GodReflection: Is Worship for God or for Me?
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him (Mark 10:51).
It seems sort of strange to ask something of an all-knowing God who already knows the details of my daily life and has already told me that He will supply all of my needs.

Is it possible what He really seeks is dialogue with me and accomplishes that by my acknowledgement to Him of what He already knows?

I think of Jesus’ affirmation ‘to see God look at the Son’. It is the same Son who taught “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

It was this Jesus who engaged a blind man in conversation with the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

I wonder if this may not be an important insight into prayer and into my gradual process of change into a better companion of God?

I want to remember I am a child of the Father. One way I accommodate Him is by my own transparency.

The best fathers and son\daughter relationships are based on trust. Those who trust each other can talk with each other. God wants me to engage Him in conversation.

I share with Him my desires, admiration and thankfulness. Just as it was not new news to Him that the blind man desired sight, each of my requests and forms of gratitude do not surprise but rather delight Him.

In my act of prayer my requests, praise and thanksgiving bring us into conversation. God wants to hear from His children.

I Pray, God listens, reads my heart and acts for me. How does that thesis play out in a public worship assembly?

Sure, I am free at any point throughout the worship assembly to engage with Father God just as it were with any other time of the week when I happen to be alone. But, is there a benefit in corporate prayer?

To be honest, there are times when corporate prayer does not aid my worship. When led with routine, dull and memorized words I have a difficult time with a hardy AMEN endorsement from my heart.

However, when a leader has taken the time and made the effort to assess what is truly on his or her heart I find blessings appear in my prayer path. I am encouraged when others voice thoughts that I may have misjudged as only unique to me. I am humbled when others express doubts and fears very close to my own.

When a leader draws the congregation into the prayer there is a sense of an increased power-flow from the room to the throne. In those times the phrase, I Pray, God listens, reads my heart and acts for me, rings true.

And, our conversation has honored the Father AND blessed me.

I would love to hear from you on specific times when prayer that flowed from group worship blessed your walk.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection: I Pray, God Listens, Reads My Heart and Acts for Me.

Gary@Godreflection.org
http://www.GodReflection.org
http://www.MakeYourVisionGoViral.com