Worshiping the Lord by NameSample

Thoughts

Calling upon the Lord - worshiping Him by name - begins in our thoughts. Our words and our deeds both begin as thoughts, so it is essential that we call upon the name of the Lord in our minds first and foremost. We know that God is able to transform us through the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2) as we take every thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), but what does that look like in practical terms?

Simply put, it means having a mind fixed on God's will. This requires adequate and intentional time spent in prayer and meditation on His Word. Our limited - often selfish - thought processes are nothing like our Heavenly Father's (Isaiah 55:8-9). We cannot even come close to knowing His will for our lives until we are readily and regularly reading the Scriptures. The Bible is, after all, the Living Word - His very thoughts written out for all to read and imitate.

To have a mind like Christ, however, we must first seek to align our thinking to His. The apostle Paul describes it this way: "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." (Philippians 4:8) Through prayer and meditation on God's Word we come to realize which of our thoughts are edifying us spiritually and which are rotting us from the inside out. In this knowledge, we begin to truly worship the Lord by name.

Prayer and Reflection: Consider the last time you let your anxious, angry, or otherwise abhorrent thoughts run wild. Did that line of thinking draw you closer to Jesus, or did it distract or drive you away from His presence? What if the next time such thoughts occur, rather than playing them out in your head, you instead give them over to God? Ask Him to cleanse and clear your mind, and to set your thoughts back on what is True. You'll be amazed at the difference a thought taken captive to Christ can make!