Tag Archive for worship

from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-03-17 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

When We Worship

Almighty, Sovereign God,
when I worship You from my heart, I recognize
You for who You are, and
myself for who I am.
You are all goodness and the only source of all goodness.
You alone are life,
truth,
rightness,
holiness,
beauty,
wisdom, and
love.
Without You, I am empty,
nothing,
weakness and need.

When I worship You,
I embrace the truth.
I admit reality and
align myself with it.
I align myself with You, in all
humility,
trust, and
gratitude.

When I worship, I admit that
You are the Creator, and
I am your creature,
born of Your deep love,
made in Your image.
You are Father of all, and
I am Your little child.
You are the holy yet human Son,
God made flesh, and
I joyfully wonder at the mystery.
You became entirely like me, so that I might become
entirely like You!
You are the Holy Spirit,
the life of God,
the love of God, and
the power of God,
ever among us and within us.
You are filling us even now, enabling us to
live like Christ and
love like Christ.

Praise to You, eternal Father,
Christ the Son, and
Holy Spirit!
Praise to You for all You are!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Worship Father, Son, and Spirit
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-03-10 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

In Spirit and Truth

The woman said to Him…“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…An hour is coming, and now is, when the 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 4:20-24, NASB)

Father, You are Spirit.
The worship that pleases You is
my spirit to Yours.
Worshiping You does not depend on
ceremony or style, on
rituals or prescribed motions.
You want worship that is honest, sincere, and unhypocritical,
with no gap between my words and my actions.

You seek worship that rises from my heart and my life,
not just from my lips.
That is the worship I want to bring You, my Father.
I want my Sunday worship to simply rehearse the way I live
all week long.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Holy Father, Only You
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-03-03 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Prepare for Lent

Father, this Lent,
show me the path that Jesus walked,
that I may walk in His steps.

I see His life of love.
I see His beautiful, unbroken relationship with You.
I see His fruitfulness,
His abounding joy and
His unbroken peace
in the midst of self-sacrifice, and
I want to follow.
Wherever He leads me, Lord,
I want to go.
Through repentance,
through temptation,
through self-denial,
I want to walk
with Him
in You, Father.

I will walk the road to the cross,
as long as He
goes before me and
walks with me,
as long as
He leads and
He enables.

This Lent, Father,
show me Jesus.
Make me one with Jesus.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Hear His Call
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-02-17 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

This Time Is Yours

Father, in these moments of worship, help me to be
fully present,
fully with You,
fully Yours.
May my life of complete consecration to You
begin right now.
You hear my heart as I
speak the total surrender that
I long to be true.

You know that no matter how pure my intentions,
I can only live one moment at a time.
This is the only time that is truly mine, and
Lord, I give it to You.
Make my desires,
my thoughts,
my energies
all Yours,
beginning right now.

Speak – I am listening.
Command – I wait to obey.
Lead – I gladly follow.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Holy in You
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-02-10 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Prepare Your Body for Worship

Father, help me prepare my body for worship.
I am a physical being, and
the state of my body affects
my mood and
my alertness.

I will do my best to get a good night’s sleep.
Bless my efforts, Lord.
I will do my best to eat the right foods.
Bless my efforts,
to Your glory.

All this is part of offering my body as a sacrifice to You,
living,
holy,
pleasing.

Guide and bless me as
I prepare my body for worship.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Nothing Between
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-02-03 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

My Hands Are Yours

Worship is more than words.
Worship is placing You, Lord, on the throne of
my life and of
all reality.

Thus worship is action.
Worship is obedience.
Worship is service.
Worship is sacrifice.

Father, as I bow before You in worship,
my hands are Yours.
My strength is Yours.
I present my body as a living sacrifice,
holy,
separated entirely to You,
tuned to Your will,
transformed by Your Spirit,
wholly pleasing to You,
wholly available to You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Alone
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-01-27 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

My Heart Is Yours

Father, You are all that is good,
all that is holy,
all that is lasting,
all that is life.
As I turn to You now,
draw all my desires to Yourself alone.

Burn away every other desire,
every other yearning,
every other hope,
every other ambition.
Burn them away with the light of
Your beauty,
Your unbounded goodness, and
Your complete sufficiency.

Forgive my foolish wandering.
My heart is Yours alone.
All I want is You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: An Undivided Heart
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-01-20 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

My Mind Is Yours

Father,
Creator,
Redeemer,
You have called me here before You,
face to face.
As I come,
draw my thoughts to You alone.
You are God.
You are wisdom.
You are right and
good and
all-in-all.

As I come, Lord,
my mind is Yours.
Fill it with Your light,
Your truth,
Yourself.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: My Mind Is Yours
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-01-06 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Prepare for Worship

Worship is like every other activity: we reap what we sow. Our relationship with God is like every other relationship: we get out of it what we put into it.

Worship is so much more real and meaningful when I come prepared to worship Him as He deserves to be worshiped: with my thoughts and desires turned to Him.

You shall love the Lord Your God
with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and
with all your mind.
This is the great and foremost commandment.
(Matthew 22:37-38, NASB)

So much of my life I’ve come to Sunday worship distracted. I’ve gone through the motions, but my heart and mind were far away. As I asked God for His forgiveness and help, He prompted me to begin preparing myself for Sunday worship. On Saturday night or Sunday morning I’ve begun to consciously turn my mind and heart to Him.

During this journey, the prayers He has given me I will share with you through a new Saturday edition of my blog. (For 2017, my blog posts will come out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.) Each of these Saturday posts will appear under the heading, “Prepare Yourself for Worship”. Each prayer will conclude with a hymn.

Father, You want me to know You better,
and You say that I can know You better
through a more wholehearted participation in public worship.
I want what You want:
I want to know You better.
I want a closer, more constant relationship with You.
Teach me, Father.
I am listening.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Prepare Us
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Worshiping the Father

2016-09-01 Devotional with Hymn, One with Our Father No comments

from the book, ONE WITH OUR FATHER 

John 4:16-24

“An hour is coming, and now is, when the 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)

To truly worship God, look to Jesus.
Watch Him,
listen to Him, and
worship as He worshiped.

God our Father is a Spirit.
The worship that pleases Him is
from our spirit to His.

Worshiping God does not depend on
ceremony or style.
The motions are irrelevant to Him.
He wants worship that is honest and unhypocritical,
with no gap between our words and our actions.
True worship rises from our hearts and our lives,
not just from our lips.

Worship God in spirit and in truth.
That is how Jesus worshiped His Father.
That is how He pleased His Father.

The purest prayer and the truest worship
are not expressed in words
but in being and doing.
They are expressed in the faithfulness of
God’s Spirit-filled people,
living from Him and through Him and to Him,
day after day,
age after age.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Father, Help Me Worship You
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