"What if our closeness to Christ actually increases the frequency of our requests for His mercy"?
This is one of Robert Gelinas' questions posed in his book, The Mercy Prayer: the One Prayer Jesus Always Answers.
For many of us, this question challenges the typical thought that the longer our relationship with Christ is, the more we know Him, and therefore, the more we receive His life and leave our flesh behind. It seems to make sense. It seems biblical. Spend more time with Him and get to know Him. Build up a bit of knowledge and solidify your understanding and commitment. More of Him, less of us. It all eventually equals eternal life, an everlasting relationship of perfection and intimacy. But, what if there is a chance that the Eastern Orthodox Church's theologians were right in there belief of the nature of mercy?
What if we have this backwards? What if we reverse the order?
The moment we realize our need is the moment we cry out, "Mercy"! We have an immediate need to be relieved both from the consequences of our sin and the compressions of our suffering. So, we by pass all proper precautions of protocol and desperately claim the intimate, eternal life - Jesus - as our Perfector. To acknowledge our desperate state and His redemptive self simultaneously is to utter
, "Lord, have mercy".
Scripturally, these encounters with Christ were always outlandish outbursts. No scheduled appointments were made. No quiet approach. No polite preparation. Just normal, frantic, desperate, sinful, suffering people unable to bear the weight of pain, whether self - inflicted or circumstantial, pleading and crying out for anything but justice to be done. It was common.
There is an exchange then, one of the refusal of self for the acceptance of the wrath being withheld; consequently, we gain more of Him. And because we have gained Him, we now are privileged with the pleasure of getting to know Him and enjoy the relationship.
"The closer you get to God, the more you see His mercy. God is most merciful, and the more we see of Him, the more mercy we desire."
Prior to The Incarnation, a person entered the Tabernacle's outer courtyard to worship. A ceremonial bowl of water represented the need to be cleansed. Burning incense represented the need for prayers to be offered. There was no other way to get closer to God. In the inner most and intimate area of the Tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, a space saved for only the High Priest to annually be in the presence of God. One man, once a year, to end up near the Ark of the Covenant, where upon which God sat between two golden images of Cherubim - the Mercy Seat.
And now, because he has died and is alive, our worship now begins in His presence and with His mercy. It begins with the intimacy. And now, in the outer courts of our heart are both prayer and expressions of our righteousness; they that which were once mere catalysts for knowing Him are now the very proof of the same.
"Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16
