The Heart of Worship
1 Samuel 3:1-3 (NIV) The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
The quality of heart that Samuel had attracted God to come to his life and speak to him. What are the qualities of the heart that Samuel had that attracted God’s attention ? The answer that is written in the Bible is ‘to be God’s servant’.
The word “servant” comes from the Hebrew word “sharath” which means work that does not require any skill or ability, pays the cheapest prices, and oftentimes boring and unappealing.
Motivation or attitude of the heart that only wants to serve the master, which, although it does not require any skills, it is done with a sincere and obedient heart. This is the attitude of heart from Samuel that makes him a person who attracts God’s attention.
1. Have the attitude of heart of a worshipper.
For some people to dwell and worship God is boring and uninteresting. Examine our hearts, do we have a heart that is always longing and full of desire to come before God’s presence in every worship we lift.
The word “worship”, written from the Greek language, “proskuneo”, which means, “kiss the hand of the master, like a dog licking his master’s hand” describes a deep close relationship, the desire to be near and to please God.
The heart that worships is the ‘entrance gate’ to have a deeper and stronger dimension of fellowship with God. By continuing to grow a heart or spirit of worship, God will start to bring us to a deeper and more intimate dimension of communion with Him, where God will begin to pour out His heart and reveal His words and promises to us.
Make sure that every morning when we wake up, there is always a stream of prayer and worship that continues to flow and overflow from within our hearts, taking over our bodies, emotions, hearts and minds. Surely the reality of God’s Kingdom and the dimension of ‘open heaven’ will always be manifested in our lives.
In the worship that we lift up, every lyric and melody of the song we sing must always show the expression of our heart longing to reach His presence, which will draw us closer and unite with His existence. In the atmosphere of worship that is made, we are actually building ‘stairs to Heaven’ where God’s angels will ‘go up and down’. There are heavenly activities while we are worshipping and His angels will bring numerous divine dimensions including Words and various
revelations of the Spirit, as God wants us to hear and receive, which will bless and enable us to live in the power of His words.
2. Willingness to wait on God until He speaks.
Since a very young age Samuel was a servant of God who was willing to wait a long time or expecting God until He spoke to Him. Whatever bustle in our lives, make sure that we set up time to WAIT ON GOD and want to linger in His presence until God speaks to us.
When the congregation continues to discipline themselves to wait on God until He releases His word, then the Holy Spirit will work in such a way as to give accurate understanding to the life of the congregation.
Learn to communicate our lives before God, then God will begin to give us understanding and reveal specific things that will accurate our lives so that they can become more effective and useful for God and His Kingdom agenda.
3. Focus that is always maintained to do what God commands
God wants us to stay attached to Him, God wants the focus or direction of the eyes of our hearts aim only to Him, because He wants our lives to always be in His shelter and care. God does not want our lives to be constantly attacked and destroyed by the evil one, because our focus has been successfully diverted to something else (money, the world’s offers, oneself or ego).
By continuing to build and grow a heart of worship, our focus will tend to be directed only on God, so there is no gap for the enemy to carry out his deceptions or indictments, because our lives are kept safe by the reality of His presence.
Our lives must be adjusted according to God’s voice, not the other way around. So whatever pattern and lifestyle we have been living so far, if something is inaccurate or inconsistent with the word, make sure we learn to obey and respond accurately to God’s voice that is coming. Because His word states that whoever carefully hears the voice of God, God’s sovereignty will be revealed in his life (Deuteronomy 28:1).
God will bring our daily lives no longer be lived in an ordinary way, He will process and rearrange our lives through the work of His Word and Spirit.
Ps. Steven Agustinus
Get Daily devotionals of Ps. Steven Agustinus (text & quote) delivered into your Whatsapp Messenger, by registering:
Name_City_Whatsapp number
Send to: +62 888-6132-106