"You This is Me" part 3: ADORATION

ADORATION, CONTINUED...

The difficulty for us is that there are so many things in our lives that compete for our deepest affections. We are so easily trifled—so easily enamored with trivial things that don’t rival the glory of God.

To pray rightly, we need to train ourselves to adore God.

It’s not that difficult. It just takes time and practice. We simply start by looking at what Scripture says about him. An excellent place to start training ourselves is in the Psalms. The writers of the Psalms were great lovers of God and found deep pleasure in contemplating the glory and majesty of who he is and what he does. Just like we teach infants how to form words and say phrases, so too the writers of the Psalms teach us how to form praise and develop an attitude of worship.

Here’s a practical exercise.

1. Read Psalm 27.
2. Identify three things that impress you about God.
3. Now say those things that you identified to God in the form of a “thank you” like this, “God, thank you for 1, 2, 3.
4. Now, take it a step further, and write out a phrase, sentence or paragraph of your own and meditate on it throughout the day.
5. When you wake up, repeat it. When you take a cigarette break or throw in a dip, repeat it. When you eat, repeat it. When you crawl into bed at night, repeat it.

Before long, that expression of adoration becomes an attitude in your heart. And that attitude of worship and adoration is precisely what God desires from us, because he knows that this posture of humbly recognizing his grandeur and sovereign power over our lives is the place where we will find our greatest satisfaction in life.

What are you waiting for? Pick up the Psalms. Open your heart. Fall in love today!

Here’s a prayer:

Dear God, I have to confess that I love a lot of things in my life that don’t rival the glory of who you are. I get more excited about XBox, $3 dollar gasoline, American Idol, burritos and a new pair of boots than I do about the splendor of who you are. God, the bottom line is that I just have a small view of your glory, and I adore a lot of other things more than I adore you. But I want that to change. I want to see you in your glory and adore you the way you deserve to be adored. Please change the way I see you. Blow me away with a fresh revelation of your power and your glory. Teach me your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Psalm 29:1-2—Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength. Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

RESULTS:

What happens when I adore God on a regular basis?

Ps 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” When I adore God and take pleasure in worshiping him,  my heart naturally becomes inclined to pursue that which is dear to His heart. His agenda becomes the center of my pursuits. His purposes become the focus of my passions. When adoring God becomes the pattern of my life, I can be certain that the desires of my heart will be truly fulfilled.