Worship - What does that really mean? - Part 3

Other ways that we are to worship the Lord....

Prayer is a vital aspect of worship. The OT saints constantly communicated with God through prayer. The leaders of the NT church also prayed continually after Jesus ascended into heaven and prayer became a regular part of Christian worship. These prayers could be personal or they could be intercessory. As with singing, praying could be done with a known human language or in tongues.

Confession of sin was clearly an important part of OT worship. God had established the Day of Atonement of the Israelites as a time for national confession of their offenses against God (Lev. 16) In his prayer at the temple Solomon acknowledged the importance of confession. When Ezra and Nehemiah realized how much God’s people had broken and neglected his law, they led the entire nation of Judah in an intense public prayer of confession (Neh 9). When Jesus gave his followers an example of how to pray he taught them how to ask for forgiveness of sins. James instructs believers to confess their sins to each other (James 5:16) because admitting spiritual faults and failures can provide accountability and inspire assurance of God’s gracious forgiveness.

Worship also includes the public reading of God’s Word and the preaching of its truth. In OT times, God arranged that every seven years, at the feast of Tabernacles, all Israelites were to assemble for a public reading of the Law of Moses (Det 31:9-13). The clearest example of this element of OT worship came during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh 8:1-12) Scripture reading became a regular part of the Synagogue worship on the Sabbath. In a similar way, when NT believers gathered for worship they also heard God’s word along with teaching, preaching and practical challenges based on the truth of the Word (1Tim 4:13)

This week take time to worship in prayer, confessing your faults before the Lord and when the Pastor preaches the Word, maintain your attitude of worship and let the Lord bless you!

Next week - Worship part 4

Pastor John