Recently, we have been taking some extra time to fast and pray, and to seek God about His vision for Rocky Mountain Christian Ministries in 2010. One of the things that I have personally enjoyed the most, is having the opportunity to spend a little extra quality time worshipping the Lord. Some of the most satisfying times that I have in my Christian walk come when I make the space in my life for times of personal worship.
Take this morning for instance. I had ended up with several hours to kill while our Subaru was having some warranty work done. I had several options for how I spent that time. Since I had to bring the car to the front range for this work, there is always a long list of things that I need to do or buy while I am in “The Big City.” Anyone who lives in Gunnison, or another small town, will know what I mean. Trips to the city can be hectic to say the least. But since we are in this time of prayer and fasting, I had decided to use these hours to worship, pray, and generally soak in God’s presence and His Word.
As soon as I dropped the car off and got back to my room, I started thinking about all the people I needed to contact, the things I needed to do, and the places I really should go. My mind was instantly crammed with the same kind of busyness that yours is every time you decide to give the Lord some extra time. But this time I stood my ground. I first made a little list of the “urgent” things that I needed to do later today. I find that making such a list allows my busy brain to let it go. Then, I just put on a little worship music and started in. It is always amazing to me how fast you can become aware of the presence of God once you decide to set other things aside and just focus on Him.
I find that there are very few things as cleansing and satisfying as spending time worshipping God. If you are looking for a way to increase your ability to hear God’s voice, to quiet your troubled mind, receive a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, receive healing for your body or soul, or to simply regain your sense of direction, look no further than spending time worshipping the Lord.
I believe that worship is one of the most powerful experiences that is available to us as believers. Just the fact that God has made Himself so available to us, that you and I can have a tangible, genuine, personal, interaction with Almighty God at any time of the day or night, is amazing! The fact that the blood of Jesus has already opened the way for us to come into our Father’s presence is a wonderful truth. And, the fact that God Himself is seeking people that will simply worship Him in Spirit and in truth tells us that He really wants to share this experience with us.
I think it is important to remember that worship is not complicated. In fact, worship is not so much an action as it is a heart attitude that can be expressed through a number of different activities. The most common act of worship is simply setting your heart and mind on the Lord, and then letting your adoration of Him flow out of your mouth. This is often done through song, but certainly doesn’t have to be done that way.
Most of the time we begin the process by thanking God for who He is and what He has done. It seems that a natural progression then takes place leading us from thanksgiving into praise. Praise usually takes the form of bragging about God’s greatness out loud. Through thanksgiving and praise, we adjust, or sharpen, our focus until God fills our field of view. That is the point where we usually become acutely aware of His presence. We suddenly realize that God is right there with us and has been the whole time. At this point, we are often overwhelmed by a sense of His greatness and goodness.
I think that one of the most common misunderstandings about worship is that it somehow attracts God to us like a shark to blood in the water, or a preacher to doughnuts. This really isn’t true. In all things it is important to remember that our actions do not move God; God has already moved toward humanity in Christ - He is always on, and always available. When thanksgiving and praise move our hearts to the place where we become aware of His presence, the natural response of the human heart is a sense of awe accompanied by a bowing of the heart and the knee - this is worship.
So, I encourage you to make the space in your life for times of worship. You can begin by taking advantage of the times that we gather for worship as a church. At RMCM, we incorporate worship into almost every one of our meetings. In addition to our weekend services, and our Wednesday night service, we have special evenings of worship that are available to you. Beyond church gatherings, I would suggest that you make time for individual worship, or gather with your family and friends. We are believers. We are worshippers. In 2010, let’s build an even stronger culture of worship into our personal lives, our homes, and our church.
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