Spark Notes 7/8

Pray Reading the Word

Worship with the Word. Jesus is the Word made flesh.

What is worship? To bow down; to lay prostrate.

After Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness, the devil tried to tempt Jesus. The tempter told Jesus that if he would bow down to him, he would be given all the kingdoms of the world. (Matthew 4). Isn't it interesting that the devil desired Jesus to bow down before him.

Worship also means to serve, to adore, to minister to, to give reverence, love and devotion.

Something that jumps out is that all of these things are actions. You cannot worship the Lord without doing something whether it is something coming from your mouth or a physical movement from your body.

In John 4, Jesus meets the woman at the well. The woman asks Jesus where she should worship? What is the right place? But Jesus responds that worship is in your heart. It's not about a place, but the posture of your heart.

The Word of God (Bible) should lead us to encounter the Word of God (Jesus). What is written leads us to encounter the person of God.

Lyle shared a personal testimony about his past where his personal time with the Lord and in the Word was out of duty, ritual, or responsibility. The Holy Spirit used it and breathed on it, but not very often did he read the Word and expect an encounter or interaction with the Lord.

Reading the Bible can be a dialogue with God; a conversation with our Heavenly Father.  Lyle then gave an example of how to pray - read the Word. Starting with Psalm 139, Lyle would read a portion, then pray a response of what is on his heart from reading that. To listen how Lyle pray - read through Psalm 139, click here (begin at 30:30).

To watch the entire service, click here. 

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