How do we enter God’s presence? We have to qualify to enter God’s presence because He is Holy, Righteous, and Omnipotent (to name a few). If we are going to "business" with God we have to be in sync with Him. We have to be one with God. Prayer is literally us connecting with God’s desires and then allowing Him to release those desires through us on earth.
“Entering into God’s presence” is used a lot today in reference to worship and prayer. But, I wonder how many people these days understand what this concept means. We attempt to do so but never quite attain it. Why? Let’s start with reverence for God. One of the much-loved theological ideas in many churches is grace cancels law. But, because we misunderstand the nature of grace, we are casual about our obedience to God. We will sin, then right before church or chapel we quickly ask for forgiveness, thinking that prepares us to enter the doors. I know this has been me on many occasions. We treat the precious blood of Jesus, which He gave His life to deliver us, as if it’s some temporary fix for our sins so we can sin all over again, and a lot of times, in the same manner. Is that truly loving Jesus? It is like we are using Him, then wondering why we see no answers to prayer. But actually, grace supersedes law in the sense that only the grace we receive in Christ enables us to fulfill God’s law.
God is not our safety insurance from hell. He wants a relationship, not a religion. He wants communion and intimacy. Entering into the very mind and heart of God, drawing close, in order to become one with Him and His purposes may not be a simple matter as we generally think. When we do not have a healthy fear for God and His Commandments, I believe it hampers us entering into His presence.
Along with this comes holiness. Holiness is critical to prayer because “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Jesus stressed this truth when He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). You can look at these verses and think that it refers to seeing God in Heaven, but I am looking at them as seeing Him in everyday life on earth, in a sense of having an intimate relationship of love with Him and entering into His presence so we can learn His heart and mind. Jesus was telling us how to remain in unity with Him.
So, we are to be pure in heart. Pure means holy. The word holy means to “sanctify, or set apart” or “to be set apart”. So, blessed are the set in heart, for they will see God. In Leviticus God tells us to be holy because He is holy. Holiness always has to do with separation, fixing ourselves on God rather than being influenced by people who are not set on Him, or who do not believe in His Word. The scriptures say “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (Exod. 14:13; 2 Chron. 20:17 NKJV). In essence, if we are holy, then God will manifest Himself to us, we will see Him, and see His salvation in our lives. If our minds are set in regard to our prayer, that is we are convinced that He will do what He has promised, and if we are pure in what we believe and what we do, then we will see Him manifested. In this sense, holiness can be a key or the key both in being relentless in prayer and to receiving answers in prayer. A part of holiness is being convinced that what God says and what God does are the same.
I will pick up here next week with James 1:5-8.
dying to myself,
-todd
4 comments:
sorry Todd I dropped the ball and have had internet difficulties but glad I got Waino to pick me up.
no prob, i just wish i had access to post them myself so i wouldn't have to hastle you all everytime to put them up for me, ya dig
to have access to the blog just set up a gmail account and then use that as your username and password.
i have a gmail and use it to sign in, so i must be blogger-slow....
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