Isn’t that a great question? For some, this topic will cause one to be squeamish, not comfortable with the word “worship”. Often, I will say in sharing and writing, I am not a theologian, not a pastor, I am a widow woman who strives to; “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
I believe the most important part of my day is when I set down with God’s word and the Holy Spirit who lives in me with the purpose to study. I am NOT saying we do not need pastors, leaders or teachers; God uses each one of them in our lives. What I am saying is; as a child of God, one day I/we will stand alone to give an account of what we did once we became a child of God. Our pastor, our leaders, our teachers will not be with us, we stand ALONE. Guess what? So does the pastor, the leader, the teacher and for them……those who have been entrusted to be an overseer, they give an account to God for how they led His children in their care. All the more reason for me and you to lift up our Pastors, our leaders, our teachers in prayer. I am digressing so we will get back to the original thought of: Worship.
Why this subject? I am studying with a new believer with a tool called the Prayer Wheel. With this particular tool there are 12 parts. Now for those who are unfamiliar who may say: I don’t need a tool, I don’t need anyone to teach me about prayer, just know this tool uses God’s word as its basis. I know that prayer is an open door that takes me right into the throne room of my Abba. If the disciples asked Jesus, teach us how to pray……I take from that, there is a lesson to learn. I am reaching back from all the years that I have been blessed of living in a country; that allowed the Gospel; to be taught; as I have that foundation and building on, studying out to help this new baby in Christ, my dear sister to learn more of God’s word, in particular…. starting with prayer.
In this Prayer Wheel the 1st part is called “Praise” or worshipping God. Now why is this the first part of prayer? Looking back at when the disciples asked Jesus, teach us how to pray, Jesus’ response in Matthew 6:9 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
I realize this is considered old English and I’m okay with that. What that does is cause me to look up the words that I don’t normally use, What I first notice is the name, Father….that means relationship. I understand not all relationships between fathers and children are great, some are downright horrible or non-existent. But this is Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray to their Heavenly Father as Jesus – the Son of God, prayed to God the Father. That relationship is perfect and in that Jesus is teaching them/us how to pray to our Heavenly Father. Why didn’t Jesus start with, O Creator of all the universe, the One who breathed life into mankind, the One who parted the Red Sea, the One who rained down fire from Heaven? Did God do all those things? Yes, He did……but Jesus is teaching us relationship with the One who loves us so much, He allowed His Son, the Son of God to be robed in flesh, to suffer for what? For me, for you, for redemption, for reconciliation. When we pray and we start with Father, that name, that relationship is one that deserves to be “hallowed”. Hallowed means to be acknowledged as scared, honored, respected. As we begin in prayer to our Father in respect and honor, how do we show that, how do we say that?
I love the book of Psalms; it points to prayer. Remember prayer is entering the throne room of our Father. How do we enter? Psalm 95 :2 a “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving….” Psalm 95: 6 “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”
Thanksgiving – an extension of the hand. Worship – to bow down yourself whether physically, or in your heart, to be humble in asking, to lay prostrate.
At this point I could give you many scriptures where we are told how the saints raised their hands with words of praise and thanksgiving toward Heaven. I could also give you many scriptures of where: Abraham, David, Job and others bowed down to the earth in worship. But I’m not going to. Why? Because of the very first verse I shared with you today. We DO NOT grow in Christ if all we have is a sermon or lesson from a preacher or teacher. It is imperative that each, every, all.……get the point……that each one of us studies. You may say, I don’t know how. I have spoken of how I study, but there are other ways. I love the way Chip Ingram studies; you can Google him. You may have a book that you thought about in the past that talks about studying, then just set it aside. Many ways to study, and if you are serious, you really do what to learn about this relationship, then pray. Ask our Father to help you, to send someone to you who can show you how to start. Until next time…..
Look Up, Keep Serving Jesus, He is Worthy!