Prayer and Worship
Prayer is essential to our relationship with the Lord – in its basic form it is simply talking to our Heavenly Father about everything and we cannot spend too much time doing this. However, at the beginning of this blog, it is also important to learn to allow time for Him to speak to us. When Jesus was on earth He only did those things that His Father told Him to do. Most people do not have that experience, they do not hear God’s audible voice, but some people do, my father was such a person. However, most people like myself say God speaks to them but what they experience is a strong impression in their spirit to do something and they know that it came from spending time with the Lord. This only comes from the discipline of waiting on the Lord. The Bible is full of instructions about prayer and how to pray. What I am writing about is basically what I do in private and not about praying in public which is another subject. We are encouraged to talk to the Lord as often as we can, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says: “Pray without ceasing” this means as soon as I relax my first thought is to talk to the Lord. The Bible is very clear that we should never stop asking the Lord for help. In Luke 18:1 it says: “Then Jesus spoke a parable to them (His disciples) to this end, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart (give up)” The timing of God’s answer is sometimes difficult to understand but when we are unsure we keep coming to Him. Psalm 100:4 instructs us to: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise, be thankful unto Him and bless His holy name”. We must never forget what prayer is achieving, James 5:16b says: “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”. Do not be afraid to continually pray about situations in Luke 11:9 Jesus said “And I say to you ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you”. Philippians 4:6 says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving; let your requests be made known to God”. There is so much more that could be said, but this is sufficient to encourage you to continually talk to the Lord, one final scripture Ephesians6:18a “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit”. Worship is not singing a slower song but when we pay homage and reverence to the Lord. Jesus declared in John 4:23-24 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The word worship comes from an old English word “Worthship” which means “Honouring the worth of someone” and this is what we do when we worship the Lord. In Old Testament times worshipping was shown by a physical action – the priests would prostrate themselves before the Lord, but today it is a spiritual experience, not a physical one. Because it is a spiritual experience there is a danger that emotion can be confused with the spiritual. Worship is not something that we do but it is when we allow our spirit to respond to the Lord in adoration and honour. As I draw closer to the Lord it is easier to live a life of worship that is pleasing to the Lord.