The Healing Word

Guest (Male): You know he's going to be there when you kneel on your knees in private devotion. You know he's going to be there when you come into his house on Sunday morning. You know it because you know who you are and you know what he's done for you. But if you don't know who you are and you don't know what he's done for you, you're going to come in flat, and you're going to go out with a flat feeling.

Guest (Male): Prayer is one of God's greatest gifts, yet many believers quietly wonder if they're praying the right way or whether God truly hears them. In today's message, Pastor Jack Morris opens God's word to reveal that prayer is much more than words we speak. It is the privilege of every child of God to enter his presence with confidence through Jesus Christ. Here is today's message: How to Approach God.

Pastor Jack Morris: There are special privileges afforded you and me because we are children of God, and one of those special privileges is prayer—that we have the privilege of praying knowing that God loves us, that he hears us, and that he answers our prayers. Now, the instructions as to how this is done are very simple and anyone can follow these instructions. I'm going to give them to you right from the scripture this morning. Follow them closely. You have an outline and you're going to know how to go to God, meet God, experience God, present your request to God, and receive an answer of peace back from God.

How to approach God. In your outline under point A, write down "true." True prayer. What is true prayer? True prayer is not the utterance of words. True prayer is not a mental exercise, nor is it a vocal performance. Sometimes we say to our children before they get in bed, "Have you said your prayers?" Prayers are not words, not a mental exercise, not a vocal performance. True prayer is the approach of the soul to Almighty God. Something from within the deep of me makes contact with the deep of him.

True prayer is the desires of God in the heart advanced to the throne of grace. Let me say that one again. True prayer is the desires of God in the heart. Almost everything that you and I desire is okay with God. If you desire spiritual help, that's what he wants to give. If you desire financial help, he wants to give that. If you desire physical help, he wants to give that. Every desire you have, the possibility of that desire being created by God himself within you. You didn't all of a sudden start desiring that. God caused you to start desiring that, hoping that you will desire it so much that you will talk to him about it. Turn that desire into a prayer, a prayer that he might hear and answer. God wants to answer our prayers.

True prayer is the desires of God in the heart advanced to the throne of grace. True prayer is when our spirit senses the Great Spirit, communes with him, presents our request to him, and receives an answer of peace back from him. When God answers prayer, that answer always brings peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is trying to come into us to give us his peace. This is what true prayer is.

Look at point B in your outline. Write down the word "privilege." The privilege of prayer. And this is a privilege that you have and a privilege that you need to exercise because God wants to answer your prayer. Take your Bible and read Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. I want you to read it aloud. Hold your Bible up and read chapter 4, verse 16 together. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the time of need." What are the very first two words there? Let us. Let's do it. Let's do it now.

Let us not delay in doing it. The scripture is telling us, let us who are Christians, let us who are saved, let us who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Let us. The Apostle Paul says, let us. You and me, Paul says, let us go to the throne of grace and pray. You need to know who you are. You need to know that you're saved, you're a child of God, you're his creation, and that Jesus is your savior. If you know those things, you're part of the "us" and you are invited to come to the throne of grace and to pray. Let us pray.

God has done great things for us. He has blessed us. Oh, has he blessed us! You know he has blessed you, don't you? He has blessed me and he blesses all who call upon him. He's not frugal with his blessings. God's not a cheap God. He is a God of abundance and liberal giving. We need to come to him. He's done great things for us. The Virgin Mary, when the Holy Spirit told her that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit told her that God was going to put inside her body the very seed of the Almighty. She went to her cousin Elizabeth and this is what she says: "The Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name."

Can you say that today? Listen to me friends. Listen to me. You're looking at me, but are you hearing me? Has God done anything for you? Anything at all? He has. The Almighty has done great things. What has he done? Well, he saved you, he forgave you, his son died on the cross for you, Jesus shed his blood for you. Now say this with me: "The Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name." Everybody say, "Praise the Lord." God has done this. God says, "I'm not finished doing great things for you. I want to do greater things for you." Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, is saying, "Come on church, let us! Come on, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence. There's something good, beautiful, and wonderful that's going to happen if you do it." This is what Paul is saying. Today is the day. Let us do it now. There's no reason to wait, no reason to delay. This is the day of salvation. This is the time God wants to do something beautiful and wonderful. Save you? Yes. Forgive you? Yes. But answer your prayers, whatever your prayer request is. Chances are he put that desire there. Now take it to him. He's on standby. He's waiting. Paul is on tiptoe. Paul is saying, "Come on, let's do it. Let us!" Today he's going to do great and mighty things for us.

Look at verse 16. "Let us then." The word "then" knowing what verse 14 is telling us, that's what "then" means. Go back up and look at verse 14. "Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God." Since Jesus has gone to heaven, the disciples and those on the mount saw him being taken up. He went right up through the clouds. He's our high priest. He's gone before us carrying our name. He carried your name with him right into heaven when he went up to heaven. He knew that you were coming along, you were going to be born, you were going to give your heart to him. He carried your name into heaven. He just sort of made a big hole there in the cloud. Paul is now saying you can pray. Jesus already made that opening. You can go right into the very presence of God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Just follow him. Think of him. Let your thoughts pursue him and you will go right to where he is, to the very right hand of God with whatever your request is. So you're privileged beyond words to describe today. We have power that we perhaps are not even aware that we have, that we can follow Jesus right to the very throne of God and have our prayers answered.

Since we have a great high priest who's gone into the heaven, who's touched with the feelings of our infirmities, you have somebody who knows where you are today, who knows what you're feeling today. Since you have somebody like that on your side, in your corner, knowing that, let us now go because he has the feelings that you're feeling. He's experienced everything. Since we have that great high priest, let us then go to the throne of grace.

Look at point C in your outline. Here's how we're going to do it. Write down the word "approach." The approach of prayer. In your outline, you see the word "curtain." In the King James and the New King James, it's not "curtain," it's the "veil," but it's a curtain. This is how it appeared in the temple, in the tabernacle. There was a curtain, and it was a huge curtain, a very thick curtain. It was doubly woven together and it was suspended. Think of a curtain suspended. It doesn't touch anything on either side. It's suspended from the ceiling and doesn't quite touch the floor.

One time a year, the high priest would go to the altar, take the blood from the lamb, the goat, or the bullock. He would take the blood only once a year, and only the priest. You and I would have to stay back, but we would watch because he was our representative, the representative of the people of Israel. He would go with that blood and only this man, and this man alone, could move that curtain and step behind the curtain. When he would go behind the curtain, the curtain would close and we couldn't see what was going on behind there because behind the curtain was the mercy seat. That's where God has mercy and gives to people what people don't deserve, but out of a heart of love, he gives. That's what mercy is. It means I don't deserve it, but I get it anyway because God is merciful. He takes that blood and he sprinkles it on the mercy seat for the people. That priest is our representative. He's us behind the altar, but us can't go behind the altar. Only he can do that. He sprinkles it for our sins. That mercy seat represents the very presence of God. God was behind that curtain. Once a year he could do that. Only one time a year.

That was on the Day of Atonement, a special day of celebration. One day a year, a holiday, the Day of Atonement, the day that he could go and sins would be remitted. The Jewish men would have to stay in a courtyard at a distance. They were the closest to the tent. They were the closest to that curtain, the Jewish men. Then behind the Jewish men were the Jewish women. They were in another courtyard. Everybody was watching the priest. "He's up there doing that for me," the Jewish men said. The Jewish women would look, try to look over their heads. "He's up there doing that for me." But then the third courtyard way back is where the Gentiles were.

Christianity does away with those courtyards. There's no more men and no more women, no more Hebrews and no more Gentiles. We are one. In Christ, there's neither male nor female, bond nor free. We are one in him. Christianity has done away with all of that. Thank God for the New Testament. Thank God for Christianity. Thank God for Jesus. It's Jesus. Can you say, "Thank God for Jesus?" He would go in and he would sprinkle the blood and then he would come out.

The day Jesus died on the cross, the very day that he died and gave up his spirit and commanded his spirit to go back to heaven. You see, he didn't allow the nails or the thorns or the spear in the side to kill him. He would have died a physical death, but just before he allowed that to happen, he was still in control and Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I command my spirit." In other words, he said, "Spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, leave this body, go to heaven." He died. The lamb would always expire on the altar. Jesus was on the altar of the cross. Think of the cross. The cross is upright. Jesus is suspended. Nothing from above, he's not touching anything. His feet are not on the ground. Think of the curtain. It's suspended. Nothing above, nothing on either side, nothing on the ground.

Jesus' body was symbolic of that curtain. That curtain was symbolic of Jesus' body. When Jesus' body was torn with nails, when Jesus' body, the flesh was torn with the thorns, when his side was torn with a spear, at that moment when he said, "Father, I command my spirit to depart," when he said that, that curtain ripped from top to bottom. Hallelujah! The curtain ripped from top to bottom! What was going on at that moment? God was saying there is a way in. You don't have to look out from a distance, look over somebody's head, wonder what's going on up there, and hope that someday you might get a glimpse because you have never seen or experienced the presence of God. Only one man. God is saying now everybody has an opportunity to come in. There is no more barrier. Jesus, his body, moved the barrier.

Now, that curtain was twice woven together. That curtain was tried. It was so thick that they took four yoke of oxen, two yoke on this side, two yoke on that side, hooked the curtain, and charged those animals to move ahead. They couldn't tear the curtain. That curtain could only be torn by the Almighty. Know this: that curtain was not torn from the bottom up. That curtain was torn from the top down, meaning that everything was going on was the hand of the Almighty coming down in mercy and grace to bless his people. God wants you in! He wants to bless, he wants to help you. He's not trying to keep you out. Someone said, "I just can't get my prayers through." God has done everything to open the way so that you could get through. If you listen to the word this morning, you're going to know how to get through into the presence of God.

Can you say, "Praise the Lord?" God's opened a way! God's made a way for us. Everything behind that curtain, only the priest was privileged to come, only the priest and only once a year. Now, when we read in Leviticus just a moment ago, we read about Aaron. Aaron the priest. This is what God commanded. God commanded Aaron to clean himself thoroughly with water, his body thoroughly with water. God was getting him ready to go behind the veil to be the high priest, to be the representative. Then God told him, this is Leviticus chapter 16, God told him to put linen garments next to his skin and then God told him to put on the clerical garments above that. He said, first you wash, secondly new garments, thirdly blood. Three things. Say it with me: wash, new garments, blood. That's how you come behind the curtain. That's what makes you a priest. Man, woman, you are a priest unto the Lord. You have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. You have been washed with the water of his word. You have been clothed with the garments of salvation. You have been made a new person in the Lord and God has changed you, equipped you, made you a high priest. We are a kingdom of priests unto the Lord, the scripture says. Everybody who is in Christ is this kingdom priesthood. Now you and I can go behind the veil and enter in.

The washing of the word, that continues to happen. We need the word. That's why we come here every Sunday. That's why I preach the word every Sunday. There should be a cleansing, a washing. You have been out in the world. You have the smell of everything on you. You know how you get out there and you get in a room and a lot of people smoking. You go home and your wife says, "Have you taken up smoking?" You just have the smell of the world. You heard the words, you heard their language, you've experienced all of that and it's sort of clinging to you. But now you come into the house of God into the presence of the Lord. That's why people can't miss Sunday after Sunday. Usher, you're on television. Sunday after Sunday, you need to come in and be washed with the washing of the water of the word. You need this cleansing because you have that smelly worldliness. I do too. I have it about me. That's why I need to come in and I need to meet with God. I need that cleansing because I'm getting ready to go behind that curtain. I'm getting ready to pray, enter into the presence of God, and live in his presence. I need the cleansing of the word. Every Sunday, God comes and reclothes me, makes me new all over again, makes you new all over again. He puts on that garment of salvation and I begin to rejoice and begin to thank God. I'm saved, I'm washed in the blood, my name's written in the book of life in heaven. I'm rejoicing in the Lord. If you come in here and you're waiting for the choir or the preacher or somebody to turn you on and make you excited, then you're not really very happy about your salvation, are you?

But you need to already know that this is the house of God and that you are a child of God, a redeemed child of God. So you come in behind the veil and you approach the altar of the Lord. Here's how you're to do it. Here's the simple part. All you need to do to go behind that veil into the very presence of God, to the very mercy seat of God, to get what God wants you to have—what you and I do not deserve, but what he wants to give to us—all you need to do when you come into whether you're home praying individually or whether you're in a congregation praying collectively, all you need to do is to think: God saved me, Jesus died on the cross for me, my sins are cleansed in his precious blood. Simple little thoughts like that. I'm saved, I'm a child of God, my name is written in heaven, Jesus died for me. What you are doing at that moment, you're coming to God with blood, the blood of Jesus. You're filling your mind and your thoughts with his atonement. You're collecting the entrance, which is the sacrificial blood that gives you entrance. That's all you need to do.

But here's what happens so often. Sometimes we come into the secret closet and we kneel down to pray and we'll say, "Well look, this is what I need. I need this, this, this, this, this." And then we get down and we say, "Dear God, you see my financial condition. I need help." You jumped right in. You didn't gather blood. You understand where I'm coming from? You didn't remind yourself and God that you belong to God. You forgot who you were and you just went to a gimme, gimme, gimme Santa Claus. You just came with a wish list. Now, if you do not remember who you are—that you're saved, that you're washed in the blood, that you're a child of God—you're not going behind the veil. You are going through a mental exercise. You're using words and you're running through your vocabulary. It has the form of a prayer, it sounds like a prayer, and you tag it with "In Jesus' name, Amen."

But you must come before God remembering you were a sinner, that you are a sinner, that you are lost without Jesus and only Jesus and his blood can cleanse and save you. If you have that in mind, you go behind the veil every time. And when you go behind the veil, you meet God every time. That's why so many people pray and never meet God. They pray and do not get answers to their prayer. They pray and never feel the power and presence of God. Why? Because they don't know they're a Christian. Or they know it. You go up and ask them, "Oh yeah, I'm a Christian." Did you tell God that you're a Christian? Did you tell yourself that you're washed in the blood? Did you remind yourself of the gift of redemption? When you go through that little mental exercise, the blood of Jesus is applied and the curtain is opened up and you have access. Never, never pray until you first say, "Thank God for saving my soul."

And now you're ready. Now you can go behind the veil and pray and put your request and see the mountains move. But you've got to come as a lost remembering that I'm lost, I was lost, I'm now redeemed. And I'd be lost right now but for his mercy that has kept me from backsliding and going back. You've got to remember who you are. This puts you in a place of your rights. This makes you have the right to go into the presence of God. The scripture says when you come that way, when you come remembering, believing, thinking of who you are and what God's done for you, you have to think of what God's done for you and you have to say it. That impacts it and bonds it and applies it to your heart. When you say that then look at the scripture. Hold the Bible up again. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. Between now and next Sunday, I hope that you'll memorize this and we'll be able to quote it from memory next Sunday even without our Bibles because I'm going to come right back to this scripture next Sunday.

Together let us read it. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the time of need." See, that's the only way you can come with confidence, only by remembering who you are and what God's done for you. Now you can come without being timid, shy, wondering "Does he hear me? I wonder if he's going to answer this one, he didn't answer the other one." You don't have to come wondering. You come with confidence. I'm a child of God. Abba, Father is my father. Say "Abba." That's that intimate relationship that you have with God. And many of us today, I'm convinced, we don't know that we have that kind of relationship.

But when you are convinced—and all you have to do to convince yourself is to start being thankful that it has happened—and now you can come with confidence to the throne of grace, with a feeling of certainty because you have a relationship. You have a relationship with the one behind the veil. You don't go walking behind the peek behind the veil and "Oh, look who's here!" You run right face to face into God. You know he's going to be there when you kneel on your knees in private devotion. You know he's going to be there when you come into his house on Sunday morning. You know it because you know who you are and you know what he's done for you. But if you don't know who you are and you don't know what he's done for you, you're going to come in flat, you're going to go out with a flat feeling.

You're going to kneel in your private devotions and you're going to rise feeling the same way as when you knelt. That's why a lot of God's people don't have private devotions. They don't have it because nothing's working, nothing's happening. Why? You don't know who you are. You're still an orphan. "Oh, I'm a member of the Largo Community Church." That doesn't mean a thing, particularly what I'm talking about today. What I'm talking about today is coming into the presence of God with confidence. Coming into the presence of God with confidence—in the King James it means with boldness. That means you're bold about it once you've established and reestablished, you have to reestablish that relationship every time. It only takes a few sentences of prayer. Then you can come boldly, meaning boldly means you can come rather abruptly. You don't have to fear. You can just walk in. You're a child of God. You can walk up to your father. He's your father. You know it, you feel it. He's established and you've established that relationship. Confidence meaning you can come with assurance, not wondering, "Is anything going to happen? Is prayer really going to work for me today?"

That's how most of us come into the presence of God. You don't have to come that way anymore. You can come boldly with confidence, with full assurance. God's here and you can pray that prayer and God will answer the prayer. The desire you have in your heart today, whatever that desire is, chances are God's put the desire there. The reason he put it there is because he wants to alert you that he wants to help you. He's trying to get you—he's just putting that desire there saying, "Come on, pray over it. Talk to me about it. Say something to me about what you're feeling about your marriage, about your job, about your children, about your parents, about your career." You're worrying about it, you're worrying about it all the time. God is saying, "Say something. Say something. Come on, just say something to me about it."

Remember who I am, God is saying. I'm your father. I have all power in heaven and earth. I'm the Almighty, I'm the creator. Remember you're my child. God is trying to get it through to you and to me who he is and who we are and that we'll say something about what's troubling us. And when we establish that relationship, we go behind the veil. So we're going to look to the Lord right now. We're going to pray in just a moment. Number one, I want you to thank God for saving you. I want you to thank God for the blood of Jesus that has cleansed you every time you come to God in prayer. Establish that Jesus-you-blood-sacrifice relationship every time. That puts you behind the veil. You're going to go behind the veil, equip yourself, go behind the veil. And now come behind the veil. You're in the very presence of God. The Almighty is your father. He's there smiling. You have not a thing in the world to fear or to worry about. His answer to you will be peace.

Guest (Male): Prayer isn't reserved for a select few. Through Jesus Christ, every believer has the privilege of approaching God with confidence, knowing he hears and answers the cries of his children. If today's message has encouraged your faith, we would love to hear from you. Visit thehealingword.com where you'll find messages from Pastor Morris, inspiring resources for your spiritual journey, and an opportunity to send us your prayer requests. Your financial partnership helps The Healing Word continue bringing biblical encouragement to homes around the world. Thank you for helping us share the hope found only in Jesus Christ.