“Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.” Job 23:3-4
C. H. Spurgeon, in his sermon called “Order and Argument in Prayer,” suggests that Job is showing us how to pray to God in the same way a lawyer presents his or her case in a court of law.
The lawyer presents arguments, gives reasons, and quotes legal precedent for a particular verdict. But if your lawyer says, “Well, we’ll just go into court and see what the judge says,” it’s time to get a new lawyer! That is not how it works. A good lawyer prepares a case.
You may say, “We don’t come to God as our judge, we come to him as our Father.” But if you listen to children, you will find that they do exactly the same thing: “Dad, can I have some ice cream, because you said…”
What is the clinching argument with God? The great, clinching argument in all of our prayers is the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you pray for Jesus’ sake, you always have the ear of the Father. This is why our Lord said, “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (John 16:23). Asking “in the name of Jesus” means submitting what you ask to the will of Jesus. But coming to God “in the name of Jesus” and basing your prayers on what he has promised will give you courage when you ask.
Jesus Christ is the clinching argument for every person who draws near to God in his name: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Cor. 1:20).
Present your case before God in prayer today, putting your trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ as your clinching argument.
