Time of Preparation
Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?
When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.
Encounter With God
In this first movement, we simply seek to see God for who He is: the One worthy of worship.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
—James 1:17 (NIV)
We live in a time of great disequilibrium. The word is changing faster than we can keep track, and the pace of that change is absolutely exhausting. Reports and statistics of psychological distress in our culture are on the rise, and one of the main contributors (perhaps even the largest) is the sheer chaos that seems to surround us. It’s hard not to feel stress when the ground beneath our feet seems to constantly shift.
Worship, however, grounds us. When we enter the presence of God, we are entering the presence of the unchanging One. Worship re-orients us and puts us back on a stable footing by reminding us that we exist in relationship with the God who brings order out of chaos, who provides a firm foundation for our souls as well as our feet. Jesus spoke to this truth in a parable:
“I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”
—Luke 6:47-49 (NLT)
The foundation is Jesus. The foundation is his truth, his word. The foundation stands, as Paul says, “bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his.’” (2 Timothy 2)
Let’s worship the God who doesn’t change, who is our rock and fortress, our firm foundation.
SONG OF ENCOUNTER: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (lyrics here)