Category: Worship

Genesis 22:5-6 – 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. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.

Hebrews 11:19 – Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

In worship, we bring our Isaac, not our Ishmael. In worship, we offer that which we hold most dear to the one who is worthy of it all. In worship we say, “You can have it all.” When the music ends, our voices may stop but the singing doesn’t actually end. The worship song continues to be sung in how we live. When we worship by offering our whole lives, God will resurrect the dead. He will make a way for his promises to come to pass.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, lead me into deeper worship. Let my worship be an offering of my whole life. When the song stops, let my life continue to sing. Let my worship bring life to a new generation. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “Touch of Heaven” by Hillsong (click here).

— ES

 

John 4:23-24
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.

“Some years ago I was in a prayer and worship meeting and found myself sitting next to a very elderly lady. We were singing Psalm 134 and everyone was clapping. As the song came to an end, everyone stopped clapping except the old lady. After a few moments she realised she was the only one and stopped as well. She then told the group what had happened. She’d been suffering from arthritis for the past few years—her hands had been so twisted she hadn’t even been able to hold a coffee cup. She said, ‘I haven’t clapped for years, and as I was worshipping Jesus I forgot that I couldn’t clap. Look,’ she said, waving her hands, ‘he healed me when I wasn’t looking!’ This lady had sought Jesus; she had longed to be close to him. It’s not at all surprising to us that in seeking his presence she encountered his power as well.” [Mike Pilavachi, Andy Croft, Everyday Supernatural: Living a Spirit-Led Life without Being Weird, 18]

Truth is an essential ingredient to our worship. The old lady who was healed wasn’t just singing anything. She was singing Psalm 134. The Psalms are given to us to anchor our thoughts and emotions in truth. Let’s worship him today in the Spirit and in truth.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, let my worship be in the Spirit and in truth. Let my thoughts be informed and shaped by your word. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “There’s Nothing That Our God Can’t Do” by Passion (click here).

— ES

Let’s read out loud together.

Psalm 146
Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, my soul.
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,
the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The LORD reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, I praise you. I trust not in the schemes of this world for you are my salvation. Let your power be displayed in my life once again and in the lives of those you’ve called me to minister. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Lion and the Lamb” by Leeland & Bethel Music (click here).

— ES

Acts 16:25-26, 29-30
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

“The prayers of Paul and Silas are not silent prayers, and their songs are not whispered in the darkness of the night. They pray and sing sotto voce, in the stale air and the stench of the maximum security cell, in the middle of the night, in complete darkness.” [Eckhard J. Schnabel. Acts (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), 1017]

Paul and Silas worshipped in their darkest hour and it changed everything. Chains broke. Prisoners were set free. Light was ushered into the darkness. Even the outsider was caught in a moment of God’s saving grace. Never underestimate what God can do as we worship him in the night.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, even in the darkness I will praise and worship your holy name. Change everything for I am your servant. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “Songs in the Night” by Matt Redman (click here).

— ES

Exodus 15:1-3 – Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:
“I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.
2 “The LORD is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The LORD is a warrior;
the LORD is his name.

“Notice the order. First the Israelites saw God save them. Then they put their trust in him as their Savior. Finally, they sang to his glory, which of course was the entire purpose of the exodus. The Israelites were saved for the glory of God. The Song of Moses was their spontaneous, jubilant response to his grace.” [Philip Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Preaching the Word), 403]

The songs we sing in worship to God go hand in hand with the established victory of God. We don’t sing wondering if God will bring deliverance. We sing from a place of God’s deliverance that has already come to us in Christ. The subsequent salvation we experience in worship is but an expression of the victory of the cross, already given to us in Jesus Christ. In other words, we sing our worship songs from victory, rather than for victory.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the victory of the cross over everything we face. Let worship and songs flow from my heart today to the praise of your name. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let the Spirit fill you as you worship to the song “Surrounded (Fight My Battles)” by Upper Room (click here).

— ES