11/2/13: The Bible outlines very clearly how to get into God’s presence. The Bible relates this in what is commonly called word pictures. In this case the Word describes what is necessary.
Think of an ancient kingdom in which the King resides. There is a fortress with large walls separated by a moat. A bridge crosses the moat, at the end thereof is an opening in the wall with a massive gate. This is not an inviting passageway. In addition, there is only one way to enter in. John 14:6 outlines the one way. “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the bridge between man and God.
So now we are across the bridge and in front of the gates. This is the next step.
Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving. Psalm 100: 4 “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving.”
“And into His courts with praise.” Praise in the Biblical sense herein means drawing attention to.
Our attitude is to be one of thanks. “be thankful unto Him”
Our approach is to be one of honor: “bless His name”.
At this point we are still not in His immediate presence. We are in present day terms, just at the front door.
We now need a passport and credentials
Psalm 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place? Who will get a passport?
Psalm 24: 4 says the following credentials are necessary; He that hath
1. clean hands
2. a pure heart
3. not lifted up his soul to vanity
4. not sworn deceitfully.
Take a few minutees to review your life, thoughts and actions in view of these factors so you do not overlook anything.
Even with the credentials for a passport, we still will need someone well known to God Almighty to make the introduction. Ideally it would be someone who knows both parties; God Almighty and us. In this case a qualified attorney or advocate who has passed the heavenly bar is necessary. 1 John 2:1 identifies Jesus as our advocate or lawyer.
1 Timothy 2:5: There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
It must be someone who has the spiritual legal right to function in this manner. This someone must be recognized by God Almighty. This someone has the qualifications to enter His presence. It must be someone who has been there before, in the presence of God Almighty. This someone is Jesus Christ of Nazereth.
Hebrews 9:24: For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
Summary: In practical terms I start out in prayerful manner thanking God for Himself. I then thank Him for who He is. I thank Him for what He has done. I thank Him for what He means to me. I thank Him for what He has done for me. I thank Him for our relationship. I thank Him that He has made Himself so available to me. I keep on thanking Him for everything I can think of, including answered prayer; past, presence and future.
I then draw attention to Him. I want to acknowledge all the ways that nature points to His presence. The psalmist (Psalm 148) says the mountains and each wave that hits the shore draws attention to God or praises Him. It says virtually everything and everybody praises the Lord God Almighty. I agreed with this when I read it, even though at first it did not make sense to me. I want to draw attention to every event in my life that drew attention to Him.
At this point you can see, I am not yet into prayerful “give me, give me, give me”. I have a ways to go to get in front of God to make my petitions known.
So though Christ, as outlined above, I make entry into the holy of holies, in God’s presence and lift up my prayer to Him. If this prayer is properly offered it will be sweet incense in his presence. Revelation 5:8. He answers all the prayers He hears. 1 John 5: 14-15: And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
Let us make sure we have the proper credentials, passport in hand, including The Advocate to make the introduction?