Pray Always That You May Be Accounted Worthy

There are times in our lives when fear reaches for us. Sometimes it’s caused by our fallen nature and tendency to lean on our own understanding. Other times, it’s the enemy’s bad breath in our ears. Recently, fear struck my heart like it hadn’t in a long time, and I think it was a combination of the two. The message pounded at me that I wasn’t good enough for God and would never measure up. I was as close as I had ever been to God stomping out of my life and slamming the door. But after almost a whole day of teary-eyed misery, God finally helped me remember that He had dealt with the entire issue just a few days before. He had already shown me exactly how to be accounted worthy in His eyes, and it wasn’t about me at all.

Fear of Losing My Salvation

The devil knows our baggage. He knows right where the soft spots are and often pushes there in the cruelest of ways. As for me, I have had an experience in which someone who told me he would love me forever just…quit. Of course, at the time, my ex-husband let me know that it was all my fault for becoming so unlovable little by little over time.

Since the moment the Lord saved me by giving me His precious Holy Spirit, the enemy has been in my ear. “Sure, you’re saved now, but it will never last. God will quit loving you, too. You just keep screwing up. It’s only a matter of time before He leaves. Watch.”

Many times, God has spoken to me about Jude 24, Psalm 37:28, and Hebrews 13:5. He has shown me again and again that He knows whom He has chosen. He loves me and is able to keep me. His strength is made perfect in my weakness, and His grace is sufficient for me. I thought I had everything under control until recently. Suddenly, that same fear was back, and none of the old verses was working to make it go away.

A Word from God and Fear that Brings Torment

It started when a well-known YouTube voice said that he had received a Word from God that a lot of people who THINK they are right with God are actually on their way to Hell. In fact, only a very tiny number of people would be entering the narrow way. Now, the Bible says the same thing, so that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that this man used two illustrations from the Bible to “prove” that only 1% will make it. A full 99% of people, he said, would not be able to enter in and will be eternally separated from God in torment. Then he said that even those who have a true relationship with God right now should be concerned. God may have saved us, he said, but it was up to us to keep our salvation. We had just better be towing the line.

That’s when the fear came in again. How in the world can I be good enough for God? How can I pray enough, surrender enough, worship enough, and give enough of my life so that God will love me and keep loving me until I die? What about my life says that I’m in the 1%? I was on my second round of tears of the day when God reminded me that He had already talked to me about the whole thing just a few days before.

Pray Always that You are Accounted Worthy

For the past few weeks, I have been studying the names of God. I enjoy coloring, so I have been printing coloring sheets that match and spending time in my prayer closet listening to songs and sermons about the names of God while I color. It has helped me think of new things to be grateful for in prayer and has made me feel closer to the God who takes care of us in so many ways.

One day, I just knew that I needed to study El Roi, “The God Who Sees Me.” I was in Luke for my Bible reading that night, and both Luke 20:35 and Luke 21:36 jumped out at me and pricked the corners of my eyes. According to Luke 20:35, some would be accounted worthy to attain the next world (and some wouldn’t). And Luke 21:36 says that we should pray always that we are accounted worthy to escape what’s coming and to stand before the Son of man. As I colored the picture I had found online for El Roi (I picked a nest with two birds because God sees the sparrows), I wondered about the phrase “accounted worthy.” How could I possibly be worthy? There is so much wrong with me, and God knows it all.

God Sees Us as Worthy

When I left my closet, I went to put away some laundry and checked YouTube for a song. One of my favorite artists is Josiah Queen. His new song “Watch Your Mouth” had just dropped, so I hit the button. The first line was almost exactly what I had just been saying in my head. “I know that I’m not good enough. Know I will never measure up.” Then the chorus, “Watch your mouth, boy, don’t you talk like that. The holes inside my hands show you have all my love. You’re my child, the apple of my eye. The holes inside my side show you have all my love. So why wouldn’t you live life like you were worth me dying for?”

I sat down on the bed and did an internet search for “worthy.” An article caught my eye, “8 Bible Verses About Being Worthy Enough in God’s Eyes.” It was all about how God SEES US (He is, after all, El Roi). He chose us and loves us as His children, just as we love our own kids. The verses the author gave were 1 Peter 2:9, John 1:2, Ephesians 1:5, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Genesis 1:27, Colossians 3:3, Song of Solomon 2:16, and Ephesians 2:10. He sees us as worthy not because of anything we have done or could do but because of what He has done on our behalf.

Why Do We Have to Pray?

So, if we’re already worthy, why do we have to “pray always”? I think it’s because there is a tendency for people to believe that we have to “earn” our way. We have to figure things out and hustle. But nothing we can do for ourselves will cut it, and Galatians 3:3 calls it foolish to try. Only God’s perfection is worthy of God’s standards.

We must pray always for His grace to keep our eyes focused on Jesus in complete dependence upon Him. Share on X

A few years ago, the Lord led me to write a blog about the children of Israel, Exodus Is a Type of Salvation: A Lesson in Responsibility. In preparation, the Lord asked me the question, “Whose responsibility was it to get the people of Israel to the Promised Land?” (a type of Heaven). Of course, it was God’s responsibility. He led the people with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. What was the people’s responsibility? They were supposed to listen, obey, and trust. When they got to the Promised Land, they should have entered it in full confidence that the Lord would defeat the giants in their path; the Lord would bring them “home.” But what did they do? They said, “The giants are too big. There is no way we can defeat them.” They looked at themselves instead of trusting in the Lord. It was a direct lack of faith, and that was their downfall.

Those Who are Accounted Worthy

The bottom line is that trusting in ourselves to make good decisions until we die will either lead to pride (I’ve got this!) or despair (I don’t have this!). Either way, it has us fighting giants too strong for us and leaving Jesus and His sacrifice as second to the “great work” we accomplish on our own. (God forbid!) God knows how many saints will be lifted into the air to meet Him at His soon return. Until that day, we must pray always that we remain focused on Jesus and dependent upon Him to bring us Home.

Try these other related articles: The Sneaky Sin of Self-Righteousness or Even When We Aren’t, God is Able. Please sign up to receive my blog in your email inbox. You can find that at the upper right of your screen (or at the bottom on a phone). Also, check out my YouTube Channel where I read the blogs out loud. I also have a playlist of hymns from my church.