Your Daily Devotional for August 5, 2007

 

August 5,  2007

 

 

Keeping Our Worship Pure

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

 

John 16:23-24

 

 

Someone once said, "We don't worship what should be used, and we don't use what should be worshipped." Something within us wants to use God more than we want to worship Him. We want Him to forgive our sins and take us to Heaven. We also want Him to give us health and protect our country and our families. We may fervently pray to God, but sometimes we may fail to worship Him.

 

During the month of August, we are focusing on the Ten Commandments. The first commandment shows us that God desires to be above everything else in our lives. The second commandment shows us that we should keep our worship of Him pure. We should not have any graven images before Him. Today we will learn how we can keep our worship pure through prayer.

 

We must spend time with God each day, not only when we desire His blessing on us. A form of idolatry is using God to meet our own personal needs without worshipping Him for who He is. Many people wear a cross or carry a small idol to use when they need something, yet they live their lives in a way that dishonors the Lord! While we may not carry around idols, we can sometimes be guilty of "using God."

 

Have you ever needed something and fervently prayed for it, yet forgot to thank God after He blessed you? Or have you ever rushed through your morning, neglecting your time with God, but later prayed that He would bless the task you had to do? God is not a genie in a bottle who grants our every wish. He is our Lord and Saviour! He is a loving God who gave His only Son for us and who desires to personally meet with us each day! We must make sure we meet with God each day, worshipping Him through prayer and not only when we desperately need Him.

 

We must also pray for His will to be done. While we may say we desire God's will to be done in our lives, we must make sure we pray for His will. Sometimes, we can see our need and pray for God to meet it, but God may have a different plan. We should not get upset or become bitter when our prayers are not answered exactly how we would like. We must trust God and pray for His will to be done in our lives.

 

While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, a police officer was interrupted by a little girl about six years old. Looking up and down at his uniform, she asked, "Are you a policeman?" "Yes," he answered and continued writing the report. "My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?" "Yes, that's right," the officer told her. "Well, then," she said as she extended her foot toward him, "would you please tie my shoe?"

 

God desires that we would worship Him by coming before Him in child-like faith and laying our requests at His feet. God desires that we would meet with Him each day and spend time worshipping Him through prayer. We should never get so busy that we treat God as a magic genie who grants our every wish. We must come before Him each day and pray that His will would be done.

 

How is your prayer life? Are you meeting with God each day? Also, are you praying for His will to be done through your circumstances? We may not always understand God's will, but we must trust Him. Spend time with God right now. Worship Him by taking your requests before Him and praying for His will to be done. He desires to meet our needs and bless us, but we must make sure our worship of Him is pure in our prayer lives.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 68-69 • Romans 8:1-21

 

 

 

 

 

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