Acceptable Worship
Anything less is just noise.
“This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart
is far away from Me. And in vain do they worship
Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
- Matthew 15:8-9
Today I want to illustrate what vain worship looks like by applying examples to a marital relationship.
In marriage, we hold our spouses to a high standard, based on their promise, made before God, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer. Before we even agree to marry our spouse, we look for assurance that they can and are willing to meet our needs, just as they seek the same from us.
We commit to a higher standard of treatment in a marriage than we do when it comes to our worship of God.
Imagine if we treated our spouse the way we treat God. What if I:
became uninterested in intimately knowing my husband? What would happen if I suddenly decided to stop communicating, asking questions to find out how his day went or why he was angry/sad/happy/frustrated? What if I became completely indifferent to his existence?
gave him only an hour a week in quality time?
put my needs above his?
expected him to know I love him without ever showing him or saying so?
was constantly preoccupied with something else while he was speaking to me about something important?
always chose to spend time with other people over him?
chose to lie to, steal from or cheat on him {including covetousness for other people}?
Our marriage would be over. He would never tolerate such a dynamic, nor would I. So why should God?
How can we:
cultivate a relationship with God if we don’t read ALL of His Word to find out what He requires of us?
show God love if we never spend time in worship of Him?
worship Him properly if our attention is elsewhere, and our focus is on something else during prayer or Bible study?
have a relationship with God if we’re always pushing Him into the background while cultivating a relationship with the world?
expect to be in God’s presence forever if we choose sin or other gods over Him?
When we approach God in prayer and worship, we must:
have a pure heart {first confessing our sins with remorse}.
be free of anger, resentment, and hatred toward our brethen.
have resolution, and total forgiveness after every argument {this includes ensuring that other people are not angry with us}.
be intentional and not preoccupied with anything else.
be free of intent to return to sin after worship.
be sure we’re worshiping God, and not a false version.
be sure we’re not worshiping Him, using pagan rituals and from within man-made religions.
give Him the reverence and glory He deserves.
not pray for things we want outside of His will.
be grateful for what He has given us.
be humble and open to His revelation.
pray from the heart and not using mindless repetition.
We’re mere men who have no authority to worship God the way we want, especially if we haven’t taken the time to fully know Him through His Word.
And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles
do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.
- Matthew 6:7
God bless! ✝️❤️
Resources
The Kind of Worship God Desires, Parts 1-5
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