Open Heavens August 30, 2008

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 1 Jn 1-2

BEYOND MOUTH WORSHIP

MEMORIZE: "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded" (James 4:8)

READ: Matthew 15:7-9

God’s greatest desire is for worshippers, not workers. James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded”. God has already taken the initiative. He has paid the price by sending His only begotten Son to die for us. He has already opened the way for us to come to Him. The ball is now in our court. When believers gather, they ask God to come and manifest His power. You may never bring God down through prayer, but through worship. If you want God to move closer to you, first reciprocate His gesture by moving closer to Him. You can do so through quality worship. A brother once narrated his several problems to me. He said he had fasted and prayed without seeing any difference. I asked him to give me a breakdown of how he spent each hour. He said he would weep and roll on the floor before God. It became obvious he wasted the time he spent in God’s presence!

Whenever you desire to spend time in His presence, you must worship Him. That is the primary activity you have to do there. Petitioning and other activities are secondary. Do you know that if you can perform this primary role effectively, there may be no need for the secondary activity, because He already knows your needs, and will move on to meet them? This is an easier way to have your needs met; But if you concentrate on asking and petitioning without worship, you are taking the tougher, longer and time consuming path. In praising Him, go beyond lips praise, to heart and spirit praise. Let the praise emanate from your heart. Let your spirit man be fully involved, and focus on God during worship.

When the King of kings comes in response to your worship, something definite must happen. During one of our Conventions several years ago, we were praising God when His power descended and miracles began to take place. But some people tempted Him, so He moved away. I was about to close down the meeting when it occurred to me that we could worship Him to a point of return. So we started praising Him again and He returned and performed greater miracles than before. God is more interested in worshippers than workers. In any case, nobody can acceptably work for God because His assignments are not done solely by human strength or effort. He supplies the resources with which to work for Him. Being a true worshipper releases the resources you require to be a good worker. He will do the work with you. From today, add a good dose of worship before any assignment is performed. Worship makes your service acceptable to God. Put it in its right place. Be a worshipper.

ACTIONPOINT: You should tithe your time. At least 2 hours 40 minutes should be spent daily on worship, prayer, Bible study, evangelism, visitation and weekly services.