Lately, I’ve been trying to focus on worshipping as I pray instead of just moving through my list of requests and needs. And I’ve noticed something: though I praise God, I don’t often worship Him. Maybe I’m getting a little nit-picky about the meanings behind the words “praise” and “worship,” but I’ve felt the need to shift my intentions.
You see, I often praise God for the many blessings He’s given me: my children, our home, financial provision, the opportunities I have, etc. I thank Him for all these things and recognize they truly come from Him, not anything I have done or can do.
However, I think worship is still missing—the kind of worship that centers on God and not me. The kind of worship that recognizes the character of God and praises Him simply for being who He is. The kind of worship that says I love God. Period. Full Stop. Rather than I love God because . . .
In an effort to put more focus on worshipping God because of who He is, I’ve been going through a plan focused on the character of God in the Bible app. It simply identifies and defines a characteristic each day and then provides a couple of verses that display the characteristic.
Then when praying later that night or the next morning, I remember (or go back and look at) the characteristic of God from the previous devotion, and I am intentional about worshipping God for that through prayer.
For example, one day the characteristic was eternal. As I prayed, I just thought about how incredible it is that God is eternal. There is no beginning and end to His life; He was and He is and He will always be. Everything I know has a beginning and an end: life, careers, seasons, days, months, years . . . everything. How awesome is it that God is not bound by beginning and end. He is eternal. And as I meditate on that characteristic, I can feel the worship growing in my heart, the praise of WHO God is and not just for WHAT He’s given me.
I think that’s what worship is about. It is good to give Him thanks and praise, but it’s also important to remove ourselves from the equation and worship Him for who He is . . . to ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.
