Prayer
Worship, Adoration, and Praise
Ephesians 5:19-20
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ
NKJV
Worship is our offering to God of our recognition that He is God. Only God deserves our greatest respect. This respect is shown in Worship. It is difficult to distinguish worship from adoration. Adoration is the expression of our love for God, in both deeds and words. In the context of worship, adoration is the expression of our love for God in a fitting manner of worship, in our attitudes during the worship service, in the method by which we sing and pray, in our attentiveness to the exhortation of the sermon.
Adoration may be offered in
settings other than the worship service, but it should be most prominent
during the worship service. Adoration is the fulfilling of the greatest
commandment.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all
your mind. NKJV
Praise is the outgrowth of faith,
worship, and adoration - as well as of confession.
Praise is expressing our love and respect and esteem for God in the form
of songs and words.
Psalm 150:2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise
Him according to His excellent greatness! NKJV
Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because
of Your righteous judgments. NKJV
In the Old Testament, Moses
redelivers the law to the Israelites just before the great leader dies
and the people cross into the promised land. In delivering this message,
Moses provides the source of the greatest commandment, as well as providing
a picture of what this commandment should mean in practice.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "And these words
which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them
diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise
up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as
frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of
your house and on your gates. NKJV
Why the emphasis? God wants the people to remember and understand that He is their source of daily needs and life itself. He wants them to understand the importance of giving Him the glory and honor. The Psalms reflect this emphasis.
Psalm 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. NKJV
The last point to remember about our worship of God is that the verses instruct us that worship is about HOW, not where or why. The HOW is to worship God for Who He is, in the manner He has prescribed.
John 4:23-24 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. NKJV
