When we worship and pray we literally enter His presence. It doesn’t work where someone else carries our petitions or praises to Him. We are right there before the throne! Jesus’s death tore the veil giving us instant, direct access to God. This should make us want to take it a bit more serious than we may be doing now.

Sometimes I think we need to remind ourselves how our demeanor should be, as we enter His presence. There are some things we should put on before we go to Him.

1. Humbleness

We need to acknowledge that God is worthy of our praise and of our worship. We need to let any pride fall away when we are in God’s presence. Pride has no place there, or anywhere else in our lives.

When pride comes, then comes shame;

But with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2

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Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:4

2. A Contrite Spirit

To approach the living, almighty God without feeling sorrow or shame for our shortcomings and our sins would be unthinkable. Asking God to forgive our sins is something we should be doing often, even as they happen.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 34:18

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For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

Isaiah 66:2

3. Reverence

Today, many people no longer show God the respect He deserves. They don’t take Him seriously and even mock Him. Yes, even believers. Have you seen some of the memes on social media? It’s appalling! Is your own attitude towards God consistent; or just during church and worship?

God is greatly to be feared

in the assembly of the saints,

And to be held in reverence

by all those around Him.

Psalm 89:7

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Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,

Who walks in His ways.

Psalm 128:1

4. Awe

Jaw-dropping awe. He is all-powerful, all-knowing concerning the past, present, and future. God is the Creator of us and of heaven and earth. Stop and think of all that entails. The complexity of design, beauty and the choreography of creation itself is beyond belief.

Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

Psalm 33:8

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“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:8

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He who is the blessed and only Potentate,

the King of kings and Lord of lords,

who alone has immortality,

dwelling in unapproachable light,

whom no man has seen or can see,

to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:15b-16

5. Gratitude/Thankfulness

We should never come into His presence without extending gratitude/thanks for all He has done, is doing and will do. If we really started doing that, we would run out of time, well before running out of things to be grateful or thankful for.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 100:4

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And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

6. Love

Did you think I would forget this one? Love. Such a simple four-letter word; yet so complex. When we worship Him, can He see the love we have for Him? This life that He saved, are we using it to show Him how much we love Him? Can people look at our lives and really see the love of God in us? Can He see that love in action at other times? Are we claiming to love Him, but backbiting our brothers and sisters in Christ? Being unforgiving? Gossiping?

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

and with all your mind.’

Matthew 22:37

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And this commandment we have from Him:

that he who loves God must love his brother also.

1 John 4:21

You may say that God wants you to come to Him as you are. You’re right, He does, but think about that. If you were full of yourself, could you honestly stand before God and hold onto that pride? If you were an ungrateful, stiff-necked person, could you enter His presence and still be that way? His word tells us that if we have sin in us, it comes between us and God.

I think many of us have forgotten how Holy God is. He is still that same just, righteous God we see in the Old Testament. God will still bring vengeful judgment upon this world for their unbelief and for their rejecting His Son. He is the Almighty; the Holy One who demands our praise and our obedience.

All through His word, He teaches us how we are to live as believers and that includes having the right attitude and the right heart. Our Father God is so holy that He dwells in unapproachable light! Think of that for a minute. I think that as we go to Him, we need to lay it all down on the altar and make sure we have the proper attitude. Then, He will love to hear our prayers and our praise.

Until next time, God bless,

~Brenda

Photo Credit: Ellen McKnight / stock.adobe.com