Worship and Prayer
Eph 4:15 says, "Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth..."
We are called, in all things, to speak truly, deal truly with people, live truly, and of course, to worship truly.
Worship and prayer are inseparable. How can we truly worship someone whom we do not truly know? And how can we truly know someone unless we have constant communion with him? Without prayer, it is impossible to know God truly; and without knowing God truly, we cannot truly worship Him.
God wants His people to worship Him in truth. That is, He wants us to worship Him out of a true perspective of who He is. "You shall not make yourself any graven image..." the Bible says. I believe not one Christian in his or her right mind would build a wooden or bronze statue and bow down to it. But yet, so many of us build up false images of God, and worship God based on that wrong image or perspective of Him. True worship can only flow out of God's revelation of Himself to us. Worship cannot make sense or carry meaning without knowing God and His ways.
God wants to be known. That is why He calls us to seek Him with all our hearts. God will not ask us to seek Him if He cannot be found. He wants His people to know Him not only as Saviour and Redeemer, but also as Healer, Deliverer, Comforter, Provider, Master, Friend and so much more! Not just to know about Him, but to come to a revelation and experiential knowledge of Him. We sing songs with so many beautiful words: "You are my strength, my shield, my fortress, my deliverer...", "Jesus you are my best friend...", "You are my supply, my breath of life...", just to name a few. But how many of us have really come to know and experience the kind of God that we are singing about? If we have not, then how can we truly find meaning and be passionate about the words that we sing?
In Exodus, it is only after the Israelites experienced the great deliverance of the Lord in the parting of the Red Sea, that they were then truly able to sing with all their hearts, "The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him...Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendour, doing wonders?" These words would have been meaningless had they not first experienced God's power and might of deliverance in the Red Sea episode.
Being in the place of prayer and in an attitude of constant communion with God also develops in us a sense of intimacy with God that I find is indispensible to worship. I have so often stepped into a church service at the end of a busy week where I had hardly made time to spend with God, and I found that I could hardly put all my heart into the songs. God seemed to be a stranger to me, and the majestic or intimate words of the songs seem to carry no real meaning for me. They sounded lifeless over my lips. But oh, in those weeks where God is so real and intimate! The moment the first song started, the words, the joy, the passion, and the tears just flowed. In those times, I needed no "warm-up song" or "rah-rah" from the worship leader. I was just so ready to worship! If only I, and every Christian, could come to church every week with that kind of readiness of heart; coming into God's presence with our hearts already broken and softened through prayer! What awesome and powerful times of worship our churches would have week after week!
How much more so for us worship leaders! With the technology and musical abilities available to us today, it is so easy for us to "create" a great atmosphere of worship, and to move people into strong emotional responses to the Lord. But what is left after the music dies and the lights come on again? Emotional highs? Or true spiritual encounters with God? Only if we have first came into that place of intimacy with God, are we able to lead others to experience it.
A chapter title in E.M. Bounds'book "The Reality of Prayer" reads, "Prayer: The Essence of Earthly Worship". How true this is! Without prayer, the basis of our daily walk with God is lost, as is the basis for knowing and loving Him more and more. And without this, there is nothing from which genuine, passionate, spiritual worship can flow out of.
Oh God, may we never forget this. May we never get too caught up in our forms, that we lose sight of the Person! Remind your people always, that worship and prayer are inseparable!
We are called, in all things, to speak truly, deal truly with people, live truly, and of course, to worship truly.
Worship and prayer are inseparable. How can we truly worship someone whom we do not truly know? And how can we truly know someone unless we have constant communion with him? Without prayer, it is impossible to know God truly; and without knowing God truly, we cannot truly worship Him.
God wants His people to worship Him in truth. That is, He wants us to worship Him out of a true perspective of who He is. "You shall not make yourself any graven image..." the Bible says. I believe not one Christian in his or her right mind would build a wooden or bronze statue and bow down to it. But yet, so many of us build up false images of God, and worship God based on that wrong image or perspective of Him. True worship can only flow out of God's revelation of Himself to us. Worship cannot make sense or carry meaning without knowing God and His ways.
God wants to be known. That is why He calls us to seek Him with all our hearts. God will not ask us to seek Him if He cannot be found. He wants His people to know Him not only as Saviour and Redeemer, but also as Healer, Deliverer, Comforter, Provider, Master, Friend and so much more! Not just to know about Him, but to come to a revelation and experiential knowledge of Him. We sing songs with so many beautiful words: "You are my strength, my shield, my fortress, my deliverer...", "Jesus you are my best friend...", "You are my supply, my breath of life...", just to name a few. But how many of us have really come to know and experience the kind of God that we are singing about? If we have not, then how can we truly find meaning and be passionate about the words that we sing?
In Exodus, it is only after the Israelites experienced the great deliverance of the Lord in the parting of the Red Sea, that they were then truly able to sing with all their hearts, "The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him...Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendour, doing wonders?" These words would have been meaningless had they not first experienced God's power and might of deliverance in the Red Sea episode.
Being in the place of prayer and in an attitude of constant communion with God also develops in us a sense of intimacy with God that I find is indispensible to worship. I have so often stepped into a church service at the end of a busy week where I had hardly made time to spend with God, and I found that I could hardly put all my heart into the songs. God seemed to be a stranger to me, and the majestic or intimate words of the songs seem to carry no real meaning for me. They sounded lifeless over my lips. But oh, in those weeks where God is so real and intimate! The moment the first song started, the words, the joy, the passion, and the tears just flowed. In those times, I needed no "warm-up song" or "rah-rah" from the worship leader. I was just so ready to worship! If only I, and every Christian, could come to church every week with that kind of readiness of heart; coming into God's presence with our hearts already broken and softened through prayer! What awesome and powerful times of worship our churches would have week after week!
How much more so for us worship leaders! With the technology and musical abilities available to us today, it is so easy for us to "create" a great atmosphere of worship, and to move people into strong emotional responses to the Lord. But what is left after the music dies and the lights come on again? Emotional highs? Or true spiritual encounters with God? Only if we have first came into that place of intimacy with God, are we able to lead others to experience it.
A chapter title in E.M. Bounds'book "The Reality of Prayer" reads, "Prayer: The Essence of Earthly Worship". How true this is! Without prayer, the basis of our daily walk with God is lost, as is the basis for knowing and loving Him more and more. And without this, there is nothing from which genuine, passionate, spiritual worship can flow out of.
Oh God, may we never forget this. May we never get too caught up in our forms, that we lose sight of the Person! Remind your people always, that worship and prayer are inseparable!
posted by Terence | 11:40 AM
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