Devotional Thoughts for the Week of July 20, 2024 - Freely Worship
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24)
I recently read a story of a small African congregation whose church roof was set ablaze by extremists. At least five believers were killed in the same attack. The following Sunday, the congregation came together in the roof-less building to sing praises to God and seek His face. I was both touched and challenged by their love for Jesus. I wonder if we would have responded that way. So far we have been spared the kind of persecution that happens daily in many parts of the world, but we have been seeing dramatic mindset shifts in recent years. The enemy is actively working to steal our spiritual heritage and turn our nation away from God. I believe the future of this country will be largely determined by our prayer or prayerlessness.
Several years ago I was praying in the sanctuary with my brother. As we prayed I got a mental image of the front of the church filled with so many worshipers that we had to remove the rows of chairs. Many people were praising in their own words. Others were repenting, and still others were surrendering their lives, committing to go wherever God would send them. In the six or seven years since that day I have often prayed for that picture to become reality in this church.
Recently I encountered a passage I had never really considered previously. “All His loving priests who serve and sing, come and sing your song of blessing to God. Come and stand before Him in the house of God throughout the night watch, lifting your hands in holy worship; come and bless the Lord” (Psalm 134:1-2, the Passion translation). Oh, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, can you even imagine it? Picture a day very soon when we as a church are such “enraptured lovers of God” that we worship into the early morning hours or even all night long, unable to tear ourselves away from His rich presence for something as mundane as sleep or food. I have never had the opportunity to be a part of something like this, but now that the idea has been planted, it has become a yearning. Even more than I long for this expression in worship, however, I long for us to be a whole church that desires this, because of our unquenchable desire to draw near to God. In our hurried lives, too often we rush too quickly in and out of His presence. We need to learn to abide (John 15).
Part of becoming the bride of Christ that God desires us to be is growing to love Him with all of our being - individually and corporately. When we discover that His love satisfies the deepest yearnings of our heart, and in His presence there is deeper joy than can be found anywhere else on earth, we will want to abide always. Let us ask God through the Holy Spirit to transform us into the kind of worshipers He seeks, those who worship Him and the Spirit and in truth. May our hearts mirror the longing of His heart - that we His people would draw near to Him in love, and stay as near to Him as we can get, all the days of our lives.
Longing for more, Lynn
1. A.W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24)
I recently read a story of a small African congregation whose church roof was set ablaze by extremists. At least five believers were killed in the same attack. The following Sunday, the congregation came together in the roof-less building to sing praises to God and seek His face. I was both touched and challenged by their love for Jesus. I wonder if we would have responded that way. So far we have been spared the kind of persecution that happens daily in many parts of the world, but we have been seeing dramatic mindset shifts in recent years. The enemy is actively working to steal our spiritual heritage and turn our nation away from God. I believe the future of this country will be largely determined by our prayer or prayerlessness.
Several years ago I was praying in the sanctuary with my brother. As we prayed I got a mental image of the front of the church filled with so many worshipers that we had to remove the rows of chairs. Many people were praising in their own words. Others were repenting, and still others were surrendering their lives, committing to go wherever God would send them. In the six or seven years since that day I have often prayed for that picture to become reality in this church.
Recently I encountered a passage I had never really considered previously. “All His loving priests who serve and sing, come and sing your song of blessing to God. Come and stand before Him in the house of God throughout the night watch, lifting your hands in holy worship; come and bless the Lord” (Psalm 134:1-2, the Passion translation). Oh, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, can you even imagine it? Picture a day very soon when we as a church are such “enraptured lovers of God” that we worship into the early morning hours or even all night long, unable to tear ourselves away from His rich presence for something as mundane as sleep or food. I have never had the opportunity to be a part of something like this, but now that the idea has been planted, it has become a yearning. Even more than I long for this expression in worship, however, I long for us to be a whole church that desires this, because of our unquenchable desire to draw near to God. In our hurried lives, too often we rush too quickly in and out of His presence. We need to learn to abide (John 15).
Part of becoming the bride of Christ that God desires us to be is growing to love Him with all of our being - individually and corporately. When we discover that His love satisfies the deepest yearnings of our heart, and in His presence there is deeper joy than can be found anywhere else on earth, we will want to abide always. Let us ask God through the Holy Spirit to transform us into the kind of worshipers He seeks, those who worship Him and the Spirit and in truth. May our hearts mirror the longing of His heart - that we His people would draw near to Him in love, and stay as near to Him as we can get, all the days of our lives.
Longing for more, Lynn
1. A.W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian