How Can We Do Individual Worship Effectively?

We've been discussing about worship over the last few weeks. We will continue on the same theme for this week as well. 

When we think of worship, the first thing that comes to mind is the worship service on a Sunday morning. We are not focusing on that, rather our focus is going to be on individual worship. Worship usually takes place in two settings, one is corporate worship which includes a gathering of people worshipping together and the other is individual worship. 

In Matthew chapters 5,6,7 there are several things revealed about worship. One of the focal points are prayer, secret fasting and secret giving. Personal individual worship is as important as the focal points mentioned earlier. Personal individual worship involves praying and worshipping God alone and not in the presence of your family or friends. It is for what we do secretly that we get publicly rewarded for.

There is a lot of importance given to personal worship and the time we spent with God.
Psalms 34: 1-3 says, ‘1 I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.’

Verse 1 focuses on individual worship. Verse 2 focuses on the impact of individual worship on others. Verse 3 focuses on the community of Christians worshipping together which is corporate worship.

Essentially when you worship the Father individually, the impact you create lies beyond yourself but influences others as well. There is a description above the verses and it goes like this ‘Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, he left.’ David did not write this Psalm in his good times, rather wrote this Psalm during his time of trouble when he pretended to be mentally ill and insane before Abimelek who drove him away from his own land. It is astounding to think of the situation in which David has written this Psalm. This is clearly not a happy time for David as he is driven away from his own nation, yet in his misery and sorrow, he chooses to worship God. 

Often we’ve seen that songs written under the influence of the Holy Spirit have a story to tell. We will worship God in all seasons. He is a God of all seasons. And he will take through different seasons of life and we need to be an all seasons worshipper. 

We did a character study of Joseph. What we observed was that Joseph had four major seasons in his life. Each of the seasons was connected to his clothing.

In the first season Joseph was given a multi-coloured robe by his Father. This robe indicates that Joseph was heir to Jacob’s inheritance. This robe was removed by his own siblings and dipped in the blood of an animal to show his father that he had passed. The first season ends there.
 
The second season begins with Joseph being a slave at Potiphar’s home. In that season he wore the garment of a slave, living like a slave. This is the garment that Potiphar’s wife took off and presented as evidence to show Joseph’s dis. The season ends there.

Then Joseph is sent to jail where the warden presents him with clothing. We can assume that as a prisoner, a number was written on his prison clothing. This season also ended and as the next season came his clothing also changed.

When he comes to Pharaoh’s kingdom and becomes the second in command, he is given the royal garment. This led to his season changing again which remained unchanged. He was given a garment of authority, power and dominion. The Lord was with him through all the seasons.

God will change the seasons of your life. God is an all seasons God and your seasons will change. David made a commitment to praise and extol the Lord at all times. If you are going through a very difficult time, would you praise the Lord? David praised the Lord when he fled from his nation, his people and his possessions and even then he decided to praise the Lord at all times. Make a decision today to extol the Lord at all times. His praise must always be on your lips. Identify and strip away anything that blocks you from praising the Lord. 

How can we individually worship the Lord effectively? Don’t make prayer an event. They are time bound events. If you only do that, it becomes religion, because you are trying to worship in a ritualistic manner. Jesus did not come to Earth to form a religion, but he came to Earth to reconcile the perishing man so that he could bring about a strong relationship.

Acts 17:25 says, ‘And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.’

In the Old Testament everything was very ritualistic and done with human hands such as offering sacrifices. In the New Testament he is not served by human hands but he himself gives everyone life. One thing you should remember and commit yourself to, is to not miss a single Sunday service. God wants to do something new in your life every Sunday. God rose up from the dead on a Sunday and it marked a new beginning. God wants to do something new in your life everyday. So do not neglect your weekly Sunday service, for when two people gather together and pray, the presence of God comes down from heaven and breakthroughs take place