Adoration

Our church recently hosted an unusual prayer meeting. We sang worship songs and prayed following the ACTS model. A stands for adoration, C for confession, T for thanksgiving, and S for supplication. I’d like to address each of these over the next few weeks. So today we’ll begin at the beginning and concentrate on adoration.

I wish you could have been with us at our prayer meeting as individuals poured out their hearts in adoration. It was a beautiful time of worshiping God for who He is. Not for what He’s done. We addressed that later. And not with self-centered words like me, my, and ours. Those were replaced by You and Yours, concentrating on God alone. That experience has challenged me in my prayer life to remember to worship and adore at God’s throne before I start begging for things.

There are many songs, old and new, that are full of adoration. Here are a few phrases that come to mind. “Only Thou art holy, merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.” “Father, we love You, we worship and adore You, Glorify thy name in all the earth.” “Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes. Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.” “You are beautiful beyond description, majesty enthroned above.” “Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy to receive glory. Glory and honor and pow’r.” 

Of course, many of the great songs of worship are based on the Scriptural hymnal, the book of Psalms. “For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth” (Psalm 47:2, ESV). “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate” (Psalm 145:5). “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).

And here’s one of my favorite verses from the New Testament. “To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 1:25).

Sometimes when I’m awake at night, I go through the alphabet thinking of words to describe the Lord. For instance, I silently pray, “Lord, You are amazing. You are beautiful. You are the Creator.” And so on. Try it sometime.

We all need to take deliberate time for adoration. Any time is a good time. Don’t you think that would please our God?