Worship is the way to hear the voice of the Lord. Just as you spend time with the one you love and begin to know their likes and dislikes. The sound of their voice when their agitated, uptight, happy, sad. It all comes from those intimate moments. Worship is our intimate moment with the Father, our time alone without asking for anything but to know him deeper. To feel his presence and the joy that it brings.
We have the option to love the Lord. The greatest choice we could ever make is to know the Father on a deeper level. To experience Him and His glory on a greater level. Worship takes us into the throne room of the King. Where His love overpowers our sensibilities and brings us to tears and laughter all at the same time. Worship is the key. It is the lifter of the heaviest burden, our light within the darkest days. It’s a love that fills every void in our soul while building us up in our belief in ourselves, in the dreams that He deposited within us. It is the embrace that we all crave. There is no greater compassion I have ever felt than the compassion within the Fathers embrace. I felt this embrace for the first time in a prison cell in my early 20’s.
Sentenced to 15 years for carjacking, kidnapping and armed robbery I sat on the side of my bunk stressed out. I was saved for a number of years. Went to all the bible studies and read my bible consistently. But that night I learned something no amount of reading could provide.
It began with me mourning my situation. I was 20 years old and this was my first offense, and for a ruthless crime. Seven years with no visit from family. Holiday’s when everyone else was getting ready for visit I had steeled my mind to see Christmas, thanksgiving, even my birthday as just another day. It was the way I kept my sanity. To see these special days as just regular days so I wouldn’t have to worry about my hopes being dashed when a letter didn’t come or my visitors didn’t show. This was my mindset when the Lord began to speak to me. He told me something I have never forgotten. As I sat there I heard him ask, “When have you ever called and I have not been there. Every time you call I’m there. You have never been alone. It is me that causes people to send you money. I’m the one who place the desire on their hearts. I’m the one who provides them with the jobs. I’m the one who touches the hearts of those around you to show you favor. I have never left you.”
In my late 20s sitting in a level 3 prison the tears began to come. They came and I let them come. And as they fell I felt something I’d never felt before. I felt His love. It covered me. Held me and told me that I was not alone. That even in this situation He would empower me and that He’d always empowered me.
Everything changed after that day. Not that things were always perfect because they weren’t. But I learned how to worship. I learned how to worship because I finally experienced the tangible love of the Father and I was able to see all the times, feel all the times that love was active in my life. I worshipped because I was thankful for His mercy, for his grace and for his love.
Worship is born out love. From that moment I could truly love my Dad. See it wasn’t until this moment that the GOD and Father of the Bible became personal to me. More than just theology, more than just religious talk, more than just an idea. That day taught me how to worship and allowed me to feel the arms of GOD. Now I understood why worship was so powerful. It escorts you into the throne room of the King, strengthens your relationship and gives you the power to endure all things.
Worship is a gift given by the Father to a people he redeemed. Allowing us to once again walk with Him hand in hand.
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