The other day I was taking a shower, and using that also as a time to just pray out loud for all sorts of things. I'm sure many of you do the same thing sometimes, but probably wouldn't admit it to anyone :) C'mon...you know you pray in the shower or bath! After about 10 minutes of that, I began to sing to the Lord and just make up songs of praise to Him. I mean loud! I sang with all my heart for another 10 minutes or so just letting unknown songs of praise flow from my heart, until the Hot water was starting to run out. During that time, I was amazed at the flow of the praise that was coming out. Not that I sounded great or anything, but I was amazed at the worship and flow of the songs while I just let myself be free. Just like that water was flowing freely from the shower head with no blockage, so flowed my praise. There were no worries of anyone being critical of me or feeling I'm not good enough or whatever. No trying to play that chord right, or hit that certain note. No worries of performance. I knew in my heart that My Father and Lord and Savior were getting it. I seemed to have a "direct line." They were taking it in, and it was a sweet sound in their ears. It was a great time of personal spiritual renewal and fulfillment.That time reminded me of the sort of worship that truly touches God's heart and changes life as people know it. It reminded me to keep my heart pure in worship at home and in the public, and that sometimes it's really good to just lose it before the Lord and forget about everything else in life. In all my many services of organized worship this past year, I think I forgot that a little bit. I was starting to try and be fulfilled just by leading organized worship at churches and in ministry meetings. When your heart desperately longs to worship the Lord...I mean when you have the heart of a worshipper as so many of us do...organized worship in song just ain't enough! You need more. It HAS to get personal and hit you where you live.
Just as it is with our whole spiritual life and how we can't expect to grow only from going to church once a week...it's the same with our worship life. It takes more than just singing at church. It takes effort on our part. Worship is action. And sometimes, God just wants you to personally worship Him however you want to all by yourself. You have to remember to break up the patterns and the monotony in your own personal worship life away from your church. We love to worship in song at our church, but it has to be limited in certain ways because of our purpose for the services. God is blessing it so much! It's awesome. But let me take this time to encourage you as a worshipper. In your personal life, sometimes it's good to just sing or say out loud to the Lord what's in your heart, and not what someone else has written, and not what you have prepared. Try it, you may find as I have over the years, that there is freedom it.
Another update on H.O.W.I. will hopefully come tomorrow. Sorry about the delay!
