I will praise You, Lord with my whole heart. - Psalm 9:1
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Posted on Thu, Mar 27, 2008
True Worship
A Worshiper's Heart
by Eugene Gregory
God created in us a desire to worship. It is up to us to cultivate this desire. Just like after a seed is planted you have to work the ground to develop a full-grown plant, so your life of worship must be cultivated. We have to spend time developing and caring for this precious opportunity that we have to worship our Father. What we care for and spend time on is what will be released in our lives. The Word says that out of the heart flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things." ~Matthew 12:33-35
These scriptures say essentially the same thing. John G. Lake said, "if one would be Christian, I mean a real one, he must close the heart, the mind, and the being to all that is evil. He must live with openness to God only so that the glory of God shines in and, all that is dark is shut out."
In Samuel we can read the story of how David was anointed King. God told the prophet not to look on the other brothers' appearance because He was looking at the heart. Then, in Acts 13:22, we read how God said that He found David to be a man after His heart.
And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
Now we know that David was not perfect, but if he had qualities that caught God's attention, we need to study and find what these qualities were. One quality in David was his wholehearted attitude in his service and devotion to God. In Psalm 9:1 David wrote "...I will praise You with my whole heart." Many times through the Psalms, you will find David declaring this. Wholehearted means without any reservations, no holding back! Whatever you do, do with all your might. We can see this characterisitic in David. Whether he was keeping sheep, fighting giants, writing songs of worship, or dancing before the Lord, he gave it everything he had.
True worship demands the whole heart. It is a lifestyle, not just part of a church service. Our heart can't be divided in worship. It's all about Him or it's not. The congregation surrounding you will pick up on this. They eventually mirror what they see. Let them see your passion and your desire to be a man or woman after God's own heart.
Discussion:
A Worshiper's Heart
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