This is in accordance with [the terms of] the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him [that is, our faith gives us sufficient courage to freely and openly approach God through Christ].                    Ephesians 3:11-12 AMP

In my last publication, I discussed having an intimate relationship with God and how going to Church is not synonymous with having an intimate or personal relationship with God. In this publication, I would like to discuss how our praise and worship can lead us into an intimate fellowship with God.

In the Old Testament, according to Esther 4:11, the queen had to wait for the king to request an audience with her. She could not approach his throne unless he summoned her.  Jesus, however, through His blood, has provided unhindered, unlimited access to the King of Kings. Hebrews 4:14 AMP states, “Now that we know what we have – Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God – let’s not let it slip through our fingers.” When we see worship as connecting with God in an intimate and personal way, we will cease every opportunity to enter into worship.

Churches are filled with talented singers, musicians, ministers of music and worship leaders, and all of those are great; but they do not replace hearts and minds fixed on the One that we came to worship. Praise and worship is not a concert; it is not time to merely observe; it is a time that we participate in worshiping our Lord. Although we may come together with other Believers to worship God, each Believers’ worship is personal just as each Believers’ relationship with God is personal. Worship is not about which song the praise team is singing, and it is not about how we feel at the time; it is exclusively about the One we worship. When we get this and we do this, worship becomes an intimate personal time of fellowship with our Lord.

The enemy often condemns us because of something that we have done or failed to do, so we are ashamed and feel unworthy to enter into worship. He uses this trick is to keep us from worshiping, because the enemy knows that if we continue to fellowship with God, we will become stronger, wiser and more confident. God already knew that the enemy would use condemnation to hinder us from worshiping Him, so He already made provisions for us to defeat the enemy in that area. The scripture states in Hebrew 4:16 AMP, “Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].” The King James Version reads, “Come boldly unto the throne of grace…” It is our privilege and our birthright, as children of God, to enter into worship and intimate fellowship with our Father.