1 Corinthians 14:15 (NKJV) What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
With God in our lives, we have an identity and a purpose–which is to worship Him in spirit and in truth as a child of God.
God is Spirit. When God created man, His primary purpose was so that man would worship Him. We are a new creation in Christ. We now have a direct link as worshipers to God from spirit to Spirit. Fall in love with Him. Worship Him. The more we worship Him, the more intimately we will know Him. If we really know the Lord then there is no room for indifference. If you are still tainted by indifference, you are living too close to the world. You are too involved in the things of life. The closer you live to him, the more you will want to hear His voice. When we worship, we pour out our hearts to Him. Your worship to the Lord is distinctly you, it is uniquely “You”. It touches the heart of God. He longs to hear your words of love, the expression of your heart, the groaning of your spirit.
We must realize that there is a river within us if we have the Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38 NIV). We need to let the river flow out of us through songs of worship and adoration in the Spirit. There is no life in stagnant water, therefore living water has to be a flowing river. And it will flow like a river when we start yielding to the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 4:15-16 (NKJV) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Praise and worship is a form of prayer – this is how we enter into God’s throne of grace. When praise and worship become a part of our lifestyle, we will enter into the presence of God faster and we no longer settle for a mediocre presence. Some people may wonder why they can’t feel the presence of God on Sundays; it may be that they haven’t spent enough time in His presence throughout the week. However, if we approach His throne daily, we can enter His presence with boldness because we know that we are hidden in Christ. At this moment with God, we will find grace and mercy to help us especially in time of need. Our boldness is not in ourselves regarding what we have done or the position that we hold in life but who we are in Christ.
Jesus is our High Priest who knows what we are going through in life because He has walked the path on earth and had suffered tremendously on earth. Jesus was persecuted. He was falsely accused, beaten, bruised, and whipped. He was rejected and despised by men. He was betrayed by His own disciples. He was abandoned by his disciples in the most challenging moment of His life. Jesus is able to empathize with us in everything including betrayal, sicknesses, pain, diseases, poverty, grief, rejection, abandonment, etc. He understands stress very well because He was stressed to the point of shedding blood through perspiration.
Psalms 95:6 (NKJV) Come, let us bow down and worship him; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
Worship is an attitude of the heart in which the heart bows down before God. At this time, we worship God because we love Him and express our love to Him. We are no longer conscious of our surroundings and the worldly things that plaque our mind. The thoughts in our mind are centered on the Lord, not our requests or petitions. Make sure that you bring the sacrifice of praise to God regularly in order to strengthen your spiritual life!
Sermon: Stuck Between the Rock and a Hard Place
敬拜的力量
哥林多前书 14:15 这却怎么样呢？我要用灵祷告，也要用悟性祷告；我要用灵歌唱，也要用悟性歌唱。
只要神在我们的生命中，我们就有一个身份和目的–那就是要作为神的子女，在心灵和诚实里敬拜祂。
神是灵。当神创造人时，祂的主要目的是让人敬拜祂。我们是基督里的新造之人。我们通过敬拜与神在灵里建立了一种直接的联系。爱祂。敬拜祂。我们越敬拜祂，就会越亲密地认识祂。如果我们真的认识主，必不会有冷漠。如果你仍受冷漠所染，那表明你的生活与俗世贴的太近了。你太过沉溺于生活中的事情。你越接近祂，就越想听到祂的声音。当我们敬拜时，倾心于祂。对主敬拜明明白白的是你，且是唯一的“你”。这会触动神的心。祂渴望听到你爱的话语，心的表达和灵里的渴求。
我们必须认识到，若有了圣灵我们身体里就会有一条河流。耶稣说：“从他腹中要流出活水的江河来。”（约翰福音7:38）。我们需要通过敬拜的诗歌和灵里的敬拜，让我们的腹中流出活水的江河来。死水中是没有生命的，因此活水必须是流动的河流。当我们开始降服于圣灵时，就会像江河一样涌流。
希伯来书 4:15-16 因我们的大祭司并非不能体恤我们的软弱，祂也曾凡事受过试探，与我们一样，只是祂没有犯罪。所以我们只管坦然无惧地来到施恩的宝座前，为要得怜恤，蒙恩惠，作随时的帮助。
敬拜赞美是祈祷的一种形式–使我们得以进入神的施恩宝座。当敬拜赞美成为我们生活方式的一部分时，我们会更快地进入神的同在，我们将不再满足于神一般性的同在。有人可能会问，为什么星期天无法感受到神的同在；这也许是因为他们在过去整个周中没有花足够的时间亲近神。然而，如果我们每天接近祂的宝座，便可以坦然无惧地去到祂的面前，因为我们知道，我们是藏在基督里的。在这个与神同在的时刻，我们会在特别困难的时候，得怜恤，蒙恩惠，和祂随时的帮助。我们的坦然无惧并非因着我们的行为，或我们在生活中拥有的地位，而是因着我们在基督里的身份。
耶稣是我们的大祭司，祂知道我们在生活中经历了什么，因为祂走过地上的路，并在地上经历了巨大的痛苦。祂遭逼迫，被诬告、殴打、压伤和鞭打。祂遭受人们的拒绝和鄙视，被自己的门徒背叛；在生命中最关键的时刻，祂被门徒抛弃。耶稣能够同理在我们遭遇背叛、病症、痛苦、疾病、贫穷、悲伤、厌弃、遗弃的感受。耶稣明白什么是压力，因为祂承受的压力大到流出了血汗。
诗篇 95:6 来啊，我们要屈身敬拜，在造我们的耶和华面前跪下。
敬拜是从心里屈身在神面前的态度。在这个时候，我们敬拜神是因为我们爱祂并向祂表达我们的爱。我们不会在意周遭环境和世上苦恼我们心智的事物。我们的心思意念定睛于主，而非我们的需求或祈求。让我们常常向神献上赞美的祭，使属灵生命更加强健吧！
讲章系列：陷入进退两难的处境
Image Source: pixabay.com