What is Worship?
Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever walked into a church service, sat down with your coffee, scrolled on your phone a little bit, and then heard the person on stage go, “let’s stand and worship!”, immediately followed by you standing and singing? While that is a part of worship, worship is so much more.
A great way to begin Revival Week 2022 is by understanding and praying through true worship. Worship is sacrificial actions informed by the constant recognition of who God is and what He has done. We see this in Abraham’s response to God in Genesis 22 when God asks him to sacrifice his son Isaac.
“He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’”
Genesis 22:5
Worship is also recognizing who God is. Take a moment to do the following:
- Recognize God for who He is and what He has done for you or for others.
- Verbally tell God you need Him whether it be a cry for help, intercessory prayer for yourself and others, or praise for His goodness.
- Pray through Exodus 34:6-7 verbally to yourself and contemplate the reflection questions.
- Once you answer the questions talk to God about your answers with a heart open to your loving and gracious Father.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:6-7
- God is faithful.
- Reflect: Where has God been faithful in my life?
- God is compassionate.
- Reflect: Where has God been compassionate to you?
- God is gracious.
- Reflect: Where has been God been gracious to you?
- God is loving.
- Reflect: When have you seen God’s love?
- God is forgiving.
- Reflect: When has God forgiven you of something?
- God is just in dealing with our sin.
- Reflect: When is a time that you experienced consequences for your sins that led to a deeper appreciation for who God is?