Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalms 100:4
“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Matthew 6:9
When we have so many different needs and concerns that we need to bring before the Lord, it is easy to rush into Him, tell Him what we need, and run out. However, I believe God wants so much more from and for us.
I believe these two passages give us a pattern of how we should enter into his presence. What is this pattern?
- Enter His gates with Thanksgiving.
- Enter His courts with Praise.
- Enter His presence with Worship.
As I consider these points, I am reminded of the design of the original tabernacle and ultimately the Holy Temple. You entered the gates into the Courtyard. Then, as you came further in, you came into the Holy Place. Then, finally, there is the Most Holy Place.
Let’s look back at that the pattern and compare it to this model of the Tabernacle.
- Enter His gates with thanksgiving – Courtyard
- Enter His courts with praise – Holy Place
- Enter His presence with Worship – Most Holy Place
Similarly, I have heard the components of the comparried to the components of the human experience.
- The Courtyard is the Body.
- The Holy Place is the Soul (Mind/Emotions)
- The Most Holy Place is the Spirit.
So, as we move deeper into worship, we go deeper into His presence, and His presence goes deeper into our being. I don’t know about you, but the more time that I spend In His presence, the more I want to do so. In his presence, I realize peace and rest no matter what else is going on in my life. I believe that while He calls us to praise and worship so as to recognize our dependence on Him, It is more about drawing us close for our benefit.
Finally, as we draw closer to Him, we are more able to hear His voice, and thus, when we pray, we will pray more in line with His perfect will.
In short, we need to take the time to seek His face instead of just seeking his hand.
Will you join me in going after Him with all we have?