Preparing for Worship - Step 3

Has your worship been revitalized?  As you quiet your mind and focus on the Lord, has your spirit been refreshed from that special time with your Creator? 
 
For me, worship has always been a place of refuge.  A place where all the cares of this world fade away and there’s nothing left but Him—the great I AM.  No matter what challenges I face in life, worship is where I run when I’m feeling overwhelmed, frazzled, and heavy-hearted.  It’s where my spirit is refreshed and my joy renewed.  ​

​That’s the importance of worship and why we must be faithful to prepare our hearts for what God has for us in this special place.  For if we come unprepared, we often miss all God wants to give us through the washing of His Spirit.  So if you’re still struggling with the first two steps of preparing for worship, press on and keep working on it.  The experience you will have with God is worth it!
 
But for those of you who have successfully quieted your mind and focused on the Lord, it’s now time for the third and final step in this preparation process.   You ready for this?!
 
Step 3:  enter into the throne room.
 
The Bible teaches us that God is seated on a throne in heaven surrounded by angels who are constantly worshipping Him.  We know that God is not limited to His throne but that He is omnipresent—everywhere.  However, the throne room represents the sanctuary of His presence, His holy abode, and the closest one can spatially get to Him.  In this place, sin is not allowed and God’s glory surrounds and fills the chamber.  It’s a place of awe and reverence; a place of holiness and perfection.
 
Because of our sin, we formerly could not enter this sinless place, but now Jesus has made a way.  Through His blood shed on the cross, we can enter the Holy of Holies.  The veil is torn.  There’s nothing separating us from this special place. So let’s enter!  As Hebrews 4:16a says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.”  We should not fear our Father’s presence.  Rather, we should relish it and daily seek it out!
 
You may be wondering, why is it so important to enter the throne room in our worship?  Isn’t God everywhere?
 
It’s important to mentally and spiritually enter the throne room, because there God is magnificent, holy, righteous, and way bigger than we could ever imagine.  There’s a certain reverence we get when we come before His throne.  This is not present when we think of Him as our friend, provider, and buddy.  While God is all these things, He is also God—seated above all.  And we must not forget that. 
 
So by entering into the throne room in worship, we not only get to join the angels in worshipping the Father, but we also worship Him rightly and are further wowed by who He is.  Trust me, there is no greater experience than to truly experience the awesome presence of God!  And that presence is found in His holy throne room.
 
Now the big question…how do we get there?
 
As I worship and after I’ve quieted my mind and focused my heart on the Lord, I like to envision God’s throne room in my mind.  I’m a visual person, so working with images is always better for me.  So as I seek to enter God’s holy presence, I construct a picture of His throne room.  It’s a big room, massive room, with the throne obvious and gold everywhere.  As I praise the Lord for who He is and all He’s done, I begin to fill my mental throne room with His attributes.  Faithfulness cloaks the walls and love fills the chamber. 
 
It’s really hard to describe how all this works, but eventually I’m there—standing in the presence of God.  While it is true that God is present with us all the time, it has a different feeling when we purposefully and intentionally seek to enter His Holy of Holies.  And God delights in it.  He desires His children to seek Him out and want to be in His presence. 
 
There is no worship to compare with that done before the presence of God.  It is amazing!  It will fill your heart to overflowing and refresh your soul.  Words cannot describe the sweetness, the awesomeness of the worship done before the throne of God.  You have to experience it for yourself! 
 
So try it…seek it out.  Ask the Holy Spirit to bring you into that special place.  And see if your worship is not radically changed forever.