Imagine you have been invited to a formal dinner at the White House. Several national and international leaders, along with celebrities, will also come. Assuming you accept the invitation, how will you prepare for the event? You may read about the invitees and their current projects, so you can be somewhat conversant. You will likely buy new clothes and maybe get a haircut or your hair styled. And you will surely wash thoroughly and brush your teeth to put the final touches on your appearance.
God has invited all of us to appear before His throne in prayer. This is a great honor, even more so than going to a state dinner at the White House. We will be appearing before Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. However, we must be properly prepared before going before Him.
Hebrews 10:21-22 gives us instructions for appearance before God when it says, “and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” When appearing before God, we must only go with Jesus Christ, our great high priest. We will not be allowed to enter without Jesus. Then we must have faith that God is willing for us to come and able to do what we ask. Our hearts must be true and pure, which only happens when we confess our sins and we trust in the blood of Jesus to cover our sins in forgiveness. Now we are ready to come before God, and we can have full assurance that He will accept us.
Reluctant Retiree 