Counting My Blessings by Seph Schlueter: A 7-Day DevotionalSample

Day 7

My experience as a worship leader is much less about knowing all the things and much more about being a student of the Presence of God.

Me and my missionary community at Damascus Worship are always looking for how we can better love Jesus and welcome Him into a room. And in our process of studying and learning and growing, there is one key we’ve discovered that is a game changer. And we learned it from probably the greatest worship leader of all time, King David.

You ready? Here it is.

Enter in with Thanksgiving.

That’s it. That’s the secret. Sounds so simple, right? But trust me, it’s a game changer.

In a time of worship, or even a time of prayer, the very first thing we do is start off thanking God. Before we ask for things, before we cry out, before we do anything else. We spent intentional time thanking God.

David says we “enter in his gates with thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is like the code to enter into the gates of God’s presence. It positions our hearts for greater awareness and openness to God.

I’ve seen it so many times. Corporately: we’ll start our time of worship just giving him thanks, and within seconds, something shifts in the room. You can feel it; it’s like we get a little taste of Heaven that only increases the more we give thanks.

I’ve incorporated it into my daily prayer life as well. I’ll almost always start thanking God. Sometimes it’s writing it out, sometimes it’s saying it out loud. But I’ll do it, and all of a sudden I feel like my heart is ready to encounter God. His Word becomes more vibrant. I can feel His Presence more tangibly and hear His voice more clearly.

Thanksgiving sets us up for encounter. Enter into His gates with Thanks.

ACTIVATION

Read Psalm 100:1-5. Set a timer for 5 minutes and just thank God. Pay attention to your awareness of God’s presence. At the end of 5 minutes, just start talking to Him. Engage with the King of the Universe; let thanksgiving lead you into deeper conversation and encounter with God.