Revelations 5:13
“AND EVERY CREATURE WHICH IS IN HEAVEN AND ON THE EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH AND SUCH AS ARE IN THE SEA, AND ALL THAT ARE IN THEM, I HEARD SAYING:
“BLESSING AND HONOR AND GLORY AND POWER
BE TO HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE,
AND TO THE LAMB, FOREVER AND EVER!”
Worship. It took me a good minute in my Christian walk to understand praise, thanksgiving and worship are three very distinct things. I mean who knew there was a difference? Aren’t they all directed toward and giving homage to God? Yet, the more I delved deeper into my relationship with Jesus, the more I began to realize there IS a distinction between these three actions.
Like a layered dessert or beautifully made cake, thanksgiving, praise and worship are each separate components that make up the fullness and richness of a sweet treat. If you liken thanksgiving to the cake itself, and praise to the frosting, worship is the decadent fondant that covers the entire cake. Have you ever had a piece of a celebration cake that was beautifully decorated with fondant? I have. The fondant is a rolled out piece of sugar confection, sometimes made from marshmallows, that can be molded and shaped to cover and embellish a dessert or cake. I’ve seen cakes in which bakers have used fondant to make them into designer works of art or even everyday objects like sewing machines and church hats. But the best part of cake is not just looking at it, but it is delving into the delicious sweetness of the goody placed before me. Separately, the cake is good and the frosting is good but for me, when you add the extra layer of marshmallow fondant, it takes the cake to a whole new level of yummy!
Worship is just that. Thanksgiving is good. Praise is amazing. But when you add worship, it takes you into a whole new level of sweetness in the Presence of God. In the past, I’ve defined thanksgiving as what we do to give gratitude and honor for our provisions and blessings and we established last month that praise is commending, applauding and congratulating God for what He has done. Worship is the next step in our procession into the Throne Room of God. Worship is extolling, giving deference to, deeply honoring and pouring out your adoration to God for WHO He is. Worship is more than thanksgiving and praise, for those actions are more about us, and what He had done for us. Worship is purely about Him. Worship takes you out of your own self and puts you in a whole ‘nother realm of understanding: ultimately this life is not about us, it is all about God Almighty.
When I was growing up, one of my grandmothers, Mother, used to say “If you don’t do nothin’ else for me God, I will bless You, just ‘cause You are God.” That is worship in a nutshell. To be able to tell God that He is holy, righteous, omnipresent, omnipotent, just, loving, kind, etc., even when NOTHING is going right is worship. To lay prostrate before your King and give Him your full attention, adoration and esteem will take you to a new level of relationship with the lover of your soul. Yes, there is corporate worship, in which we as a congregation go up to worship the Lord together. But I have found that going beyond the veil, into the Throne Room of God and worshiping Him with complete adoration and love takes me even further… into a Secret Place that only He and i dwell. Worship is that thing that allows me to “taste and see that the Lord is good”.
This month’s S. O. A. K. calendar is designed to take you into your secret place with God. As you go forth and study, observe and apply the Word daily, kneel with a specific purpose: to seek a new, deeper relationship with your God. Worship is essential, especially since our world is so full of things clamoring for our attention in ways that are completely unhealthy and distracting. Worship, in the midst of trouble and calamity has a way of bringing you back to the understanding that God IS in control. He is bigger, wider, stronger than any one or any thing this world can throw at you. Be in His presence this month and recognize that, though you are small and He is infinite, He is the God that sits high and looks low. Your worship will get His attention in ways you never thought possible and will bring a perspective to your life that you may have never seen before.
Enjoy SOAKing in Worship this September just like you would eating a delicious piece of banana cake with caramel buttercream and marshmallow fondant… Hey wait, that is my favorite. Your’s might be something different, but enjoy your time with God as much as you would eating your favorite dessert: don’t rush it, savor every morsel and know that there is an everlasting supply of where that first piece came from forever.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOUR WORSHIP EXPERIENCES ARE LIKE IN SEPTEMBER.
WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! DROP US AN EMAIL AT PRAYERS@GLOBALGIRLMINISTRIES.COM
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