephesians 3:11–13 ESV

This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

Paul reminds us that it is through Jesus that we can have confidence and boldness.

This is the same confidence that David speaks of in Ps 25

David is convinced that God will not allow shame to come his way. That God will not fail him. But what does this mean for our prayer life?\

What it means is that we can be bold, not because we know that every prayer will be granted to our desire and will- but that every prayer will be heard, and worked out for GOD’S desire and will.

Prayer is more than optimism or wishing upon a star. When you do not know Jesus and understand the power in his name prayer can seem a lot like wishing. In fact, I looked up the definition of wish and this is what came up:

feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable; want something that cannot or probably will not happen.

Did you catch it? WANT SOMETHING THAT PROBABLY WILL NOT HAPPEN

Well, that seems problematic when we think about what it means to prayer- because there are some things that I KNOW will happen when I pray. Check these out-

1- I know that God will hear me. 1 John 5:13-15 tells us

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

2- I know that whatever comes of my prayer, it will be for my good. Romans 8:28 reminds us:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

3- I know that Jesus is interceding for me. Romans 8:34 tells us

Romans 8:34 ESV

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

4- I know that the name I pray through is the most powerful name in the universe! Phil 2:9-11

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

There was a man who had a habit of grumbling at the food his wife placed before him at family meals. Then he would pray a blessing to the Lord. One day after his usual combination of complaint and prayer, his little girl asked, “Daddy, does God hear us when we pray?”

“Why, of course,” he replied. “He hears us every time we pray.” She paused for a moment, and asked, “Does He hear everything we say when we are not praying?”

“Yes, dear, every word,” he replied, happy that he had inspired his daughter to be curious about spiritual matters. However, his pride was quickly turned to defeat at his daughter’s next question. “Then, which words does God believe? The words said during prayer or the words said before?”