Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 11: Worship”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Happy Monday Devotion readers!
Let me start with an apology for not alerting you to what ended up be a two week break of writing devotions! They just didn’t happen before our family left for vacation – so I pray the Christmas season and transition into 2022 have been blessed for you and your family…but now let’s get back to a little Word of God and reflection each day!
Yesterday we began again our “Believe” series. So again I invite you as a devotion reader to spend time with each week’s chapter…this week Chapter 11 on Worship.
I don’t know about you, but we have spent A LOT of time as pastors in our church body talking about worship. Even other Christian denominations have used the term “Worship Wars” to describe basically what music style and format should be used on Sunday morning when we gather together.
Is worship really just about a music style and setting on Sunday morning?
We probably all know the answer is “No,” but sometimes that’s what it becomes. It is easy in the visible church to look for the “prescription” for worship. It can easily become a set of “rules” that if not followed we begin to question whether we really have worship (Yes, I’ve been in conversations that debated this issue.).
What I have found in the Bible is ALL KINDS of ways and ALL KINDS of settings people worshipped. Here’s just a couple:
- Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, bowed down and worshipped (Genesis 24:26)
- 2 Samuel 6:5 &14 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals…. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
- Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
The list could go on. People worshipped in silence or praise. People worshipped at the beginning of life or the end of life. People worshipped in the temple, on the hillside, or in a prison cell.
Here’s what we notice about worship. Worship is always a RESPONSE of people to WHO God is and WHAT God has done for them.
Eliezer worshipped when God gave him success to finding Isaac a wife, Rebekah. David rejoiced when the Ark of God was brought to Jerusalem for the first time. Paul and Silas were praying and singing, responding to the work of God…even though they were thrown into prison for it.
When we understand that worship is my response to WHO God is or WHAT he has done for me, it can take various forms, multiple settings, and occupy every minute of every day. Our life is a response to the reality of God’s goodness and mercy being shown to me!
Romans 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Worship is more than a song, more than a morning, more than a ritual, more than a single prayer, it is a heart touched by the love and mercy of God responding to the love and mercy of God.
Enjoy your day of worship!
Apply: What happens today when you view everything you are doing as an act of worship – responding to WHO God is and WHAT he has done for you? Could driving to work be an act of worship? Washing the dishes? Presenting at a meeting? Tucking your kids into bed? Yep!
Prayer – Lyrics to “The Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless your heart
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
AMEN.