Hello Friends,

My church had a special worship service not long ago. We worshipped and had four brief prayer times using the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication)

The Bible lists several times when His people worshipped Him.

When Mary went to see Elizabeth, her cousin, who told her that her baby leaped for joy when Mary came because even unborn he (John the Baptist) knew the Lord was inside of Mary’s womb. She started singing a song greatly rejoicing in the Lord and glorifying Him. This is Adoration:
“And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭46‬-‭49‬ ‭NIV‬

In Chapter 9 of Nehemiah, right after exiles returned to Jerusalem, they Confessed their sins and praised God. If you keep reading you will see that they acknowledged the history of sin of the nation of Israel, and God’s goodness and faithfulness to His people.
“On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.
And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.” “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”
‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭9.1-2, 5-6

In Lamentations, Jeremiah is recalling hardships he has been through. While not directly called worship in the scriptures, I would consider it worship in a form of Thanksgiving. He is telling of God’s great Love and His compassions. Verse 24 ends with “I will wait for him” A brief switch from the negative verses around it:
““Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”” Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭21‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jeremiah 33:3 may be a verse you are familiar with. God is encouraging His people to pray a prayer of Supplication. I included verse 33:2 as well. And I’m using a different translation than most of you may be used to, to encourage you to really read it and not skip over what you may already have memorized. That being said it starts out talking about God making the Earth and forming the Earth. Then God tells his people to call Him and He will answer.
““Thus said YHWH who has made it, YHWH who has formed it, to establish it, YHWH [is] His Name: Call to Me, and I answer you, indeed, I declare to you great and inaccessible things—you have not known them.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭33‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭LSV‬‬

Worship can be a personal thing, but also it brings a sense of community when several Christian sing and worship in unity. I am grateful for those who decided we should have a night of worship. I hope we do it regularly.

How do you worship best? I’ll be honest, at one point I was wishing for a gospel song. “I Saw The Light” by Hank Williams Sr. Came to mind. But they stuck to the hymns and contemporary hymns. That’s ok though, I can sing and dance for the Lord in private (which honestly is probably preferable by everyone).

Let me leave you with one last passage:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I am a follower of Christ, I am not perfect, but I love Jesus.
 
Until Next Time,

 
Liz Allen