The Most Holy Place

We can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

Hebrews 10:19-20

Many folks see prayer as a duty or obligation, but to really gain a perspective of the value and gift of prayer, we need to look to the Old Testament when God’s people had no direct access to the Lord. They had to stand in the outer court of the Temple, away from God’s presence, while once a year the high priest went into the Most Holy Place (on the other side of the sixty-by-twenty-foot-by-four–inch curtain so heavy it took three hundred men to move it) to minister to the Lord with sacrifices and intercede for the people.

But when Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished!” and yielded his spirit to the Father (see John 19:30), in that instant the curtain in the Holy of Holies tore from top to bottom. Because of Christ’s death on the cross, fallen humanity was no longer separated from God, and a new, life-giving way was opened for us. Now we (not just high priests or ministers) are welcomed into God’s throne room, to be in relationship with our Father and to pray directly to him 24–7 every day of our lives!

Many people try to reach God, especially when there are hurricanes, accidents, financial calamity, or other disasters that touch us or our loved ones. Thousands of faxes and e-mails are sent to God weekly in care of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Countless people search for God on the Internet. But the remarkable news is that we can reach God; he has already provided a way through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son.

Blessed be your name, oh Lord, for providing a way into intimate relationship with you. Words can’t express my gratefulness and awe!

When I am in trouble, and when I go to my friend, I don’t want anything from him except himself. I just want to be with him . . . to feel his comradeship, his concern, his caring . . . and then to go out to a world warmer because I spent an hour with him. It must be that way with me and God. I must go to him simply for himself.

William Barclay(1907–1978), Scottish author and minister