Very often prayer seems like a struggle. That is because sometimes, it is. Jesus bled from wounds that were given to him by the Romans before the crucifixion but even before that, He broke out in bloody sweat from the action of prayer. Prayer is sometimes warfare, and the enemy does not want you doing it. When we finally get to that mature level of prayer where we are in the process of aligning our will with Gods, the battle will rage as it did for Jesus at Gethsemane.
As any follower of Christ should know, he is worthy. But, what exactly does that mean? Do our lives reflect in any way that we believe that he is worthy?
I know that most of the time my own does not. Sure, I praise him. I adore him. I love him. I talk to him. I listen out for him. I look for him. But am I really serving him like I should, if he is worthy.
To define worthiness is to understand that he is great. He is excellent. He is valuable. He is important. He is deserving.
We sing about how great our God is. We know when we need, he supplies, when we hurt, he heals, when we cry, he wipes our tears. And even though you probably don’t have any doubts, I sometimes do. And he sends what I need to overcome them. He loves me and forgives me and accepts me as I am and that is just a small part of why he is worthy.
We celebrate his excellence. Just look at the magnificence of his creation. When each of my grandkids were born, I went to see them at the hospital and one of the first things that always caught my attention was their tiny fingers. So small and delicate, some not much thicker than a matchstick, yet they worked just like my own. As they grasped one of my fingers, I marveled that something so tiny worked just like mine did and also had a surprisingly strong grip. And the fingers of a baby are just the beginning. Even though with twelve grandchildren, that did give me 120 amazing little symbols of God’s excellence.
We all have different ideas about value. Some find money valuable, some knowledge, some power, and some prestige. Some find family valuable, some friends, and some pets. Some find solitude valuable, some a noisy crowd, some a quiet few. Valuing something or someone is simply seeing it as very important. Since this is so, God is the most valuable. He is the one who actually provides all the things that I have listed here and any other thing that anyone values. And even without those things, he is simply all we really need.
God’s importance just cannot be overemphasized. Everything I have said so far would not even be, without him. If you believe in him, and I did not for so very long, then you know that every day that you wake up, you owe to him. Without him, nothing that exists would or could exist. And just think of the fellowship with him. As I said, there was a time when I did not believe that he was real, and I was a miserable, depressed person. I did not love, except myself, and could not love. I am still learning how even now. And he helps me by, and in, his closeness.
What does he deserve then? He deserves me. And he deserves you. He deserves my praise, my adoration and my love. He deserves my time, my attention and my thought. He deserves my effort and my ability. He deserves my obedience and my labor. He deserves so much more than I am or can give. So I simply have to give him all of me. You have to also.
He is worthy and we need to start showing him we believe it. There are so many ways we can do this better than we do. Thinking about this, I have come to realize we blow it right at the start.
What is Sunday to you? For me it is the day I go to church. I go to serve (teach) and worship. I go to praise and get fed. I go to rest and receive from God. This is probably what a lot of us do. And there is nothing wrong with this.
If we think about it further, how much preaching and teaching and singing do we allow before we start getting a little frustrated? Doesn’t the pastor realize I have some things to get done this afternoon? A little extra work would get me so far ahead next week. Penney’s has a great sale and it ends today. The game starts at two o’clock and I still have to eat lunch. The kids are bringing the grandchildren over. Just how much time does God need?
But what is Sunday to God? Some of us confused Christians like to say Sunday is the Sabbath. I do not think it is. God began his work on the first day and he stopped on the seventh. He called it Sabbath and it was for rest. He did not need rest, but he knew we would, so he set the example. I believe Saturday is still the Sabbath and we should still be resting on it. I believe if we truly used the last day of the week as God intended we could have real rest. The week’s battles could be laid at his feet and he would guard and protect us in our downtime. (Thoughts from a warfare worldview)
Sunday is the first day, the Lord’s day. It is the day our work starts. What we do at church is only the beginning. We need to get up out of bed with the knowledge and attitude that this is the day we start our weeks work. And we start by meeting our God and King for his guidance, equipping, and blessing for this week’s mission. We have to realize our work is warfare. The work he began by creating has been corrupted and usurped by his and our enemies. Our work (mission) is to take it back and help to restore it. By noon or a little after, most of us are done. We have given almost all we are going to give to God this week.
Let’s show him we think he is worthy by trying to at least give him all of ourselves for that one day. What might that look like? I am not sure but I would love to read some of your ideas.
I do know that to serve him is to love. It is to love him and to love others. This is all Sunday should be. A day of love. If we start the week off with love, the rest will more readily follow the same path.
Love you all.
Tags: Church, Creation, grandkids, Love, Praise, Sin, warfare, Worth, worthiness
