Summer of Prayer 3:Worship - Pastor Megan Wood
Key Thought:
Worship and prayer were never meant to be separate—together, they align us with God and transform our lives.
Week 1 - Thanksgiving
Week 2 - Strength and Endurance in Trials
Week 3 - Worship
Worship is a type of Prayer and Prayer is worship.
Worship- ‘Worthship’, to give something worth - Zach Neese (How to Worship a King)
When we worship God, we are giving Him worth. We are saying He is worthy.
Of course, the ultimate reward of prayer is being in relationship with the Lord Himself. Prayer can be a form of worship because engaging in prayer reminds us that He is in our midst, in the details of our lives. - Kimberly Gerard (She Reads Truth)
Worship fixes our eyes on Jesus, aligns our hearts with His, and prepares us to hear His voice.
Prayer is both conversation and encounter with God... We must know the awe of praising His glory, the intimacy of finding His grace, and the struggle of asking His help—all of which can lead us to know the spiritual reality of His presence. - Tim Keller (Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God)
Hebrews 13:15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. (NLT)
Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because He is worthy. -DA Carson (Worship By the Book)
1. Worship positions us to bring our hearts into alignment with God’s.
Psalm 139: 23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (NLT)
You become like what you worship. When you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship. — N.T. Wright
Worship is the place where our hearts are realigned with the heart of God. — Darlene Zschech
Romans 12:1-2 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)
2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (NLT)
2. Worship changes our posture.
Psalm 34:1-5
I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
2 I will boast only in the Lord;
let all who are helpless take heart.
3 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces. (NLT)
Reverence is the very posture of worship; the lowliest attitudes become us when we come before the Most High. –Charles Spurgeon (The Treasury of David)
Psalm 51:16-17
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. (NLT)
Physical Postures of Worship all have value and can be a physical representation of our heart posture.
3. Worship relieves our heaviness
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. (NLT)
Isaiah 61:3
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair….(NLT)
The ‘garment of praise’ was not merely emotional—it was the declaration of God's worth that broke the oppression of the soul. -Expositors Commentary
Psalm 30:11-12 11
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever! (NLT)
Psalm 42 :5-6
Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and 6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—... (NLT)
Hope will live on when the joy is gone; and the cause for joy will return when the God of hope is praised. -Charles Spurgeon (The Treasury of David)
4. Worship is how we fight our battles.
King Jehoshaphat - 2 Chronicles 20: 1-30
Battle of Jericho - Joshua 6: 1-27
2 Corinthians 3:17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.(NLT)
In God’s presence we are delivered, we find freedom.
Psalm 23:4-5
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. (NIV)
Exodus 14:14 The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.(NLT)
Respond:
Make some space to be in God’s presence
Believe that as we are worshiping, our hearts are being transformed, our posture is changing, our heaviness is lifted and that our battles are being fought.