Be still and know that I am God.

On New Years Eve we were visiting with some long time friends of the family. While we were there, they had a time of singing, sharing, and prayer around midnight to bring in the new year. It was different, but in a very good way. They didn't all pray in order, in fact some prayed more than once, and they didn't spend most of their time listing requests or sharing the struggles of the past year. Instead, almost the whole times was spent praising God for what He did in the past year and for what He would do in the next. I heard very little about feeling guilty for not doing more for God and a lot about how much they wish they they could share with other people what He's done for them. Now I don't agree with these two families in all aspects of life, but I do respect them and have seen God use them in incredible ways and he definitely used them that night to show me an area of my life that is lacking. I need to worship more.

So often I focus so much on my responsibilities to serve God that I forget who I'm serving and why I do it. The past two weeks God has been showing me that my worship is service, or at least part of it. I was talking with one of the men later that night and He pointed out to me that in Ezra, before the rebuilding of the temple, seven months were spent in worship, preparing the people to serve. Now that was according to his calculations, but all the same, if you read the passage, it is clear that the worship lasted a long time and that it preceded any actual work.

I know there are different forms of worship-- worship in church, worship in public, worship through testimony, worship through song, etc.-- but the area I was lacking most was worship in prayer. For me, that meant setting aside some time specifically to just shut up. A time to be quiet and know that God's spirit knows my thoughts and translates them to Him (Rom. 8:26) David said it well when he recorded God's order to "Be still and know that I am God." And no, I'm not saying that worship is the only part of praying that matters, requests and intercession also have their place, but really who is prayer designed to help? The one being prayed for, or the one praying? After all, God already knows the situation far better than I could explain it to Him, but it does give Him a chance to change me, if I'm just willing to shut up long enough to listen and focus on Him.

Also-- and I heard this many times from pastor and others but it never really sank in-- music can be a tremendous help. Not singing it necessarily, (that usually ruins it for me!! j/k) but just listening to the words. We got some cd's for Christmas that feature enjoyable music, but more importantly the songs have tremendous words. This has probably helped me as much as anything in the past few weeks. Just as reading David's praises in Psalms is beneficial, it is really helpful for me to listen to worship someone else has put into words. They have a different perspective and often write something about God that I would overlook on my own. Just taking a few minutes to be still and listen to the words of these songs has done more for my prayer life than I ever could have imagined. It's actually, if I may be so charismatic as to say it, added some excitement to praying again.

I've always known worship is good, quite appropriate for church services and all that, but never thought of it as necessary for my spiritual survival. But it is. Where am I supposed to get my enthusiasm and fervent spirit (Kristin had a good post on this recently) if I'm not getting it from God? Enthusiasm can't be faked, it needs to be based in something and recently worship has been my time to recharge. Service is just a natural overflow of worship, a time when I let God remind me of how great He really is. Believe me, it's well worth the couple extra minutes it adds to my 'alloted' prayer time. Only after I experience Him myself can I really hope to be effective in sharing Him with others. 2 Tim. 2:6 “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.”

Anyway, sorry for the long post, but that was a short as I could make it. Keep praying for me in this respect. It's a step in the right direction, but I still have a long ways to go. I'm thankful to God for using these two other couples to show me something I needed badly to see. He really is faithful-- and quite patient!!

In Christ, Mike