On September 4th, I listed seven prayer secrets. This week, I’m breaking these down and talking in more detail about each one of them.

1. Let your gaze be on God, your glance on your request.

2. Let prayer be your first choice, not your last.

3. Let your prayer be filled with praise and thankfulness.

Psalm 100:4 holds the key to how we should begin and carry on to the end of our prayers: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalms 100:4)

Many who pray rush to talk to God without any consideration of who He is and who they are in relation to Him. They begin with their request for themselves or even for others before they are even in His courts.

Let me paint a scenario:
YOU: God, I want to talk to you about……

GOD: What’s that you say? I can’t hear you because you are on the outside of my gates which lead to my courts. If you want to talk with me and if you want to be assured that I hear you, you’re going to have to come inside my courts.

YOU: But, how do I do that?

GOD: The only way through my gates and into my courts is through praise and thanksgiving.

Praise and thanksgiving are the doorway to the presence of God. Only then are we in the position to offer prayers for others and prayers for ourselves. This even includes when we are in need to confess our sins.

When God’s Spirit convicts us of our sins, our first step should not be to begin talking about our sins. We should not just jump into confession by saying something like, “Oh, Dear Jesus, I confess that I did this and that, etc. Please forgive me.” You see, if you want to know that God hears your confession, you have to enter His gates and into His courts.

So it would be best if you acknowledge who He is that you are confessing to. A better prayer would be something like this, “I praise you God for being a loving and continual forgiver. I thank You that You have promised me that when I am unfaithful, You still remain faithful to me. I am amazed that You will still give me forgiveness even though I have failed You in this area many times before. I agree with You that I have done (name the sin) and I thank You for Your forgiveness that You provided for me on the cross.”

So, take a moment and enter into his presence with praise and thanksgiving.