DOES GOD CARE HOW WE APPROACH HIM?

 

Does God care how I or we approach him?

 It is usually wrong-headed and at times even dangerous to attempt to put God in some anthropomorphic box or to otherwise limit him in any way.  See 2 Chronicles 2:6: "But who is able to build a house for him since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him."  I would simply suggest that there are three things that one should probably avoid when attempting to approach the All-Mighty.

 1.  Do not approach heaven or God or any of the heavenly blessings as something that can be bought or sold.  See the unfortunate experience of Balaam as recounted in 2 Peter 2:15.16, and the reference to Babylon in Rev. 18:11-13, where it is described as a place where human souls are bought and sold as commodities. 

 2.  Do not approach God with a smug, self-righteous attitude.  See Luke 18:9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  See also the unfortunate experience of Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu in Lev. 10:1,2.

 3.  Do not make a big show of praying and use many words in your prayers, as if by heaping up verbiage you somehow improve your chances of being heard.  See Matthew 6:5-14.  Here I think in particular of all the weighty tomes written by philosophers and novelists (and theologians, too) through the centuries that supposedly contain much wisdom.  Is this wisdom something that God pays much attention to?  See 1 Co. 3:19: "For the wisdom of this world is folly with God."

 The Bible offers countless tips and examples of how to approach God.  I will here list simply three.

 1.  "In Christ and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Eph. 3:12.

 2.  "And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1.  In other words, our sin, as great as it may be, does not prevent us from approaching God.  In fact, it is quite the opposite.  See 1 Timothy 1:15: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

3.  For some good guidance in how to approach God, see how David did it in Psalms 4 and 5.   

 Conclusion

 All I would say is that the more brokenhearted, contrite and humble, and even desperate (see Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit"), we are in approaching God (and, despite all of that, still being bold and confident, see Hebrews 4:16, "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." ), the better off we'll be.  But, having said all that, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."  Philippians 2:12.