Tag Archive for prepare for worship

from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-12-24 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Prepare for Christmas

Father, this Christmas
as I prepare for worship,
prepare me to receive Your Gift.
Prepare me to receive
Your life,
Your love,
Your wisdom,
Your complete well-being,
Your wholeness,
Your harmony,
Your joy,
Your purity,
Your constant enabling.
Prepare me to receive
Yourself in
Your Holy Son, Jesus Christ.

Help me to welcome Him into
all my thoughts and
all my desires,
into the priorities that rule my every decision,
into all my daily habits, and
each of my personal relationships.

A gift is only valuable when it is received.
This Christmas, help me fully receive
Your priceless Gift,
the Living Christ. 

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Hymn: Jesus, the Gift of Christmas
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-10-13 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Worship Like Jesus

“True worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth;
for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
God is spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24, NASB)

Father, I want to worship You
as You desire to be worshiped.
I want to worship You as Your Son worshiped You.
His worship rose,
not just from His lips,
but from His heart and life.
His worship was
prayer,
simple trust,
eager obedience,
loving service, and
complete self-sacrifice.
He worshiped You with all He was,
with all His
heart,
soul,
mind, and
strength.

Father, give me His Spirit.
Form in me His character.
Form in me His relationship with You.
Help me to worship You
like Jesus. 

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Hymn: Father, Help Me Worship You
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-09-08 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

This Is the One We Follow

Father, as I prepare for worship,
help me see Jesus hanging on the cross.
Help me see Him as He truly was:
the blood,
the nakedness,
the pain wrenching His body.
Help me see Him humbled,
repulsive,
dying,
abandoned.

Father, remind me –
remind us:
This is our God.
This is His passionate love.
This is our Leader,
our Shepherd,
the One we imitate.
This is our goal,
our ambition,
our Way,
our Truth,
our Life.
This is the standard that guides our
every day and
every decision.

This is the way we deny ourselves.
This is the cross we carry.
This is the One we follow. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Christ Crucified
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-08-25 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship 3 comments

As I Sit among Your People

Father, when I next sit in the worship service,
surrounded by Your people,
give me Your eyes,
give me Your heart for them.
Move me as Jesus was moved by
their fears,
their needs,
their pain,
their struggles,
their grief.

Awaken me to them, Lord.
Move me
to pray,
to encourage,
to lend a helping hand,
to minister to their sorrow through my caring presence.

As I sit among Your people,
give me the
heart and
words and
overflowing generosity of Jesus. 

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Hymn: Prayer of Intercession
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-08-04 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Wholehearted Support
1 Chronicles 29:1-9

King David had deeply desired to build a temple for You, Father,
but You told him he was not Your person for the job.
His son, Solomon, would build the temple.

David didn’t sulk.
He didn’t complain.
He did everything he could to help Solomon prepare for this enormous task.
He supported Solomon wholeheartedly with all his
creative energy,
his resources,
his contacts,
his influence, and
his enthusiasm.
He poured himself as completely into his support position
as he would have into the leadership position.

Father, as we gather to worship, help me to
enthusiastically,
wholeheartedly
support those You have chosen for leadership.
Help me to get behind them with all the
help,
prayer, and
joyful involvement
that I owe You,
my Creator,
my Redeemer, and
my Lord. 

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Hymn: We Will Be Your People
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-07-28 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

You Are My Defining Reality

Father, when Your people were traveling through the wilderness,
out of bondage and toward the promised land,
they were engulfed in need of every kind.
The basic necessities of life were a constant concern.

But with all those needs pressing,
You devoted the entire tribe of Levi – the Levites –
to Your service alone.
Their duties were varied:
They cared for the tabernacle and its furnishings.
They assisted the priests, taught Your law, and acted as local judges.

In setting them apart to Yourself, You made it clear that
You cared deeply about the worship life of Your people.
Their living relationship with You –
their Creator,
their Source, and
their Savior –
was the key to their existence.
Trusting You and
worshiping You for all You are
was the key to that relationship.

Father, my relationship with You is
the breath of my existence as well.
You are my Creator.
You are my Source.
You are the defining reality of my life.
You are my entire reason for being.

Father, as I gather with Your people,
help me give You all the attention,
all the trust,
all the worship that You deserve.
You are my God.
Help me to wholeheartedly worship You as my God today.

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Hymn: Great Lord of All Reality
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2017-07-21 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Your Chosen People

All-wise Father, You have chosen to reveal Yourself to me through
other people,
other believers,
deeply flawed as they are.

Through them, You teach me and
give me the privilege of teaching.

You encourage me and
give me the chance to encourage others.

You love me with
a human touch and
a human word
and give me the opportunity to love others the same way.

You enable me to
be who You want me to be and
enjoy all You want me to enjoy
through these
precious,
imperfect,
colorful,
wildly unpredictable, and
thoroughly human people all around me.

Father, help me to
always listen and
always speak to them with
gentleness,
love,
humility, and
gratitude. 

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Hymn: Philippians 2:1-8
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-07-14 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Together

Father, when I come to Your house to worship,
I never come alone.
I come as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, all of us
redeemed by His blood and
united by His Spirit.
I come as part of the universal People of God
spanning all ages and nations.

Together, we come as Your temple,
Your holy dwelling place.
You are building us as a living, breathing, eternal home for Yourself,
reflecting,
exuding, and
incarnating Your magnificence.

Together, we are the Body of Christ.
He is our Head.
We are His hands and feet,
privileged and empowered to act out
His boundless love here on earth.

Together, we are the Bride of Christ,
devoted to Him alone
body, mind, and spirit.
He has set us apart for Himself, and
our destiny is an eternity of joyful oneness with Him.

Father, when I come to You in worship,
I come together with all Your people,
in Your Spirit,
through Your Holy Son. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Have Come, God’s Living Temple
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-07-07 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

As You Lead

Father, as we prepare to gather for worship,
prepare each of us to act as You lead.

We want to glorify You.
We want to bless
Your people in
Your name.
Speak, Lord.
Prod us.
Use us as pleases you.

Help us to listen for Your still small voice in
the big things and
the small things.
Fill our routines with new meaning
as we pay new attention to
Your Word and
Your Spirit.

When You prompt us in unexpected ways, Father,
may we obey.
By our obedience, we know You will make today’s gathering of Your people
all You want it to be.

That is what we want too, Lord.
Use us today. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Speak Your Word, My Father
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-06-30 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Thoroughly Present

Father, You are thoroughly present with Your worshiping people.
You are the Source of all,
forever sustaining
all life and
all reality.
Yet You lavish Your focused attention on us
as on a loved one whose
presence and affection are deeply treasured.
You lean toward us,
hungrily drinking in our
every word,
every concern,
every desire.

When we gather in worship,
You are thoroughly present with me, Almighty God.
Help me to be thoroughly present with You,
fully invested in
every song,
every hope,
every word.
Fill my mind with Your truth,
my heart with the music of prayer, and
my mouth with exultant praise.

You give all Yourself to me.
Help me give all myself to You. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: My Mind Will Be Your Holy Place
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