True Worship IV
Relationship
Vs Prayer
Without a relationship with God all prayers recited
are lip service and idol worship. When one enters into a relationship with God,
one becomes a transformed person inside out. One’s behaviour changes. Speech
changes. Thought process changes. One becomes a new creation for the
relationship causes the changes.
Love is Worship
God believes in a relationship. The very first and
foremost commandment without any ambiguity commands us, "'Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Matt 22:37. It does not say worship the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. For, love itself is
the highest and the ultimate and the complete form of worship.
Let us visualise the scene in the Garden
of Eden. God and Adam were walking in the garden in the cool of the day. It was
customary I believe. Adam did not kneel down and chanted a litany or sang a
hymn. Thanks Heaven there was no printing machines to print a set of prayers to
follow. He just walked with the Lord. It was an absolute expression of deep
relationship with his Creator. It was his lifestyle. His DNA. His way of life.
He just walked with the Lord.
Today, let us peep into our prayer
and ponder over it. Are we walking with the Lord? We miss out the natural
connection with the Creator. We miss out our spontaneity. Most of us could not
sit at the feet of the Lord without any printed text in the hand. For our
love-well dried up and we do not know what to do when we get some time to spend
with Jesus.
God did the Talking
Second, when God and Adam walked in
the Garden of Eden, I am sure God did the most of the talking. And Adam
listened to Him. Probably God was explaining Adam, how He loved him and the
very purpose of his existence. And expected him to obey him. Today most of the
spiritual pundits agree that prayer is a two-way communication: a tow-way
communication between God and man. But what happens in reality is a different
story. The ancient role has been reversed for man’s convenience. Now, man talks
and God listens. When God is about to
talk, man leaves since he has no time for God. He is so busy and leaves God
high and dry. Man no more waits at the feet of the Lord.
This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where
the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you
said, 'We will not walk in it.' Jer 6:16
What is, then, the ancient way? In
a simpler form, God speaks and man listens. After listening man walks in it.
Then man finds rest for his soul.
Worship Lessons from Mary of Magdala
Mary of Magdala, a sinful woman demonstrated
what the true worship is? If we look at the incident of repentance narrated in
Luke 7:36-50, one could easily glean from some important worship lessons.
1. In the whole narration Mary did not utter a single
word, yet she never failed to pour out her heart through her tears.
2. Jesus did the talk.
3. People who witnessed the incident criticized
the act, but Jesus was appreciative of her.
4. The stunning statement from Jesus, I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she
showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only
a little.”
The
Master struck a master stroke. Many sins are forgiven for she showed great
love.
How
true it is even today. When we worship,
We do
not provide water for Jesus to wash his feet. We do not cry of our sins, Tears
dried up for we never feel that we are sinners unlike Mary Magdalene. We are
all self-righteous.
We
do not humble ourselves in front of Jesus. We do not carry any perfume to anoint the feet
of the Lord. All our virtues are dried up in the temporal world. We wasted all our treasures of virtues in the
world of pleasure.
We
do not kiss Jesus. Mary did. She never ceased to kiss his feet. Her head and
face all were at the feet of the Lord. A perfect communication happened.
At last Mary got to hear from Jesus. A word of
life. Jesus spoke and forgave her sins. She was appreciated for her love. He
said, you are many sins are forgiven. Go in peace.
Oh
my Lord! teach me wisdom to worship you really, in true spirit and teach me to listen
to your voice.
The first and the foremost thing I have learnt is, a true love for God turns into a real worship.The 2nd one is, I should be patient enough to sit under the feet of the lord and listen to him.The 3rd one is, I should be humble infront of Jesus and show my love in the way he is expecting for .
ReplyDeleteThe first and the foremost thing I have learnt is, a true love for God turns into a real worship.The 2nd one is, I should be patient enough to sit under the feet of the lord and listen to him.The 3rd one is, I should be humble infront of Jesus and show my love in the way he is expecting for .
ReplyDeletePrayer with love creates a relationship between man and God. In this relationship man should not only talk but also listen to him. Prayer to God is like a child's conversation with his father. This relationship will last for all eternity.
ReplyDeleteLord , I am your child forgive me for my sins . I humble myself towards you to listen to your voice . You are the only one on whom I can rely on , with whom I can speak from my heart . You know everything about me nothing is hidden from you and it will never be but now to know about you , more and more , about your greatness , your love for all of us . Help me to listen to you carefully and wisely and protect from the temptations of evil when I am in deep conversation with you. When I am praying i want to listen to your voice , please grant me this opportunity, I want to grow stronger and stronger with your faith within me . This is the prayer I ask in the name of jesus amen .
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.I really love the way you share your wisdom.It's always a crystal clear message where words are put in such a simple way -one can just blindly do what is said and develop a true relationship with Jesus.Lord help all of us from being distracted by people & be touched by your Holy Sporit and come closer to you alone.
ReplyDeleteamen.