Sometimes in the course of life the issue comes up. "How strong is my faith? Could some circumstance arise in my life that might break it and destroy it?"

Perhaps some of us know of situations that have tested other people's faith to breaking point, and they came away from the situation not believing in the God of the Christian Church any more.

Yet we can be sure of our faith not on account of our own feelings at any time, but on account of the facts to which faith looks, including God's words and promises. We can place our reliance on Christ because of what He has done and what He has said.

Whether we are feeling on top of the world about anything or depressed about it does not need to control the level of our faith, because faith should look to the facts and the promises of God. We need to recognise we are designed for feelings to follow faith, rather than faith feeding on feelings.

True faith must look to the facts and promises of God rather than to our feelings, which are highly variable and are affected by all sorts of extraneous things; but which nevertheless may be well led by our faith. In Hebrews 4: 16 we read "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." The little link word "then" is one of the most important words here: "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace ...."

It is important because the confident drawing near to which we are exhorted is linked by the "then" to what has already been said: to the facts which the writer has shown us. He has told us that "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses; but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." Before that he tells us that "we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God."

These truths are some of the facts that we can rely on, the author is saying, this is part of God's word on the matter. Because of these facts, we may with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. Such confidence is not based on how we feel about our day, for instance, or dependant on whatever fears or distresses the day may have brought us.

But the continued exercise of that confidence will certainly have a good effect on the way we feel about all we encounter.

The Epistle to the Hebrews shows us that as a result of drawing near to the throne of grace we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. In other words we must come as dependents and not as those who are able to manipulate or control God in any way. And God does have things to say about the attitudes that He requires.

The service of Holy Communion, above every other sort of regular church service, demonstrates important things about the attitudes that God seeks and requires of us when we approach him. At the heart of the service we come forward, kneel down and stretch out our hands to receive Him, in an attitude of humble yet confident dependence.

In Mark 10:17-31 we encounter the young man who seems to be seeking from Jesus advice on some act of specially meritorious goodness, upon which he might rely to inherit eternal life. In this account is a verse that directly portrays Jesus' own feelings towards the young man: "Jesus, looking at him, loved him."

But that love of Jesus for him heralded a mighty faith-challenge, and one that the man could not accept, at least at first.

The young man indeed needed to do something special, but the Lord judged that it was not to make some contribution or subsidy that the man imagined. It was actually to turn his whole life upside down, resulting in putting himself on the same level financially as the twelve who followed Jesus, and becoming, like them, one who followed after Him. Some have thought that in the end he thought better of refusing Jesus, and that his name was Barnabas.

The confidence we are exhorted to have in drawing near to the throne of grace must extend to a confidence over whatever that "drawing near" will imply for our lives in general. It might have very great implications indeed, as the young man found out.

Will we then "choose for life" - the life that the Lord calls us to - or will we draw back from that choice?

If we do not choose for that life, then we will have chosen for something that is not true life for us at all.

To choose rightly may seem even impossible to us, but with God, all things are possible. "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

For commentary, information and devotional material see churchofenglandcayman.com and anglicansatprayer.org