
Thesis #21: “The New Apostolic Epoch” By: P. Douglas Small
“Prayer’s primary purpose is transformation.”
We have reduced worship to its ingredients – music, praise, extended hands, vibrant and joyful song, and a positive good news message. In all that, we miss true worship. Worship is, as the word suggests, a declaration of value – worth-ship. It is the worth of God that elicits true worship. And that requires exposure to God, and to His Presence – that God be seen and revealed. Our humanistic version of worship obscures God and fixates instead on our worth. All that we are and bring to worship pales in comparison to the incomparable and sovereign God. It is a candle against the sunlight, a breath against a storm. Such contrasts foster humility, so absent from contemporary worship (1 Chronicles 16:25-29; Psalms 99, 100; Revelation 4:8-11)
25) For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods.
26) For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
27) Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and gladness are in His place.
28) Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength.
29) Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
(1 Chronicles 16:25-29 NKJV)
Psalm 99:1-9
01)The Lord reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved!
02) The Lord is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples.
03) Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.
04) The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
05) Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy.
06) Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
07) He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.
08) You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
09) Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.
(Psalm 99:1-9 NKJV)
Psalm 100:1-5
01)Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
02) Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
03) Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
04) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
05) For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
(Psalm 100:1-5 NKJV)
Revelation 4:8-11
08)The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
09) Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10) the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11) “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation 4:8-11 NKJV
Prayer: O God, keep us on task in our worship of You.
You said in the Bible that “…the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24 NKJV). With all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we believe that time has come!
Your worth and value to us can’t be spoken in a single day or even at a certain time. It can only be lived by demonstrating our loyalty, our devotion and our own personal faith in Your sovereignty over our lives!
We can, and we do, give you thanks, as our creator, as the creator of the whole earth! May our worship be birthed from knowing You, not from doing what we think is the right thing to do in our worship of You. You have made Yourself known to us through the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit. Guide us each day to know You better and better, that we can make you known to others through the testimony we live before them. Lord Jesus, we want to know You! And experience the mighty power that raised You from the dead. WE want to suffer with You! We want to share in Your death, so that one way or another we will experience the resurrection from the dead! (Taken from Philippians 3:10-11 NLT)
In Your Name Jesus, we pray! Amen!
