Teach Me to Worship

As I was praying, I was very conscious of my inablility to pray with words fitting my Maker. I prayed, "Lord, teach me to worship You acceptably." Much to my joy, He answered:

When you accept whatever situation you are in without murmuring,

you are worshipping Me.

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When you can rejoice in Me in the midst of your infirmities,

you are worshipping Me.

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When I have brought pressures to bear upon you to bring out

the gold of My nature and you bear them patiently--

blaming not Me, nor another person, nor yourself--

then you are truly worshipping Me.

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When you can "forgive yourself" for your weaknesses and

failures and cease expecting your human nature to bring

forth perfection, you are worshipping Me.

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When you have come to the place of recognizing and

acknowledging that "of myself I can do nothing",

then do I have praise of thee.

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When you can look upon a wasted life and agree that

I can and will make this one every whit whole--

that this is My desire--then you have offered Me

true worship, for you have seen My true nature.

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When you look upon My natural creation and the beauty of it

and magnify Me, than I am worshipped.

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When you hear My word within you saying

"This is the way--walk ye in it",

and ye obey My word with rejoicing, I feel worship from thee.

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When you look with compassion upon one who is afflicted,

tossed, and broken, then I am worshipped.

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When you recognize My Body and honor them as My brethren,

this is true worship unto Me.

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When thy lips are silent because of your pain,

and you lift your heart to Me, I feel your worship.

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When you say, "I cannot--please help me!"

then I am worshipped.

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Worship is a heart attitude in every place and situation in which you find yourselves. It acknowledges My Lordship, the righteousness of My nature, the truth of My Word, and the reality of my indwelling presence. You may offer true worship at all times and in every situation by keeping your heart right toward Me and toward your fellow-man.

Given to Elaine Cook,

May 1994

Bill & Elaine Cook publish "Gospel of the Kingdom", available at www.kingdomgospel.org

"O living flame of love
that tenderly wounds my soul.
In its deepest center! Since
Now you are not oppressive,
Now Consummate! If it be Your will:
Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!
O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
That tastes of eternal life
and pays every debt!
In killing You changed death to life."

~St. John of the Cross

John 12:24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Surrender is mandatory for the Christ Follower. It Is good, it is beautiful, but it is painful. So painful.
I lay my dreams on the alter time and time again, only to watch them burn to ashes before my eyes, my lips moving in silent pleading prayer: “Your Will be done.” Even as my heart screams, no no, no, no, keep them, keep the precious darling dreams and maybe you can figure something out, maybe you can work it out, maybe you can make them happen.
I can’t. I know that, know that deep inside.
Would I want to anyhow? Even if I could wave a magic wand, and magic of magic’s there I would be on the mission field, with my darling husband and sweet babies? If I could love more, help more, and radiate Christ more, all on my very own effort?
God gives us these dreams, desires and hopes and then asks gently for them back. So He can have His way. So He can be glorified. More than if I conjured up something, more than if I pushed and prodded. With brokenness I hand Him every precious one until I can’t see them anymore.
I am left bereft, empty of all. A blank slate for Him to write on.
With nothing to hold to except Him.
Yet, isn’t that exactly where we should long to be? Exactly where I need to be? With Jesus and Jesus alone.
It is most hardest, this surrender thing, when I can see the barest hopeful glimmer of possibility. Even then, He asks for that possibility to be placed in His hands. With tearful pleading I place it there, again and again, and pray and hope, and contemplate, maybes and hows and whys…but He asks me to give up even those and just die. (Mark 8:35)
Surrender feels like death, but death can be a lovely thing when life awaits around the corner. Eternal, marvelous life in Jesus.
Trust in Me.
Wait on Me. Hope in Me.
These are all things Jesus is teaching me, showing me by His love and grace during this particular time of surrender. (‘cause surrender never ends ya know =-)
Perhaps one day these dreams will be resurrected, in a more breath-taking manner than I could have imagined. Perhaps they won’t. I don’t know. Only God knows. That is as it should be…
Not my will but Yours, Lord Jesus. Even as my dreams lay broken like shattered glass, the veil torn from my eyes and hope blazing in my heart. I will surrender again, again, again. Till all of me is Yours.