Have you prayed today?

Friday, April 27, 2007

Run and not be weary... Living a Life of Worship
 

Some times when we think of all the things we have to do in a day it can get quite overwelming.  In fact it's on those days where there seems to be no time for anything that we often shut down emotionally.  Sometimes it seems better to stay in bed and avoid all the things we are faced with... bills, work, relationships, family, faith, and other preasures can truely overwelm us.

That is why when we are living a life of worship we need to take time to recharge everyday.  What do I mean by recharge...I mean spending a little time with God... weither it is in conversation, prayer, singing, music, dancing, reading the word, or sitting quietly in God's presence.  All this different ways of worship can help supply us with the strength to carry on each day.  It also gives us the ability to refocus and prioritize our time.

God first, Family second, career third, is a common way of prioritizing.  I like to add a couple more to this list.  God First, Family Second, Career third, Church fourth, & Fun fifth.  Why did I put church fourth, you may ask, isn't it the same as God.  The answer quite simply is no!  In Christian society today many people have put Church in the place of God.  Spending time with God one on one should never be forfited for church.  Yes it is important to gather together to worship the Lord but it is more important to have a relationship with God and your family.  If we are adding 3 or more times at church a week we are losing out on time that we can spend with our families meeting their needs and helping them grow.  We are also making it hard on our career lives rushing around.  We lose sight of what is really important.  Why did I say fun fifth.  Well because we do need to take some time out for fun, to relax and enjoy life.  This doesn't mean set schedule of activities such as sports or lessons or something like that.  Those things should only be added when the family unit is working well and doing the other five priorities.  Fun can be playing a game, going on a hike, going shopping, going to a sporting event, going on a vacation, or just doing what you and your family enjoy to do.  It will give you and your family a break and will make positive long lasting memories.

When we give each part our lives a certain priority, then we are able to organize our lives better, build stronger relationships, and grow in our faith.  When we keep God at number one on our priority list we are better able to fit all the things we want to do in our lives in and we are spiritually prepared to press on towards our goals.

In God's word it states in Isaiah 40:31:

 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

My prayer for each and every one who reads this is that they will take time with God and that they shall truely run and not be weary in every aspect of their lives!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Living a life of Worship... Everything that has breath
 

Psalms 150

 1.  Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
 2.  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
 3.  Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
 4.  Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
 5.  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
 6.  Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

This is one of my most favorite verses in the Bible.  It talks about so many different ways to praise the Lord.  From play an instrument to dancing.  Verse 6 is the verse that really gets me though.  Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord.  Every thing!  Wow! 

This statement caught me off gaurd a little....does this mean that animals praise the Lord.  It does say everything doesn't it.   So i decided to dig deeper into the Hebrew version of this verse to get some deeper meaning.

When we look at the literal translation it says

Everything that breaths let praise Yah. Praise Yah.

When we dig deep the word for everything in this statment in Hebrew is pronounced "Kole"  This is translated as: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every. In context in the Bible this word was most often used as "all"

The words "that breaths" are one word in Hebrew which is pronouced "nesh-aw-maw".  This is translated as: a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal.  In context in the Bible this was word was most often used for "Blast, breath, inspiration soul or spirit"

The words "let praise" are one word in Hebrew which is pronounced "haw-lal"  This is translated as: to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence, to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify.   In context in the Bible this was word was most often used for "to celebrate, comend, glory, give light"

And of course Yah...is the name of the Lord God most high.

So when we put this all together in an expanded version with the definitions of the words we get

Let all, the whole, any and every thing that puffs divine inspiration, that is an animal, that has wind: glorify, celebrate, boast, rave, give light to the Lord God most high.

Everyone of us can do this!  We can all celebrate the Lord God most high!  We can all shine His light!  God has given us so many ways to praise Him that I am sure He created a way for you just as He created a way for me to worship Him.

How do you worship and praise the Lord God most High?  Have you done it today?

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Living a life of worship...No Skills required
 

Come just as you are!  There are no skills required to be a worshiper of God.  You don't need a degree in Theology, music ministry, dance or Biblical literature to worship!  All you need is a heart ready and willing to give all your best to God.

Here's and example from my life.  Before I got married I loved to play my piano to worship the Lord all day long.  I would spend hours in our piano room making up worship songs and just playing my heart out.  I comunicated my every need and desire through the keyboard.  I would even go to the practice rooms in college to play.  Now mind you I am not the best pianist nor am I a great vocalist.  My piano teacher droped me because I have a birth deffect which doesn't allow me to extend my pinkies.  My voice teacher was in college very nice though.  Anyways when I got married I married a true musician.  A man with perfect pitch who could sing and play anything you could put before him.

At first I kept playing...but then slowly I began to stop playing.  So much so that I almost totally gave up playing.  I let my husband do all the musical stuff around the house and in the ministry.  So my personal time of worship was neglected for far too long.  I still wrote the occasional worship song and began to study worship dance and flags.  But something was missing.

Yesterday afternoon I went into our living room and for some reason switched on my husbands piano.  I was going to listen to some of the songs he had recorded on it but could not figure out how to work that part.  In stead I began to play around with the different sounds eventually stopping on grand piano.  All of a sudden I began to play my heart out again.  I sang to the Lord with all my heart.  It wasn't perfect and I know I missed some notes but what I realized was that God didn't care if it wasn't perfect.  I was the one who set the standards I couldn't reach.  I was the one who compared my playing with my husbands not God.  He just long to hear my heart song... imperfect but sweet... missing notes but coming from deep with in.  I realized maybe for the first time in a long time that God made me who I am... and no one is perfect.

The Bible says that God has a throne made out of our praises.  Have you made a throne for Him today?