In this chapter I will briefly describe the scriptural procedures that God designed for us to approach him. It is important to remember that He is a king, and He is holy. He sent His son to shed His blood for us because when God saw us born into the world, our righteousness was like filthy rags. But when we came to salvation through Jesus, we can now approach God in the name of Jesus instead of in our name. Our name reminds Him of our sin, but Jesus name reminds Him that our sin was atoned for.

Psalm 100:4 says to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving. And into His courts with praise.” When you come before the throne of God in prayer, you first approach Him with gratitude for all that He has done for you and how much He has promised you. His plans for you are good, not evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jerimiah 29:11) Thank Him for the mess that you remember He saved you out of before you knew Him. Then, you position yourself before him boldly but humbly (Hebrews 4:16) Boldly because we have confidence in Him, and humbly because He is our King. Praise is not the same as thanksgiving. Praise is when we give Him honor for how great He is and how awesome His work in our lives has been. When you lift up His name over every other voice or influence in your life and recognize that He is greater than all that is against you, you are offering Him praise. The bible also speaks of the “sacrifice of praise”. (Hebrews 13:15) It becomes a sacrifice when you thank Him even though you are struggling. You praise His name even though you have not seen the answers yet. You offer Him praise even when you don’t feel like it. That’s a sacrifice of praise.

When you have approached our King with thanksgiving and praise, scripture says in Isaiah 55:11 that when He sends His word out about something, it creates a cycle like the water that falls to the earth. (paraphrase) The rain falls, then the sun heats it and causes it to become vapor and returns to the sky, back where it originated from. So it is with our prayers, after He releases a word from heaven, we are to return it to Him in prayer and complete the cycle. We speak the word out loud in prayer because His word also says in Job 22:28, “Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee”, and in 2 Corinthians 4:13 it says “We believe, therefore we speak”. Speaking back to God what He has already spoken is so powerful because He is a King. And in the ancient context of the bible, whatever a king spoke became law, and he could not go back on it. (see Esther) So we are essentially going before the King using the prescribed manner and basing our prayers on what we already know He has spoken. “Believe on the name of the Lord and you shall be saved, and your whole house.” (Acts 16:31)

Finally, how do we leave the presence of the King? Context is everything because God used protocols that were relevant to His people when He instituted things, and many procedures are still used today in places where Kings and Queens and royalty are present. In Solomon’s Temple, the priest was instructed to approach the presence of God once a year, and when he left, he was never to run his back on the presence. This policy still exists to day with the English royal family.

What is my point? You leave God’s presence the way you came in, with praise and thanksgiving. You don’t turn your back on the King and walk away without respect or honor.

1)   Enter His presence with thanksgiving by telling him how grateful you are for hoe He has blessed you and kept you.

2)   Praise His name by honoring Him above every other distraction and roadblock you are currently facing. He is mightier!

3)   Petition the King with what you know He has spoken either through His word or through other trusted prophetic voices. (As long as those prophetic words are aligned with what He has spoken in scripture.)

4)   Finish by honoring Him and praising Him for being faithful to His word and being a mighty King who is more than able to fulfill what He has spoken.

5)   End by thanking Him for the answers that He has already established in heaven and that will be carried out here on earth.

This is how we are to approach the King for everything, not just the freedom and deliverance for our loved ones. I have personally seen in my own life the nearly immediate answers to my prayers when I began to see Him not only as my Father, but as my King who is the King over all other Kings.