40 Days of Praying - Day 33

Worship: Ask God to make our worship times (public and private) powerful encounters with Him!

Exodus 19:16-19 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God , and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

2 Chronicles 29:28 The whole assembly bowed in worship , while the singers sang and the trumpeters played.

The highest purpose of any man or woman is worship. It is to acknowledge and celebrate God who is the greatest reality in all of reality. When we with open hearts and open mouths declare that God is God and there is no other; when that happens from the deepest part of our soul, then we are fulfilling our purpose in creation. Worship is nothing less than the recognition of the surpassing worthiness of God above every other created thing. It will not do for us to express this recognition mechanically or half-heartedly. Some christians believe that dutifully performing worship type things is satisfactory. Rubbish. If I am not engaged with heart, soul, mind and strength it is meaningless. If I don't really encounter God with my being I am not fulfilling the call to worship--whether corporate or individual.

Monday is Valentines day. Because of our schedule (and last year's nightmare of trying to find a seat at a restaurant) Lee Ann and I are celebrating today. What would you think if I dutifully but impersonally expressed love and appreciation for her? What if I gave her a gift--something thoughtless and easy; and I took her to dinner--something cheap with a coupon; andI didn't give any thought or energy to what she wants or likes? Would you think that I loved her? I don't need all my experiences with Lee Ann to be romantic and powerful, but if it never happened would you think there is a problem?

Two final scriptures (prayers) that shape our prayer today:

Ephesians 1:17-19 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

O God meet us. Go beyond our thoughts about you. Meet us in the center of our souls. Meet us when we pray alone. Meet us when we sing together. Meet us in our LifeGroups. Meet us as we drive down the road. O Living God meet us. Let us see your glory. Let us experience your reality. Move beyond our heads into our hearts. Flood our very souls. We need you. We beg you. In Jesus name, meet us, amen.

Grace.