Understanding the Purpose and Power of PrayerSample

How to Enter God’s Presence

Once we understand that the heart of prayer is communion with God in a unity of love and purpose, how do we begin to pray? We first need to learn how to enter God’s presence with the right spirit, approach, and preparation. Here are some ways we can prepare to enter the presence of God so we will be able to commune with Him, offer effectual prayer, and be His mediators on behalf of the world.

1. Appropriate God’s Grace

God wants to bless us and answer our prayers. That is why He tells us to deal with our sins. God is serious about holiness and obedience. We need to understand and accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and repent from wrongdoing. When we do, Jesus covers us with His blood, and we are cleansed. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” We need to be cleansed continually so we can live before God in holiness—the holiness Christ died to provide for us. 

When your sins are forgiven and you are right with God, you can genuinely fellowship with Him and other believers—and that brings the power of agreement in prayer.

2. Put on Righteousness

Paul talked about putting on the “full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11, 13). I believe this analogy is generally misunderstood among Christians. It is not so much a military concept as a preparatory one. It is talking about preparing for prayer (see verses 18–20). Before you pray, you are to put on “the breastplate of righteousness” (verse 14). This means being right with God through the righteousness of Christ.

A breastplate protects the heart and other precious organs. With this analogy, God is saying, “I want you to be pure in the most vital areas of your life.” We can do that only by appropriating the righteousness of Christ through faith: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then we need to live in that righteousness, doing what is right by keeping in step with the Spirit (see Galatians 5:25).

3. Put On Truth and Honesty

David said, “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place” (Psalm 51:6). Do we fear the Lord, so that we desire to be people of truth? Ephesians 6:14 says, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth” (KJV). We are to be transparent and clean before the Lord. Is this your desire? “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3–4). We need to be pure before God by turning from our sinful ways, receiving forgiveness through Christ, and walking in the Spirit (see Romans 8:3–4).

4. Cleanse with the Word

The Word of God is our water for spiritual cleansing. This is why we need to continually meditate on the Scriptures. David emphasized this truth:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word... I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9, 11) 

You need to make sure you are in the Word when you come before God—that you’ve read the Word, that the Word is in you, that you are obeying the Word. Otherwise, you will enter God’s presence with your own ideas and attitudes. However, the Word will wash you so completely that it will change your heart and mind, even without your realizing it. The Word will purify your attitudes and actions. If your mind is filled with the Word of God, then you will start becoming what it says. 

5. Worship and Praise God

When your sins are covered and your heart is pure, when you are being honest and your motives are right, and when you are being cleansed by the Word, then it is time to worship. Jesus said to the woman at the well, in effect, “The Samaritans are trying to find God on the mountain. The Jews are trying to find God in the temple in Jerusalem. Yet if you really want to come into God’s presence, you must worship God in spirit and in honest motivation—in truth. That is when you truly worship” (see John 4:19–24). Sometimes, we try to bypass this step and get right into prayer. God is saying to us, “Honor My name first. Worship Me.” 

6. Separate Yourself

We prepare for prayer by separating ourselves from our normal environment and activities. When you are seeking God, you can’t be listening to the radio, watching television, or checking your phone. You can’t be listening to other people talking. You can’t be around distractions. If you’re going to seek God, you have to be serious about it. God says, “If you want to find Me, you will do so only if you seek Me with all your heart” (see Jeremiah 29:13).

7. Believe

Christ is the atoning Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (see 1 John 2:2). His blood is worthy. In the Old Testament, the power of the blood from the animal sacrifices lasted for just one year. The high priest had to come back the next year on the Day of Atonement and sacrifice again. In the New Testament, when John saw Jesus coming to the Jordan River to be baptized, he said, “Look—God has provided His own Lamb” (see John 1:29). God Himself provided this Lamb as the Sacrifice for our sins for all time. That is why we can enter boldly into the Holy of Holies where God dwells (see Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)—trembling because we fear God, but confident because we know the blood of Jesus has cleansed us. We must believe in the effectiveness of His sacrifice on our behalf.

8. Give God the Glory

After we enter God’s presence through the blood of Jesus, believing in His power to cleanse us, we are to give God the glory. In the Old Testament, when God gave instructions about sacrificing, He told the Israelites to collect the fat of the sacrifices and place it on the altar and burn it to Him. Fat is a symbol of glory because fat is excess. God is saying, “I don’t want you to take any glory for yourself for this forgiveness and atonement. I want all the fat to be given to Me. I want you to confess that I am the One who accomplished this.” In giving God the glory, we can say, “Thank You, God, for receiving me, forgiving me, cleansing me, redeeming me, and making me fit to be in Your presence where Your glory is.”

9. Wash in the Word

You may ask, “Why do we need to wash in the Word again? We are already being cleansed through it.” The first use of the Word is for cleansing. The second is for appropriating God’s promises. Since everything is clear between you and the Lord, you can now “present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). Wash yourself in the Word by asking God to fulfill His purposes based on His will and promises.

10. Remain in the Anointing

Finally, we need to remain in the anointing—in a right relationship with God—so we may continually dwell in our meeting place with Him. We must remember to follow His instructions and ways if we want to continue in His presence.

To be able to enter God’s presence, therefore, we have to remain in this state of preparedness for prayer. We aren’t to approach God in an offhand or careless way. It is important that we learn what it means to honor the Lord and reflect His nature and character in our lives. Jesus Christ came to make all these steps of preparation for prayer possible. It is because of Christ alone that we can enter the presence of an almighty and holy God and call Him “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).