40 Days of Praying - Day 34

Kingdom Now Campaign: Pray for our Kingdom Now campaign. Pray we will demonstrate our greatest generosity yet in these kingdom matters.

Psalm 33:1-4 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.

Psalm 71:23-24 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — I, whom you have redeemed. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion.

Ps 98 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn — shout for joy before the LORD, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

I am on the bus riding home from the Stephen Curtis Chapman, Casting Crowns and Chris Tomlin concert in Lubbock. Our LifeGroup borrowed a travel bus and with 47 of our family and friends we took a road trip. It’s 11:00. I won’t be able to post this until after midnight, but I suppose it still counts if I write it out on Saturday. (I think it’s weird that I want to make up rules like that, but I do.)

My post tonight is not about today’s prayer subject. I will pray for the Kingdom Now campaign, but there are other things on my heart right now.

I wrote a couple of days ago that I expected to experience worship tonight. I did. It was loud. It was beautiful. It was powerful. I had a couple of thoughts as I sat and stood and poured out my heart among thousands.

The first came when Chris Tomlin was singing one of his songs. He doesn’t sing songs about life or experiences. He sings songs about God. They are inspired by passages from Psalms and the great section of Job that express how great God is. As I was singing at the top of my lungs another voice in my head joined in. It reminded me of how inconsistent I am. It reminded me of my sinfulness. It told me I no right to say those things about God. I don’t deserve the privilege of speaking of God’s majesty and character and faithfulness. My accuser was right. I almost stopped. But I couldn’t. I don’t sing or speak because of who I am. It is God who deserves the worship of every living creature. He deserves the praise of stars and seas, rocks and rivers, mountains and men, sinners and saints. I will worship God regardless of the opinion of my accuser or me.

The second thought was somewhere in toward the end. Chapman and his band where making a hugely loud noise. There were drums and pianos, guitars acoustic and electric. There were microphones, amps and huge arrays of speakers. The crowd was clapping and singing along. I thought about our arguments against instrumental music. Enough. I have had enough. God deserves a noise like that. He deserves more.

O God, we worship you. We lift your name above all other names. You alone are God. You alone are worthy of our worship. Fill your people with a heart for you. Whether in building programs or children’s ministry or small groups, may everything we do express how wonderful you are. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that in your glory we are not destroyed, but kept safe in the shadow of the cross. In Jesus name, amen.

Grace.