21 Jan IHOP (International House of Prayer) Worship Sandwich Part 4
Over the last number of weeks we began our series with “Six Wonders of Worship”:
- God is seeking worshippers (John 4:23).
- Worship requires respect (Ps. 112:1, Gen. 17-18, Rev. 1:10-17).
- Worship is not wimpy (Acts 13:22)!
This week, let’s continue…
4. Worship establishes relationship (Ps. 18:1).
If you take thanksgiving, praise and worship out of your prayer life, you take relationship out as well. If it’s always about my needs, then God is reduced to a button I push when I want something. Those of us who have children understand this. Of course, we desire to meet our kid’s needs but we want some relationship too! Relationship is always more important than need. While God is more than willing to meet our needs (see Phil. 4:19), when we worship Him before we pray, we are saying our relationship with You is more important than the need I face!
5. Worship God by faith (Heb. 13:15, Joshua 6).
God promised Joshua that he had given the children of Israel Jericho, but they had to shout before the walls came tumbling down. They had to give a shout of praise while the walls were still up, while the “problem” was still looming over them! Hebrews 13:15 calls this the “sacrifice of praise”. Even though I may not feel like it, I offer the Lord a sacrifice of praise.
In the Old Testament, anytime there was a sacrifice ….something must die. In the New Testament something must still die…my negative emotions. I must “kill” my negative emotions in spite of all that is presently going on around me and lift my heart and voice to God and give Him praise…by faith! Whenever you give anything to God He will always give back to you in abundance…abundant peace, joy, strength, perspective, and instruction, just to name a few!
Next week, we’ll continue our series!