Encouraged Through Worship

It is amazing how God constantly reveals His presence to our lives. The Wednesday night service at the Revival in Moulton was a great personal encouragement to me and I also believe that the other believers who were present were encouraged. Four men (three of them were teenagers) led the church in a time of Praise and Worship. The Lord used them to do an awesome job leading us into the presence of Jehovah-Jireh, the Provider of the needs of our lives. I was certainly encouraged as I watched these young men sing and play their various instruments with such seriousness and sincerity. I was struck by the sincere offering of their gifts and talents. It was not a show for them neither was it a time of religious ritual; it was an opportunity to offer their heartfelt thanksgiving to God. You could see the desire on their faces and you could hear it in their voices. They were not ashamed of their Savior and they desired to lead the rest of us into this time of pure and sincere praise to God. It was so refreshing and a sense of renewal swept over my heart as I reflected on the time in my life when I first encountered Christ and I began to offer to Him my offering of praise. I thank God that there is still times in which "a child shall lead them." This same group of worshippers were in the altar seeking God and praying for each other. I was honored that the Spirit encouraged me to ask them to pray for me and my journey with God. I was challenged by the Spirit to examine my attitude of Worship. It is so easy to get captured by the externals (styles of music, types of songs, hymns or choruses, the people that are leading, etc.). But God reminded me that I need to be captured by the thought of His presence and not the "vehicle" that is leading me into His presence. I need to offer sincere worship to God. I need to offer sincere thanksgiving to God. I need to offer sincere praise to God. The key word in all three of these sentences is the word "sincere." Whatever I offer God needs to be from a sincere attitude of adoration for the One who died for my sins. As you spend time in prayer today ask God to place an attitude of sincere praise in your heart as we seek to please Him in all that we do. I only know the name of one of the young men but I will always be grateful that God used them to remind me of the correct thought process toward God as I offer my worship to Him. I can not wait until it is time for me to worship God again whether it is in a private setting or a public worship service because I know that my heart will be different after the service last night. Open your heart and allow God to speak to you concerning your attitude toward your personal worship to God.