What is worship?

Isaiah 41:13 NKJV For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

Psalm 18:28 NLT For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.  29 For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. 30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven (All the Lord’s promises prove true); He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Lord Jesus,

William Barclay writes:  "To the Scribes and Pharisees worship was ritual, ceremony law; to Jesus worship was the clean heart and the loving life. Here is the clash.  And that clash still exists.  What is worship?"  (William Barclay in The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 2, p. 129).

Teach me to worship Father, You, and Holy Spirit as I ought.  Take me past ancient or contemporary forms and grant me access into Your heart.  Teach me the worship of a clean and yielded heart and will.  I want to know You.  I want You to know me.  I want You to form and inform my identity in You.  Grant me a place of belonging in the heart of God, where peace prevails amidst the adversity of life. 

Too often, I have imagined my time with You as something I do before I work.  I have thought of the Quiet Place as a place I leave in order to do the tasks of the day.  Teach me to operate in the daily affairs of life, not by emerging from my Quiet Place in You, rather by resourcing from that Quiet Place, and operating from the position of strength and fullness that I find in You continually.  Be my dwelling place throughout the busy hours of life, work, interaction with others, and service.  Help me to take our Quiet Place with me all day long.

William Temple (1881-1944), Archbishop of Canterbury, commented on worship: "To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God."

Prompt my conscience with a gentle check of Your Spirit that points me in the right direction in conversation and decisions.  Protect me from being tossed about by a variety of contradictory opinions and directives.  Keep me centered in You. 

Fill my mind with truth.  Fear, anxiety, and conflict would draw my attention away from truth.  In a world of relativism, be my Eternal Truth!  Tune my senses to Your beauty, Your creation, Your teleology of grace.  Teach me to Love You and others as I ought.  Teach me to love Your Eternal Purpose and Will, even when my obedience intersects trial, travail, and hardship.

I worship You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  May my worship come from a clean heart, surrendered will, and obedient service and render me acceptable in Your sight. 

In Your Holy and Worthy Name,
Amen.