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“The praying imagination is unbound through worship.”
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I sat on this Entry for a while. There’s a weightiness to it, an otherness that remains beyond me. But I think that’s the idea with such things—we don’t get to grasp and master them . . . with time, patience, and persistence, we are grasped by them.
Today, I want to venture into the relationship between worship and experiencing the Presence of God.
Have you ever had a moment in worship when you became overwhelmed by God’s goodness and closeness? In these moments, God’s presence becomes Reality itself, and the only reasonable response is to rest and receive. “The work of worship,” writes Eugene Peterson, “gathers everything in our common lives that has been dispersed by sin and brings it to attention before God.”
But too often we limit worshipful moments to Sunday mornings and Spotify playlists. Worship is, of course, more than a song—it is a form of wandering into the worthiness of God. There’s a reason why worship and worth are inextricably linked (and not just phonetically)—to worship is to know and declare the worthiness of God.
As we lay down our self-sufficiency, taking our focus off ourselves, we become more grounded in God’s Omni-Nature, finding eyes to see that the whole earth is full of His glory (and that even includes us, His “very good” work). The holiness of God invites us to see Him in the wholeness of creation, for the Eternal One is indeed the Source of all goodness, truth, and beauty.
Response
I know I’ve given you a bit of lofty language, so I want to now offer two practical things for the days ahead.
First, I hope you feel challenged to wander into the worthiness of God this week, to be grasped by God’s holiness and respond accordingly. Worship belongs to the sacredness of the everyday just as it belongs to the sanctity of corporate gatherings.
Second, I want to remind you that when you enter these holy moments, don’t try to sort out how you arrived. When you are there, just be there. These moments are gifts from the Presence. When experiencing them, the best way to end the experience is to become its master. All you should do is rest, receive, and respond as God leads. With that being said, there is a clear pathway into these moments, one built on reverence and expectation. But let God be God. Let him be the Hero and guide you through the experience. Your job is to just participate in what He’s doing.
Closing Thoughts
The praying imagination is unbound through worship. If you’re struggling to find the right words to have with God, take a step back, quiet your heart, and let your words wander into the majesty of God. Making your prayers less about you and more about Him is the best thing you can do for God . . . and for yourself.
Praying with you,
Addison
P.S. If you have read the Words with God book, it would mean the world if you could take a few minutes and write an Amazon review. Reviews help make the book more visible, and I’m praying that this book finds everyone who struggles to have words with their Heavenly Father. Thank you.
