Follow God’s Prescription For Prayer And Worship

“I imagine that anybody can worship God whatever way he or she chooses: for instance, when I pray to God, I keep quiet and worship Him in my mind,” Kenneth flippantly remarked to his friends.

“That’s not right,” Sarah calmly interjected, “You can’t worship God the way you feel like and expect that He’ll accept it!”

“But if God already knows what I’m thinking, do I still need to say the words?” Ken inquired.

“Yes, Ken, you do. God indeed knows what’s on your mind, but Jesus said in Luke 11:2: “...When ye pray, say...,” Sarah replied.

In the Old Testament, when the prophets or priests prayed, the contents of their prayers were written for us, showing that they verbalised them. Most times, God instructed the Priests on what to say. In fact, when Jesus prayed, He spoke aloud that others heard Him. He didn’t merely think in His mind. It’s the same with worship; there’s a prescribed order for it.

You don’t just give to God what you think you have; you give Him what He demands of you. It’s important that you walk in the light of His Word, doing exactly what He wants. Just because something seems nice doesn’t mean it’s acceptable to God.

We worship God through the Spirit, and by the Word— in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24)! We lift our hands to Him, making confessions to His Name: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15). We praise and direct our words of worship to Him for His greatness, kindness, love, mercies and grace. That’s the kind of worship God wants, hallelujah!