Thoughts on Thursday...

Growing in Faith -- Worship

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Cor 5:17 

One of the new things is building your relationship with Jesus. Last week we mentioned that God prompts us to grow in prayer, worship, instruction, and encouragement. That  refers to being with people as well as by yourself; and we took a peek at the first area, prayer. Now let us do the same with the next area on the list…worship. 

What is Worship? 

Chiefly and eminently, the act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being; or the reverence and homage paid to him in religious exercises, consisting in adoration, confession, prayer, thanksgiving and the like.
The worship of God is an eminent part of religion.
Prayer is a chief part of religious worship.

(Source: 1828 Webster’s Online Dictionary)

It seems like there are a few more puzzling words thrown in there to describe just one, doesn't it? It may still seem quite daunting. But don't give up!

To me, worship is when my prayer is more about God than about me. As we said last week, prayer is "talking to God," so that could be just like me talking to you about what's going on in my life. But worship is almost like going deeper in your time with God.

One of the ways I use to worship God is to say the characteristics and names of God back to Him, either silently or out loud, but always from my heart. Yes, God certainly knows His own name and characteristics, so that's not why I say them back to Him. It's really for me to hear them and meditate on them.

How can I know if my worship pleases God? Jesus always emphasized the worshiper's heart. He tells us, "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." Matt. 6:5, 6

So now you have another aspect to use in growing in this new creature that you are. 

Don't be surprised if 15 minutes becomes not enough!