i look forward to worship practices very much! So no matter how tired school has been, or how late the time is, we value the time we have to practise, because it is a time where we prepare our hearts before God, and also in both practical and spiritual terms, a time where we tie up the loose ends before we lead our brothers and sisters to worship together. If we are faithful and honest in seeking Him, God is more than eager to dwell in the praises of His dear children, or even in our stupidity, to teach us and guide us when we try to do God's things our own way.
Such is a day today!
Many times as worship leaders, especially long-term ones, we are proned to use certain songs in worship. Songs like "i exalt You", "i adore You" and the like - not saying that this is any wrong- but using songs containing only such words does not necessary mean that we are exalting Him, or that we are adoring Him. Sometimes, we are accustomed to assume and to formulate our worship according to our own wisdom . Today, most of our songs were 'exalting' songs. Even though exalting God is good(!), just simply saying we exalt Him and we adore Him is not enough. Exalting words do not direct our worship to Him.
Worshipping involves us worshipping in spirit in in truth.
Our worship should be full of the gospel! One need not force himself to exalt God when one thinks of the great love and the great price of the great One who sent His only Son to redeem us from our sins. The truth of God's words, promises and presence in our lives naturally prompts us to sing and praise Him!
Also, God is greatly magnified and glorified through our desperate calls for Him to fill and satisfy our thirsty souls , for example 'Only You can satisfy, all i want is more of You'. Our adoration for God is manifested through our honest and sincere desires for more of Him and the raw truth that we are lost without Him- such that His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.
It is also good to work in a small group- there were only me and Ben today. After the first round of practice, we both felt that something was amiss. The exalting songs brought no sense of joy and even though the words pointed to God, our hearts weren't . After praying for God to give us the right songs and to help us worship Him in spirit and in truth, God graciously gave us a new set of songs - All i want is more of You, As the deer and Amazing grace ( my chains are gone).
Even though the practice took much longer than normal, we were very happy and humbled by God teaching us new things everyday. And through our desires of wanting more of Him and the glorious truth that the amazing Creator God has saved us and drawn us close to Him in the songs, praise inevitably arose and joy came from within!!!
Thank God that He does not hide His face from us... that when we pray and seek Him, He makes His face shown.....
Friday, March 6, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
praying for each other
As God draws us closer to Him as a church, the more i realise how much christians need each other. Through the different gifts God has given to us - encouraging, prophecy, intercession, worship, teaching, pastoring- God encourages us not to be reliant on ourselves, but to accept grace from Him directly and indirectly through our brothers and sisters..
Yesterday i was just telling ben about how gifts are totally useless if we don't use them on and for someone else.
When we come across a brother/sister who is in the downs, what should we do!
1john 5:13- 16
i write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. and this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
if anyone sees his brother commiting a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life- to those who commit sins that do not lead to death.............
Many times when troubles affect the people around us, we are prone to step in and help and do whatever we can. However, many times we forget that God is the one that can heal all troubles, is in control of all situations and is always holding His hands out to us.
Or many times we feel we can do nothing for our brothers/sisters through prayer. But God says in the above that He will answer, so pray joyfully, hopefully and expectantly!
So the encouragement of this is PRAY!! pray for everyone, anyone --- and be amazed at how apt God is to respond to the cries of His children who trust in Him and not in their own flesh.
Yesterday i was just telling ben about how gifts are totally useless if we don't use them on and for someone else.
When we come across a brother/sister who is in the downs, what should we do!
1john 5:13- 16
i write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. and this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
if anyone sees his brother commiting a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life- to those who commit sins that do not lead to death.............
Many times when troubles affect the people around us, we are prone to step in and help and do whatever we can. However, many times we forget that God is the one that can heal all troubles, is in control of all situations and is always holding His hands out to us.
Or many times we feel we can do nothing for our brothers/sisters through prayer. But God says in the above that He will answer, so pray joyfully, hopefully and expectantly!
So the encouragement of this is PRAY!! pray for everyone, anyone --- and be amazed at how apt God is to respond to the cries of His children who trust in Him and not in their own flesh.
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