I have talked about the mind-heart posture in part one, The Landscape. In part 2, I went further into the tangible gift of our words to glorify Him, in ‘The Gift of My Words’. Now let’s go further with Reciprocation.
As I continue placing palm leaves at His feet, I imagine a window of heaven opening up and blessings being released upon me. I see my blessings (in my mind). And I just receive here. What do you imagine blessings straight from heaven would look like? What would it feel like? Maybe just warm love falling upon you? Honestly, whatever you need it to be works here. I believe this is what church folk mean when they say spend time in the Lord and bask in His presence. Or when they say spend time and develop a relationship with Him. This part of the session is the time to remember His promise to us in Deuteronomy 28:12 ESV, “The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.”
When you “see” a window of heaven and you begin “receiving”—your heart takes on a second posture. It turns from a posture of thanks and joy to a child-like posture of just receiving from Him the things that only He can supply. As we cannot receive anything in Christ Jesus on our own. In Matthew 18:3 ESV, Jesus says, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” We should come to Him as a child as part of our worship and praise.
Don’t get me wrong...all worship and praise doesn’t need to include the part of reciprocation. Most times, I just want to end in thank and praise. However, we all have needs and what better time to express them than when you are in an atmosphere of His presence. Yes, you have His attention here so why not lay this at His feet as well? When the Holy Spirit shows up (described in Part 2) and my mouth continues to say words of adoration to The Lord, I begin picturing my needs in my mind. I will, for example, picture a person who needs healing in my mind while my mouth is actively worshiping. Amazing things happen for me when I do this. He has and continues to move on my behalf. So “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13 ESV
This is the final part of the 3 part series about worship & praise. If you would like to be alerted to when I upload a new post, go to the home page of this website and enter your email next to the subscribe button.
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