This is going to sound weird and horrible, but bear with me. I realized on Sunday that I haven’t written much, if not at all about one of the most important things I can do as a Christ follower. You can scour through the w180 archives and you probably won’t find much about prayer. Why? I don’t know. I do talk about praying for people and things (see Sunday’s post), but I haven’t done much talking in depth about it and how it pertains to worship. So guess what I’m going to do today (in my Phineas voice)? If you haven’t guessed it yet, well…we are going to talk about prayer.

I can say that I have come a long way from “Now I lay me down to sleep…”, but when I think about that prayer that my parents taught me at a young age I think about how I was taught then to petition the Lord for my needs. The simplicity of that prayer was a foundation builder for my approach to prayer even today. I didn’t know it then, but I was creating my relationship with Christ during that few seconds each night that I prayed for restful sleep. From there I learned to pray for other people, upcoming tests, and even frivolously to not get into TOO much trouble when I broke the rules. It was much later that I learned that about the effectiveness of prayer in the lives of Christians and how it’s a critical part of this lifestyle. The Bible talks a whole lot about prayer because of the extreme importance. Just click on this link and go through all the different passages about prayer and see the different situations in which prayer is mentioned.

Prayer and worship go hand in hand. When I was growing up we used to have an altar call every Sunday right in the middle of the service. I actually used to loathe this time when I was younger because it took FOREVER! But as I look back at those times, I remember how people used to walk to the front and the petitions would be laid at the altar. I can still hear “Pray for me, pray for me. O-ooooOOO my brother, pray for me…” I think in all of my years I went up there like twice. Of course at that time I saw it as taking away from the songs that I would hear. Now that I recognize how effective a time that was for us as a people, it’s hard to find anywhere that places that emphasis and time DURING the worship service. Quick side note, I may be working that time back into the fabric of our worship experience. I’m being moved to do so even as I write this.

Psalm 141:1-2 gives us a unfiltered moment between David and the Lord where in verse 1 David cries out to God to hear his prayer. Then in verse 2 he asks that his lifted hands (worship) be “as the evening sacrifice”. I think it was on purpose that David was in prayer and worship at the same time. We cannot overlook the importance of prayer in our worship times. They go hand in hand. I know that for me sometimes prayer seems like something that gets in way of the busyness that is my life. But what would happen if we just slowed down and really talked to the Lord and let Him talk to us? During worship? What a concept…

Here’s a challenge, take some time this week and slow it down long enough to listen to God. Let me know how that goes. I’ll be sure to share my experience as well.

Happy New Year from Worship180! It feels like it has been forever since I blogged, and that’s mostly because it HAS been forever since I blogged. I’m fixing that now and hoping that some of the new ideas I have in my brain give me the boost I need to get back in the game! I won’t tell you everything, but there may or may not be the inclusion of weekly video blogs. Just sayin’…

I’ve been trying to figure out ways to fit this whole blogging thing into a box. It hasn’t worked and it has caused me much frustration. So, this year I’m planning to not try to box it in. I’m going to let it happen and see where God takes it. What does that mean? Well, I don’t know. But join me for the ride, won’t you?

I hope that you all had a fun, safe New Year’s Eve and are doing well enough to find yourselves in a worship service this morning. Since today is Sunday, I happen to have a Sunday Set List to add as well. Just an all around party this morning. Here it is:

Joy to the World-Opener

Song Set

Because of Your Love- Paul Baloche

Hosanna (in the highest)- Brooke Fraser

You Never Let Go- Matt Redman

Communion

Carried to the Table- Leeland

Before I forget, I want to make sure to mention that we pray for Japan. They were hit early this morning with a 7.9 earthquake. From what I understand, there was no damage or anyone hurt, but still. That country has been through quite a bit. So don’t forget them today. Be blessed today and have a wonderful start to this New Year!