How are we to approach God?

Psalm 100:4-5

Perhaps God prefers for His children to approach Him a certain way...at least with a certain demeanor, attitude or activity.  I think He clearly has a preference, and makes it clear what His preference is throughout the Bible!  Psalm 100:4-5 is one of the places where God tells us how to approach Him.

4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name.  5 For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations. (HCSB)

Verse 5 begins with the reason why we are to approach God as He desires: "For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal..."

STOP...spend a moment meditating on what the psalmist has just said.

Do you believe it?  REALLY believe it?  Because He is good and His love is eternal, we are to approach Him with a two-part proper response.

I. Thanksgiving - (vs. 4a)  "Enter His gates with thanksgiving..."

When you approach God in prayer, no matter the circumstances of the moment, you are to first offer thanks to Him.  Why?  If for no other reason, for the fact that He is good and His love is eternal!  He is good to you and with you; even when it doesn't seem like it.  You can trust this is true because you know His love is eternal.  Think about this: GOD NEVER STOPS LOVING YOU!  No matter what we do as His children, He loves us.  Certainly there are things we do He does not approve of nor condone (we still call that "sin"); and we are disciplined because of those things.  But even then, He does not stop loving us because His love never ends...it is eternal, and it is eternally directed at, shared with, His children!  For that, we certainly should be thankful.

II. Praise - (vs. 4b)  "...and his courts with praise."

He has done everything for us - provided a means of salvation; blessed us abundantly; met our needs; and most importantly, is preparing us for an eternity in His presence.  What do we have that He has not given?  Would one dare say you have gotten all you have by yourself?  Well, who gave you the ability - the strength or the brains - to be able to accomplish so much?  Is it not God?

The Bible says all good things are gifts that come to us, down out of Heaven.  That is, everything good thing is a gift from God to you.

The Bible says He knows all the details of our lives.  He knows every thought, every word, even the number of hairs on my head!  He knows me so intimately, and loves me completely...as He does with every true child of His.  Are you a child of God?  Then He loves you, too.

The proper response to one who has done so much, is doing and promises even more, is to praise, honor and glorify HIM!

Look at the two responses we are to give: thanksgiving and praise.  As you read what the psalmist wrote, it seems like... Thanksgiving gets us in the palace; praise gets us in the Presence!

In good times or bad, we are to give thanks and praise to God.  Indeed, many of the times that seem "bad" to us, really are times of profound growth in our walk with Him.  Some of our "bad" times may be our "best" times, when seen from eternity.

How is that possible?

During the difficult times is when we often GROW in our trust and faith; DEVELOP in our understanding of Him and His ways; and, EXPERIENCE God at a deeper level.

So, yes...even during "bad" times...maybe we should say, especially during "bad" times...we should approach God with thanksgiving and with praise!