Garry continued speaking on being productive in our faith, continuing to look at the importance of prayer in our lives. Last time, he had talked about the need to pray in the Spirit and develop sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading as we pray. Today, he looked at the topic of worship in prayer.
Because we are all different personalities, we all come to God in different ways; we can approach him with enthusiasm and confidence at times (as in Psalm 23), and at other times feel that God is remote or approach Him with diffidence and feeling downcast (as in Psalm 22). Psalm 100 reminds us that we are to approach God with gladness and 1 Thess 5:16-18 gives us fundamental principles: we are to rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances (something Paul himself did, as Acts 16:25 reflects.) Nonetheless, there is still further for us to progress in prayer, for Eph 5:18-20 reminds us that we are to be filled with the Spirit and give thanks for everything.
This may well seem impossible to us, but is where ‘the theological rubber hits the road.‘ Do we believe God is in control of our lives? Do we believe He only allows into our lives the things which can ultimately benefit us? Joseph is testimony that even what others mean for evil can be turned to good in God’s purposes (Gen 50:20) and therefore it is possible to give thanks for all things even if we cannot reconcile God’s goodness with our circumstances. When our son was ill with laryngitis as a small child, he refused to eat for several days because it hurt to swallow food. Garry knew that this was ultimately harmful to him and fed him ice-cream, all the while listening to his son telling him he was a ‘wicked, evil, cruel Daddy!’ Many of us feel that way about God when difficult circumstances come into our lives, but the fact remains that God loves us and never allows us to face more than we can bear by His grace.
Psalm 145 looks at two of the themes which form the basis for our worship in prayer. We praise God for who He is and for what He does. In prayer, we need to spend time dwelling on God, looking at different aspects of His nature (He is love, He is great, perfect, good, wise, holy, true, faithful, righteous, eternal, just, magnificent, compassionate, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, gracious and unchanging, for example.) We praise God for what He does, for His ‘mighty acts’ (Ps 145:17) and how He watches over all who love Him and acts on their behalf. We can use music to aid us in praise and worship; we can use the gift of tongues when we run out of our own words (see Col 3:16) and need to appreciate that worship and praise bring us into God’s presence and are powerful weapons, piercing the darkness and bringing us into the place of victory (see Psalm 149.) It needs to be routine to worship God in prayer, whether privately or corporately, for this is an essential part of our everyday life in Christ.