How to Enter God’s Presence
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. (Ps. 95:2 KJV)
The Psalmist in the scripture above gives us the rules for coming into God’s presence when he declares, “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.”
In a parallel passage, the Psalmist says, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” (Ps. 100:4 KJV)
A praiseful, thankful, and worshipful heart will fill your life with a daily experience of God’s presence. There is a reason why we often start prayers, sometimes unconsciously, with thanksgiving and praise to God. It is because thanksgiving and praise are the offerings we carry in our hands and the agency by which we approach His presence.
The good news is that since His Spirit already dwells in us, implying that we dwell in His presence perpetually, we have been granted access to an enjoyable and pleasant communion with God’s presence. We should come into His presence without fear, to tell Him how much we appreciate what He has done for us and declare His praises with joy.
The Lord is the King of all the universe, and joy is commanded from us in His presence. The angels that stand in His presence understand the value of joy, praise, and worship. They know how to be, and live, in God’s presence.
God’s presence has now come to dwell on the earth amongst us. We therefore have to learn how to enter into, and attend to, the abiding presence of God within us.
MEDITATE
Why is singing especially important in entering God’s presence? Is the word “come” in Ps. 95:2 above addressed to the unsaved or to the saved? See the July 11,2017 devotional.
APPLY THE WORD
God’s Word is activated when we act upon it. What can you do with the Word you just received above?
PRAY
Thank the Lord right now for access to His presence. Pray that the Spirit will teach you how to attend to God’s presence in your life.
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Free Mini E-book: From Spiritual Dryness to Flourishing
Please l want you to pray for me so that spirit of laziness which have corrupted me Christian Life will go
Hello Osei. I have read your prayer request, and I just prayed for you. As I began to pray for you, however, the Lord put in my heart to pray about distraction. You are not lazy. You are distracted. Many things are pulling your attention away from God and the things He wants you to do. I have prayed that the Lord will rekindle that pure and genuine love you had for Him when you first got saved. Please read Revelations 2:3-4.
A real born again Christian has already entered God’s presence when he was born with water and the Holy Spirit. Convincing a born again Christian to enter God’s presence is confusing and creates non-assurance that he has already entered God’s presence. The appropriate word could be: feel/experience/dwell/soak. The word ENTER in the new testament was used in the phrase ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD in John ch.3, ENTER GOD’S REST in Hebrews ch.4.
Hello Bernado, thank you for leaving that comment. You have raised an important issue that many believers are also facing. I wished I had enough time and space to fully explain this to you. It is so important that I will go into a little bit of depth not just for you but for many who are reading this and having the same or similar issue. I had the same problem once. I cannot explain in details so if you do not understanding something, please feel free to reach out to me again.
You are correct, a christian has already entered the presence of God. And the difficulty of describing the experience of the presence of God later is challenging. You rightly stated that it really can be confusing, and I completely agree. However, things become clearer by God opening our understanding to what is WRITTEN. Part of the confusion is because of the teachings we have received. I am very familiar with what you are saying and I have heard teachings as such multiple times.
Just to help you, the difficulty dwells in two main things
1. The difference between the realities of the spirit and the realities of the soul.
2. Understanding that every word used in scripture has a context and must not be forced to mean what we want it to mean. A word in scripture does not always mean the exact thing in every instance where it it used. This is key. This means you have to rightly divide the Word, to understand what God is communicating each time He uses a specific Word in a verse.
Let me illustrate those two points with this example
The word “enter” and “come” are the two words that are often used with the issue you have raised. We have already come into the presence of God. So we should not come any more, right? We have already entered into the presence of God so we should not “enter” any more.
Begining with the example you quoted in Heb 4, about God’s rest.
You entered God’s rest the day you believed. But the very next verse says you should strive to “enter”. It is your responsibility to know that the usage is slightly different though in the same context.
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Heb. 4:3 KJV)
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Heb. 4:10-11 KJV)
Right in these verses, you see
You have already entered into His rest when you believed v3
Then you should labour to enter into that rest v10.
Is that confusion? No.
You have to understand carefully what God is speaking with the words He uses in each context. The first enter into rest talks about what happens when we believed in Christ( positional). The second laboring to enter into that rest talks about what happens to us here and now( the practical). We cannot force the word to mean just one part of it.
Another example is drawing near to God. Should we draw near to God as believers? How closer can we get when we have already been brought near?
We are already in God’s presence, yet the scriptures cleary instructs us to draw near to God.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (Jas. 4:8 KJV)
This verse is not addressing unbelievers to get saved by drawing nigh to God.
The devotional above is based on the verse
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. (Ps. 95:2 KJV)
The Psalmist was talking about approaching God in worship and praise. Trying to force it to mean the experience of salvation for the believer in Christ will certainly be out of order. The “let us come” before His presence was not talking about getting saved.
Take this example below
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (Ps. 100:4 KJV)
The scripture says “enter into his gates with thanksgiving”. He uses the word enter. The context is that of prayer, worship and praise. It is in the old testament, yes, but forcing it to mean it was a prophetic picture of salvation for example is just off context. Enter is used in this context to mean approaching God in prayer and worship.
We have another example in the NT
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4:16 KJV)
He says you should “come unto the throne of grace”. You came already at salvation, right? Why should you come again? The error with this is trying to force the word “come” or “enter” to mean one thing. The word come in HEb. 4:16 clearly is not talking about salvation but approaching God in prayer and faith to get help.
I will suggest you study these other concepts for yourself more.
You see the intricacies between what the saints of old called “positional” and “practical”. They apply to the spirit man that is already completed in Christ and the soul that is being renewed and transformed. This has been a source of confusion over the ages, but the Spirit of God is helping the church understand this better, reason why I strongly urge you to ask the LORD prayerfully as you study these things for yourself to open your understanding.
A few related but not the same biblical truths that might cause confusion if we fail to divide the word to know exactly what God is saying in each instance.
1. You already have the mind of Christ. But scripture says the mind of Christ should dwell in you.
2. God has forgiven you all sins. But He ask you to ask for forgiveness when you sin.
3. The new man is already created in you. But God says you should put on the new man.
4. Whoever has received Christ has his hunger and their thirst quenched. Do we still hunger and thirst after God?
…….
examples continue
In summary, the believer has entered God’s presence at salvation. But God still uses the word “enter” or “come” to refer to us coming in prayer, worship or even faith. The same word can have many distinct usages. Trying to make it mean the same thing will cause the confusion you are referring to.
It is such an important issue you have raised and there is not way for me to mentally communicate this to you. I suggest you pray and ask the Spirit to open your understanding and personally study the subject for yourself. DO NOT START BY READING ANY BOOKS OR LISTEN TO ANY SERMONS. STUDY IT FOR YOURSELF FIRST. YOU CAN READ MORE BOOKS OR SERMONS LATER!
Remain blessed brother