40 Days of Spiritual RebootSample

Worship is putting God first in every thought, decision and direction of our lives. It is the underlying conviction to honour him with all we are and in all we do. 1 Cor 10:31 - Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

Today let's spend a little attention on how we worship God in private. There is confusion and sometimes delusion about this. And its best we put some things to rest. Everything we have talked about since day one is in fact part of personal worship. It is not complex and it definitely isn’t a new skill on its own. All of this does amount to personal worship because we want to keep reiterating that worship is the constant offering up of our minds, hearts and emotions to God for his pleasure and our Christ-formation. But is there an actual activity of personal worship that one engages in? Yes. And it is beautiful. And powerful. And it is a means to victory.

This is your one-on-one worship to God. It is your personal offering of praise, thanks giving, declaration of dependance, cry for help and expression of love. Who wants to tell their beloved personal private things and show affection in front of a crowd of people. You wait till you are in private right? That… is personal worship!!!

However most don’t do it. Devotions consist of a mechanical reading of God’s word, praying for certain matters, ‘reporting’ if you will, asking God for a 101 things, and then wrapping things up. Worship turns this business meeting into a date. A celebration of this relationship.

WHEN YOU BOW

Here is how you do it.

1. Before you do anything else - learn more truth, present your needs, meditate on truth, allow open heart surgery etc, tune in to God’s presence and person. We are carnal beings for the most part. Yes, inherently we are spiritual beings… true… created in God’s image, for eternal life with God… I know… BUT… we are so very tuned in to the flesh more than the spirit. So here is when you operate in the spirit... make it dominant... rise above the physical and emotional. Being Spiritual is not being mystical or emotional either. So you tune in to God’s presence.

2. How do you know when this is happening? Answer - Practice. Prayer. Time flies. Physical discomfort becomes less obvious. You begin experiencing a tremendous joy and sense of cleanness being with God. You heart is lightened (unburdened). You feel complete, like this is what you were made for. You experience temporary suspension from time and reality. You sometimes even feel the very presence of God and you can’t lift up your head for fear you will see Him standing right there before you. You cannot wait to get back to his presence again. ‘Those who worship will worship in Spirit and in Truth’, Jesus said.

3. This time, is not about what you’re getting but what you’re giving. You assume a position of worship and present yourself before Him. “Lord I give you my heart, I give you my soul.” “Into your hands, I submit again, with all I am, for you Lord” “and I am yours forever”. Let scripture and song facilitate this offering of self to God in worship. Here is where your theology (knowledge of God) will go from information to personal experience.

4. You don’t have to keep telling God how nice He is. How Good he is. Please do… by all means… but this alone isn’t worship. He’s not emotionally needy, needing you and me to help Him feel good about himself. When we praise Him, we are primarily declaring how His strength, His majesty, His wisdom, His presence, His imminence and His love have impacted us personally. So voice these thoughts to him. Sing. Whisper. Say it. Think it. Anything works.

5. Restore Jesus to the top of the most desirable, most wanted, most adored list of persons in your heart. If anyone else has taken His place through week, dethrone them and put Jesus back on. How do you know when you’ve done that? When you’re willing to do as he says. “If you love me, you will keep my commandment”.

6. Exalt Christ. Lift Him up. Magnify Him. Let him increase while you decrease. Remember that God exalts the humble and the proud he brings low. So you retune your perspective every day in worship. Start with a minute or two. And as you know more, experience more, want more… gradually increase it. This is one thing in this life you will never have enough of and theres more than you’ll ever need. Its a hunger that satisfies.

OPEN YOUR BIBLE

Continue in your bible reading plan. Hope that’s going well. Don’t give up. It's not about keeping up. It's about keeping on.

COME CLEAN

Ask God for a spiritual life that overpowers your carnal life. You know when you fast?… and you’re feeling hungry?… you overcome your thoughts of physical hunger by thinking about what you want even more than food. You don’t focus on ‘not eating’. You focus on the real thing you’re trying to gain by fasting. It's the same with this prayer. You over come hunger with another hunger.

Jesus said. ‘I will give you living water, you will never thirst again’. And again he said, ‘I am the bread of Life’.

When you want this more than you want other things, other things give up and leave. That‘s a simple way of saying… the dominating appetite wins. Ask God for a spiritual appetite for the presence, power and person of God that wins over every other appetite. I think you got what I’m saying. I can feel you did.