30 Days of Praise - Day 24

In my Bible study "Satisfy My Thirsty Soul" is the following question.

It says, "Ponder these words of A.P.Gibbs: "In prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, but in worship we are totally occupied with God Himself." Then it asks what this quote says to you.

I think this statement is extremely profound, and for me at least, it really brought about a new perspective on worship. What I get from this is that praying is about my needs, thanksgiving about what God has provided or done but worship is about Who God is.

Worship is about being in love with God, and expressing all the love, joy and passion that that encompasses. Worship is the expression of the greatest love affair of all time.

Now it is interesting because there are so many different levels and definers of the love God has for us, He loves us as a Father, and expresses the passion of a jealous lover, His love is not easily defined, but it is awesome and all encompassing.

Here are some thoughts I have been pondering over the last couple days. As a mother of 3 children, I love all of my children equally, but I love them each differently. My relationship with each one of them is different. We enjoy time together in different ways, connect on different levels. I play the same role in each of their lives, I am mother to all, but that is expressed differently with each one. Even in my discipline, I parent them separately and uniquely. And each one of them responds to my love and expresses there love back to me in their own way. Victoria loves to draw me pictures, Jake is a hugger, and my Ethan will simply lean over in my ear and tell me he loves me.

Sometimes I get caught up in this struggle that I don't have the ease of "worship" for the Lord as I see others around me have. I have expressed my struggles to focus in corporate singing and such in previous posts. But that does not mean I am incapable of worshipping God in my own way. Even these posts are a form of worship to Him, they are expressions of my love for Him. My writing poetry or lyrics, those are forms of worship too. Of course there are ways the Lord has instructed us to worship Him, such as with singing and music, but I am by no means limited to that, I can grow in that while I worship God in the gifts and manners of expression He has given me.

We each have our own way of expressing worship. A musician may write a song, a carpenter may build a table, an artist may paint a portrait, a runner may run a race, but when they are done out of hearts expressing love to God, they are acts of worship.

Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints.
Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
Let them praise His name with the dance; let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. Psalm 149:3-5