My Journey into Private Worship began several years ago when I first heard Pastor Dave Roberson explaining what an awesome transformation had taken place in his own life as he spent extended periods of time in worship. I listened intently as he spoke about how God had given him specific instructions regarding how much time to spend in worship and how He wanted Pastor Dave to pursue this intimate relationship with Him.
As I listened to Pastor Dave teach and saw the change which had taken place in him I knew this Private Worship was for me. I went home to Florida and locked myself away in my back bedroom and proceeded to offer up my worship to Jesus. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months until finally the financial pressure was so great that I eventually found myself back in the work force and my extended times of worship had decreased to almost nothing.
Since then, my wife Debbie and I have moved to Tulsa, OK and now attend the Prayer Center, pastored by Dave Roberson. Frequently, the Lord has had me teach at our 8:30 am services. A couple of weeks prior to Labor Day the Lord directed me to begin once again to spend extended periods of time in Private Worship. I discovered that I was not having to start over from the beginning. Instead, it wasn't any time at all before I could see that I had merely picked up where I had left off in the process of developing in Private Worship.
One of the key verses in which Jesus talks about worship is in John, Chapter 4, when He met the woman at the well. It is in this encounter that Jesus made the statement, verse 24, "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth." When He said "in spirit", He was not describing a spiritual realm people reach when they say, "We are in the spirit." As if to say, "Finally, we pressed in hard enough until now we are 'in the spirit.'" No, that is not what Jesus was referring to. What Jesus was referring to was our reborn human spirit. Once we are born again our spirit man is reborn and we are finally able to communicate with God, spirit to Spirit. No one is capable of having such a relationship with Jesus until they are born again.
Now that we are born again, we are able to give our Heavenly Father and Jesus what they have wanted since time began. We are able to fellowship with our creator through the avenue of our spirit communing with Him.
As a result of this change, anywhere at any time we are capable of getting alone with God and offering up worship to Him.
Most people have never considered worship outside of the few moments spent at the beginning of most church services. Generally, a few songs are sung and that is the extent of the worship portion of the service. Too often, people stand singing songs about the love of Jesus all the while harboring hate in their heart for their neighbor. People stand and sing, maybe even lifting up their hands in worship, but their minds have ventured off down the street thinking about what will happen later that day or next week. Is this really worship?
Look again at what Jesus said in John 4, verse 23. The last part of this verse says, "for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." God has been seeking people who are able to offer Him worship out of this reborn human spirit. For Jesus to say that the Father is seeking this kind of person to offer to Him this worship is a very strong statement. He did not say God was seeking people through whom He could manifest miracles. He did not say God was seeking people through whom endless prayers could be prayed. No, He said specifically that God the Father seeks worshipers.
So, if God the Father is seeking worshipers with such a longing as only God can have then it only stands to reason that He must want something more than just lip service at the beginning of the church service.
Yes, in fact He wants much more of our time devoted to Him in worship. Our worship of God needs to become a lifestyle, but in order to reach that place there will be some dry times when our worship seems to fall from our lips to the floor. "I worship You, Jesus." The next sound we hear is, "Splat". That is the sound of our words falling to the floor. We get a spatula and toss them back up to God and once again say, "I worship You, Jesus". Once again, "Splat".
So, what's happening? Even when it seems our worship is getting no higher than our nose, rest assured God receives every word. Whether or not we feel anything is irrelevant. Too often, Christians make the mistake of thinking that because they feel nothing then nothing is happening. Wrong! The Journey we must make will require us to offer up our soul on the altar of worship until its lordship over our lives is broken. For most of us, this will not be a short journey. Slowly but surely as we stay in our closet and offer up worship to Him our flesh is being worn down little by little until finally one day His presence can come and stay because we have created a place for Him to dwell.
This is the journey we are embarking on together. Join me by scheduling daily time devoted to nothing but worship. Separate yourself from all the distractions and focus all your attention on Jesus and your Heavenly Father. Begin to tell God how much you love Him and adore Him. Don't stop. Continue offering up worship. Speak words of adoration. Slowly the minutes will go by. At times you might find that it is easier. Other times may seem like you are marking off the seconds until you are finished. Be diligent about doing this. One thing I can tell you from my own experience is that the more you do this the easier it becomes.
As the Lord leads me, I will post what I have experienced in my time of worship in order for you to see what you can expect. At times, I may post some additional teaching on the subject.
But, the main purpose for this Blog is to encourage you to either begin or continue to develop a lifestyle of worship. This could very well be one of the most revolutionary steps you have ever taken in your walk with Jesus.
I look forward to sharing with you my Journey Into Private Worship.
As I listened to Pastor Dave teach and saw the change which had taken place in him I knew this Private Worship was for me. I went home to Florida and locked myself away in my back bedroom and proceeded to offer up my worship to Jesus. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months until finally the financial pressure was so great that I eventually found myself back in the work force and my extended times of worship had decreased to almost nothing.
Since then, my wife Debbie and I have moved to Tulsa, OK and now attend the Prayer Center, pastored by Dave Roberson. Frequently, the Lord has had me teach at our 8:30 am services. A couple of weeks prior to Labor Day the Lord directed me to begin once again to spend extended periods of time in Private Worship. I discovered that I was not having to start over from the beginning. Instead, it wasn't any time at all before I could see that I had merely picked up where I had left off in the process of developing in Private Worship.
One of the key verses in which Jesus talks about worship is in John, Chapter 4, when He met the woman at the well. It is in this encounter that Jesus made the statement, verse 24, "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth." When He said "in spirit", He was not describing a spiritual realm people reach when they say, "We are in the spirit." As if to say, "Finally, we pressed in hard enough until now we are 'in the spirit.'" No, that is not what Jesus was referring to. What Jesus was referring to was our reborn human spirit. Once we are born again our spirit man is reborn and we are finally able to communicate with God, spirit to Spirit. No one is capable of having such a relationship with Jesus until they are born again.
Now that we are born again, we are able to give our Heavenly Father and Jesus what they have wanted since time began. We are able to fellowship with our creator through the avenue of our spirit communing with Him.
As a result of this change, anywhere at any time we are capable of getting alone with God and offering up worship to Him.
Most people have never considered worship outside of the few moments spent at the beginning of most church services. Generally, a few songs are sung and that is the extent of the worship portion of the service. Too often, people stand singing songs about the love of Jesus all the while harboring hate in their heart for their neighbor. People stand and sing, maybe even lifting up their hands in worship, but their minds have ventured off down the street thinking about what will happen later that day or next week. Is this really worship?
Look again at what Jesus said in John 4, verse 23. The last part of this verse says, "for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." God has been seeking people who are able to offer Him worship out of this reborn human spirit. For Jesus to say that the Father is seeking this kind of person to offer to Him this worship is a very strong statement. He did not say God was seeking people through whom He could manifest miracles. He did not say God was seeking people through whom endless prayers could be prayed. No, He said specifically that God the Father seeks worshipers.
So, if God the Father is seeking worshipers with such a longing as only God can have then it only stands to reason that He must want something more than just lip service at the beginning of the church service.
Yes, in fact He wants much more of our time devoted to Him in worship. Our worship of God needs to become a lifestyle, but in order to reach that place there will be some dry times when our worship seems to fall from our lips to the floor. "I worship You, Jesus." The next sound we hear is, "Splat". That is the sound of our words falling to the floor. We get a spatula and toss them back up to God and once again say, "I worship You, Jesus". Once again, "Splat".
So, what's happening? Even when it seems our worship is getting no higher than our nose, rest assured God receives every word. Whether or not we feel anything is irrelevant. Too often, Christians make the mistake of thinking that because they feel nothing then nothing is happening. Wrong! The Journey we must make will require us to offer up our soul on the altar of worship until its lordship over our lives is broken. For most of us, this will not be a short journey. Slowly but surely as we stay in our closet and offer up worship to Him our flesh is being worn down little by little until finally one day His presence can come and stay because we have created a place for Him to dwell.
This is the journey we are embarking on together. Join me by scheduling daily time devoted to nothing but worship. Separate yourself from all the distractions and focus all your attention on Jesus and your Heavenly Father. Begin to tell God how much you love Him and adore Him. Don't stop. Continue offering up worship. Speak words of adoration. Slowly the minutes will go by. At times you might find that it is easier. Other times may seem like you are marking off the seconds until you are finished. Be diligent about doing this. One thing I can tell you from my own experience is that the more you do this the easier it becomes.
As the Lord leads me, I will post what I have experienced in my time of worship in order for you to see what you can expect. At times, I may post some additional teaching on the subject.
But, the main purpose for this Blog is to encourage you to either begin or continue to develop a lifestyle of worship. This could very well be one of the most revolutionary steps you have ever taken in your walk with Jesus.
I look forward to sharing with you my Journey Into Private Worship.
3 comments:
Mark, I am so excited to see this wonderful message about true worship in the spirit getting out to believers around the world. I live in the UK and the Church over here really needs a real move of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. I have been downloading and devouring teachings from the Prayer Center for some years now (including your recent private worship series) and my life in Christ has been gradually transformed as I have allowed to Holy Spirit to work in me, as I'm sure that it has in many believers around the world. Thank you for your ministry and I am looking forward to sharing in your journey. I have started (and stopped) quite a few times now, both with private worship and praying in tongues, but the Holy Spirit keeps drawing me back when I allow this time to slip away and daily concerns seem to become so all-consuming. Anyway, your teachings keep inspiring me to continue and look forward. Thank you once again, and may our wonderful Lord richly bless you and your family.
Dr Steve Bowlzer
Durham, UK
Great first Blog... endurance and perseverance will be with you to keep blogging. Like the look and style.
It's good I found this website. I've listened and read Dave Roberson on Tongues and I'm beginning to go through his private worship series. I'm hoping to spend an extended time worshiping God this month and next.
I'm glad to see some articles about this area. Would love to contact you about this area. Cheers.
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