Have you ever been to a friend’s new house or apartment, and as soon as you walked through the door, you starting raving over their new place? You notice every detail. You see every new thing your friend has bought to spruce up the old things she used to have. You take a tour of every inch of the new pad and “ooh and ahh” at the features. You tell your friend how great she is for having something nice and new and you feel good for her accomplishment.
When we pray, we are usually asking God for something. We should also enter into God’s presence and acknowledge Him for who He is and praise Him for doing all the things He has done…not just in our lives, but His good works period. Praise is a way that God can invite us into His dwelling. And when we get that chance to be one on one with God, it should be spent “oohing and ahhing” at what He has done.
Dr. Carolyn Showell visited my church, New Covenant Believers Church, this past Sunday, and talked about pure worship. She said that pure worship is worshiping God because He is God. It’s worship that is not connected to emotion. It’s connecting to God where He exists, not where we exist. God is our Father, and you can never be an uninvited guest to His house. So when you visit Him, you don’t have to bring anything but your praise! The housewarming gift that God wants from us is gratefulness and for us to acknowledge Him.
Hebrews 13:15 says:
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
The commercials say that Calgon can take you away, but pure worship with God can take you away from your worries and troubles here on Earth and remind you of your spot in eternity.
Follow Up:
Psalms is a book in the Bible that is full of scriptures about praise and worship. Here are just a few that you can use when you are worshiping God.
Psalms 95
Psalms 100
Psalms 145
Psalms 147
