10 The Heart Of Worship

 

 

 

PURPOSE # 1

 

 

You Were Planned For God's Pleasure

 

 

 For God has planed them like strong

and graceful oaks for his own glory.

Isaiah 61:3

 

 

10 The Heart of Worship

 

 

Give yourselves to God...

Surrender your whole being to him

to be used for righteous purposes.

Romans 6:13

 

The heart of worship is surrender.

Surrender is an unpopular word,

disliked almost as much as the word submission.

It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser.

Surrender evokes the unpleasant images of

admitting defeat in battle, forfeiting a game,

or yielding to a stronger opponent.

The word is almost always used in a negative context.

Captured criminals surrender to authorities.

 

In today's competitive culture we are taught

to never give up and never give in—

so we don't hear much about surrendering.

If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable.

We would rather talk about winning, succeeding, overcoming, and conquering

than yielding, submitting, obeying, and surrendering.

 

But surrendering to God is the heart of worship.

It is the natural response to God's amazing love and mercy.

We give ourselves to him,

not out of fear or duty, but in love,

"because he first loved us."

1 John 4:9-10, 19

 

"So then, my friends,

because of God's great mercy to us...

offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God,

dedicated to his service and pleasing to him.

This is the true worship that you should offer."

Romans 12:1

True worship—bringing God pleasure—

happens when you give yourself completely to God.

Notice the first and last words of that verse are the same: offer.

Offering yourself to God is

what worship is all about.

 

This act of personal surrender is called many things:

consecration, making Jesus your Lord,

taking up your cross, dying to self, yielding to the Spirit.

God wants your life—all of it.

There are three barriers that block our total surrender to God:

fear, pride, and confusion.

We don't realize how much God loves us,

we want to control our own lives,

and we misunderstand the meaning of surrender.

 

Can I trust God?

Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender.

You won't surrender to God unless you trust him,

but you can't trust him until you know him better.

Fear keeps us from surrendering,

but love casts out all fear.

The more you realize how much God loves you,

the easier surrender becomes.

 

How do you know God loves you?

He gives you many evidences:

God says he loves you;

Psalm 145:9

you're never out of his sight;

Psalm 139:3

he cares about every detail of your life;

Matthew 10:30

he gave you the capacity to enjoy all kinds of pleasure;

1 Timothy 6:17b

he has good plans for your life;

Jeremiah 29:11

he forgives you;

Psalm 86:5

and he is lovingly patient with you.

Psalm 145:8

God loves you infinitely more than you can imagine.

 

"God proves his love for us in that

while we still were sinners

Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

God is a lover and a liberator,

and surrendering to him brings freedom, not bondage.

When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus,

we discover that he is not a tyrant, but a savior;

not a boss, but a brother;

not a dictator, but a friend.

 

Admitting our limitations.

A second barrier to total surrender is our pride.

We don't want to admit that we're just creatures

and not in charge of everything.

It is the oldest temptation:

"You'll be like God!"

Genesis 3:5

That desire—to have complete control—

is the cause of so much stress in our lives.

 

A. W. Tozer said,

"The reason why many are still troubled,

still seeking, still making little forward progress is

because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves.

We're still trying to give orders,

and interfering with God's work within us."

 

We want to have it all and do it all,

and we become upset when it doesn't happen.

Then when we notice that

God gave others characteristics we don't have,

we respond with envy, jealousy, and self-pity.

 

What it means to surrender.

Surrendering to God is not passive resignation,

fatalism or an excuse for laziness.

It is not accepting the status quo.

It may mean the exact opposite;

sacrificing your life or suffering in order to change

what needs to be changed.

God wants to use your unique personality.

Rather than its being diminished, surrendering enhances it.

 

C. S. Lewis observed,

"The more we let God take us over,

the more truly ourselves we become—

because he made us.

He invented all the different people

that you and I were intended to be...

It is when I turn to Christ,

when I give up myself to His personality,

that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."

 

Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience.

"Master, we've worked hard all night

and haven't caught anything.

But beacuse you say so,

I will let down the nets."

Luke 5:5

Surrendered people obey God's word,

even if it doesn't make sense.

 

Another aspect of a fully surrendered life is trust.

Abraham followed God's leading

without knowing where it would take him.

Hannah waited for God's perfect timing without knowing when.

Mary expected a miracle without knowing how.

Joseph trusted God's purpose

without knowing why circumstances happened the way they did.

Each of these people were fully surrendered to God.

 

You know you're surrendered to God

when you rely on God to work things out

instead of trying to manipulate others,

force your agenda, and control the situation.

You let go and let God work.

You don't have to always be "in charge."

"Surrender yourself to the Lord,

and wait patiently for him."

Psalm 37:7a

Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships.

You don't edge others out, you don't demand your rights,

and you aren't self-serving when you're surrendered.

 

The most difficult area to surrender

for many people is their money.

Jesus said,

"You cannot serve both God and money"

Matthew 6:24

and "Wherever your treasure is,

your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:21

 

The supreme example of self-surrender is Jesus.

"Father, everything is possible for you.

Please take this cup of suffering away from me.

Yet I want your will, not mine."

Mark 14:36

Genuine surrender says,

"Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed

to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another's,

please don't take it away."

Surrender is hard work.

In our case, it is intense warfare

against our self-centered nature.

 

The blessing of surrender.

First, your experience peace:

"Stop quarreling with God!

If you agree with him,

you will have peace at last,

and things will go well for you."

Job 22;21

Next, you experience freedom:

"Offer yourselves to the ways of God

and the freedom never quits...

[his] commands set you free

to live openly in his freedom!"

Romans 6:17

Third, you experience God's power in your life.

 

As Joshua approached the biggest battle of his life,

Joshua 5:13-15

he encountered God, fell in worship before him,

and surrendered his plans.

That surrender led to a stunning victory at Jericho.

This is the paradox:

Victory comes through surrender.

Surrender doesn't weaken you; it strenthens you.

Surrendered to God,

you don't have to fear or surrender to anything else.

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said,

"The greatness of a man's power is in the measure of his surrender."

 

Surrendered people are the ones God uses.

"I'm the Lord's servant,

and I am willing to accept

whatever he wants."

Luke 1:38

Nothing is more powerful than a surrendered life in the hands of God.

"So give yourselves completely to God."

James 4:7a

 

The best way to live.

E stanley Jones said,

"If you don't surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos."

Surrender is not the best way to live;

it is the only way to live.

Nothing else works.

The King James Version calls surrender

"your reasonable service."

Romans 12:1 (KJV)

Another version translates it

"the most sensible way to serve God."

Romans 12:1 (CEV)

 

Surrendering your life is not a foolish emotional impulse

but a rational, intelligent act,

the most responsible and sensible thing you can do with your life.

That is why Paul said,

"So we make it our goal to please him."

2 Corinthians 5:9

Your wisest moments will be those when you say yes to God.

You cannot fulfill God's purposes for your life

while focusing on your own plans.

 

You will be life Paul:

"I am ready for anything

and equal to anything through Him

who infuses inner strength into me,

that is, I am self-sufficient

in Christ's sufficiency."

Philippians 4:13

"I die daily."

1 Corinthians 15:31

There is a moment of surrender,

and there is the practice of surrender,

which is moment-by-moment and lifelong.

 

Jesus said,

"If people want to follow me,

they must give up the things they want.

They must be willing to give up

their lives daily to follow me."

Luke 9:23

 

Now is your time to surrender—

to God's grace, love, and wisdom.

 

 

 

 

DAY TEN

Thinking About My Purpose

 

Point to Ponder: The heart of worship is surrender.

 

Verse to Remember: "Surrender your whole being to him

to be used for righteous purposes."

Romans 6:13b

 

Question to Consider; What area of my life

am I holding back form God?

 

 

p 77~84

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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