Desire for Worship and Relationship

When you think about it, our desire for worship grows out of God's desire for relationship; that is made very clear in creation.  In the very beginning we see the Awe of God, the Acts of God, the Aim of God and the Acumen of God.  In creation we see that God not only has a desire for relationship but he creates that same desire in the heart of the created. We are truly made to worship.  

The Awe of God grows from our understanding of the old hymn we sang - "Oh how I love Jesus, because He first loved me".  Literally in creation, He is the cause and we are the outcome.  He is supernatural, not created.  He is spirit, and therefore cannot be restrained or restricted.  He does as He chooses and dwells where He chooses.  He chose from the beginning to inhabit or abide with us - those He created.  That should inspire passion, praise, and worship in our hearts.  We should be in total awe that He wanted to build relationships with us.

The Acts of God, all that were included in creation, require our worship.  All that He created points to His very plan of redemption.  We receive all that He brought into being in creation.  It is far beyond our understanding, and yet He chose to benefit us with it all.  The very acts of God in creating all He created, which included His plan of redemption for those He created, point us to the north star - worship!

The Aim of God in creation was directed and intentional.  All things He created were for a specific purpose.  But His word goes further with our purpose, as in Psalm 139 where He shows us that our purpose is to abide in Him and be His beloved, as we were "fearfully and wonderfully made in His very own image".  When we really let this sink deep into our hearts, these hearts will overflow with glorious, passionate worship of Him as we see that it was His aim in the first place.  We are His intended.  

The Acumen of God  also is seen when we look at the beginning.  Shrewdness can sometimes be a negative word, but here it is positive.  God's shrewdness or acumen in not stopping with birds, fish, four-legged creatures.  No, He went further and made man because it was His intention to fellowship with us forever.  Knowing that is why adoration for Him grows out of our day by day and moment by moment experience with Him.  He is the only One who makes something out of nothing.  He is the maker of all things, and the Father of All! Because He wants to inhabit us and our praises we adore and worship Him!  His desire for worship and relationship should be ours also.  mjm

 

A New Beginning

 Over 25 years ago, I became convicted that my church choir should be committed to praying specifically for worship as we led worship weekly in our church.  I had read a book by Jim Cymbala and the Lord used it to make me realize that we were being faithful to pray for one another as far as the trials of life, but that we were not praying in a very focused way about the worship that we would lead weekly.  

I had long said to worship choirs that our personal and private prayer life, our daily quiet time as believers, would affect our worship when we gathered each week.  I still believe that is very true, according to God's Word.  Enhanced personal worship time of all believers will always enhance the worship of the gatherings of corporate worship.

The need for daily personal worship of worship leaders, and the specific praying for the actual gatherings for worship, led me to begin a group in our church starting with the worship leading choir. I called this group "worshipping prayer warriors".  It began with about 70 choir members, growing to over 100 as our membership grew.  Then we invited anyone in the congregation to join us in praying in a focused way for  our actual gatherings of worship.  By the time I retired from full-time worship-leading ministry, we had more than 400 who had signed a commitment to pray weekly in a very specific way for the worship in our church.  I actually had visiting worship artists who said to me, "There is something going on in this church that I can't really explain."  I would tell them it is because some 400 people have been praying for this time of worship.

Out of this commitment of some 400 people, I began to send out a weekly worship blog as an encouragement in worship, and a reminder to pray for that week's worship.  

Three years ago my wife, Fran, and I felt led to join the worship choir ministry of First Baptist Dallas.  I had said to choirs for years that they were just as much worship leaders as myself, a minister of music and worship.  So, I went from the platform to the choir loft and continued leading worship.  God has blessed us amazingly as we participate with over 300 members of this wonderful choir in leading worship every week.  That worship not only impacts our congregation, but millions of people that follow our worship on iCampus and Pathway to Victory, featuring the radio/television ministry of our pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress.

So I have sensed the Lord nudging me to again share a weekly personal/worship blog. mjm