Worship as Devotion

 Monks as we know them are those who chose to live a life of solitude through prayer and contemplation. The monastic movement originally began as a protest against the growing worldliness of the church, but gradually it became a formative and influential movement within the church. The showed the church what it meant to not just do the acts of worship, but be devoted to them and to spend purposeful time with God. The movement helped level out the church and create a deeper sense of personal devotional meaning in prayer.

I wonder how many churches have a deep devotion to prayer and not just corporately, but personally as well. What would it look like if the church pushed for not just deeper personal prayer, but radical prayer. I'm not saying we should all quit our jobs and join a monastery in order to be more devoted, but using their example can help.

Using the monks example of living a devoted prayer life can help in any Christians walk. I will be the first to say I don't have the most devoted prayer life, but when I picture the monks I can't help but be challenged.

Recently I have been challenged by resting more in the presence of God and what better way to do that then have a more devoted prayer life. A time where I rest in His presence, but spend quality time with Him in prayer.

Let's become monks, but not become monks as the same time. I hope that makes sense.

In Christ,
Corey

Worship is a Group Activity

"Worship is a group activity and the meaning of worship must be learned"
                                                      - Robert Webber, Worship New and Old 

We gather together for Church on Sundays.
We gather together for Bible classes on Sundays.
We may gather together for a service during the week.
We may also gather for a small group during the week.

Within the Church body there are many gatherings and everyone looks different. When the body meets together for these gatherings they perform some type of group activity and since worship is in every breath we breathe, Worship is considered a Group activity.

There is so much emphasis put on the idea of meeting together and coming together to worship. However, as the body performing the group activity there are things that must be done when we come together to worship. Every person shouldn't just come, but come expectant. They must come in anticipation of meeting God and blessing Him.

"The senses must also be engaged in worship. In drama we see, hear, smell, and even taste. So it is in worship"- Robert Webber. As we come expectant to meet with God every part of our senses should be in tune with what is going on. If we gear our senses to something that may seem unpleasant to us, Webber states, then worship will be disturbing and unfulfilling.

If we focus on God during these times then it can only point us to Him.

It will remind us of the reason we have group activities in the Church.

"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts" Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

I Didn't Even Know It

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mark 3:16)

"He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, ad on the sabbath day he went into the synagogue, a was His custom.." (Luke 4:16)

"And when they had sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." (Matthew 26:30)

I like to put together verses that show kind of a path you can follow. These verses pertain to any Christians life and as I put them together, they pertain directly to worship. I like simplifying worship so that I can fill in the spaces after it. My rough definition is to attribute value to something, or give worth to something. After this I ask myself the question what do I give value to most, or give worth to the most?

A few weeks ago I realized I wasn't praying as much, or seeking God as much in my quiet time. A few weeks ago I realized I wasn't going to the same church every week, or really getting fed spiritually by a church at all. A few weeks ago I realized I haven't sang a song to the Lord in a long time.

I wasn't giving worth to praying, going to church, or singing. So by definition, I wasn't worshipping in these areas. This seems harsh, but it makes sense to me. Fast forward to the present and I have begun to pray more, attend a church regularly, and sing to the Lord more. This time was different though, because these verses only popped up in my head tonight. Usually I would have been slapped in the face by them a few weeks ago, but the lesson came later.

" He appointed the twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." (Mark 3:14-15)

The first thing Jesus said to all of them was "that they might be with him". While they were with him they learned from him and became like him. As I was searching for God those few weeks ago I was also with him and in doing so, became like him. As I became like him I began doing what he had done and in this case it included praying, going to church, and singing. Very simple things, but powerful. I also realized how valuable they were to me and it formed into worship, without knowing it.

We must constantly look at Jesus' life and model ours after it. We must constantly be with him and be intentional about applying what he shows us.