5 Habits - Worship #1
Welcome to Everyday Devotions. These daily Bible readings and Prayer Pathways are designed to help you go deeper with God each day in response to what you are hearing at the Everyday Church services and Life Group gatherings.
Monday 20th January
Welcome to this third week of Everyday Devotions. Over the past two weeks, we have looked at two healthy habits that promote spiritual growth in us – Bible Meditation and Prayer Pathways. This week, we are going to look at a third healthy habit – spending time worshipping God on our own and embracing singing as a means of deepening our friendship with God.
Bible Meditation
John 4:7-26
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
1) Jesus gives some of his clearest teaching about worship to an adulterous nonbeliever. How does that encourage you when you come to think about worshipping God? What does it tell you about how much God prizes your own worship?
2) What do you think Jesus means in verses 23-24 when he says that God is looking for people who “worship in the Spirit and in truth”? What does it look like to worship God ‘in the flesh’ and ‘in pretence’? How is it different to worshipping God ‘in the Spirit’ and ‘in truth’?
The worship leader Matt Redman comments on these verses that “Worship is a state of heart; musical sound is a state of art. Let’s not confuse them. The critical question is not ‘Do you have a voice?’ but ‘Do you have a song?’”
3) Do you ever use your lack of singing ability as a reason not to worship God in song when you are on your own? How does Matt Redman’s explanation of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman encourage you to sing songs to God anyway?
Ephesians 5:19-20
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4) Did you notice that the apostle Paul does not just tell the Ephesians who have good singing voices to sing worship songs to the Lord? He encourages them all to sing! How does this encourage you personally?
5) Did you also notice the activity of all three Persons of the Trinity in this call to worship God with singing? God the Holy Spirit helps you to sing songs in the name of God the Son to the glory of God the Father. It’s like an invitation to join in with the dance that the Triune God is dancing. The three Persons of the Trinity are pouring out their love for one another, and they invite us to join in with them as well. Is this something that you would like to learn to do more and more?
Prayer Pathway
If you would, then spend some time praying The Trinity Prayer. Linger over the rich meaning of 2 Corinthians 13:14 – “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
THE LOVE OF GOD: Worship God the Father for his deep love towards you. Be as specific as you can about the ways in which you have witnessed his love towards you.
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Worship Jesus the Son of God for his grace towards you. Praise him for dying on the cross to be your Saviour and for rising from the dead to be your Lord. Thank him for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Worship the Holy Spirit as your Senior Partner, who has come to dwell inside you so that you can worship God in the Spirit and in truth.
THE LOVE OF GOD: Worship God the Father for his deep love towards you. Be as specific as you can about the ways in which you have witnessed his love towards you.
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Worship Jesus the Son of God for his grace towards you. Praise him for dying on the cross to be your Saviour and for rising from the dead to be your Lord. Thank him for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Worship the Holy Spirit as your Senior Partner, who has come to dwell inside you so that you can worship God in the Spirit and in truth.
End with Worship
We are introducing a new element to these Everyday Devotions to put some of what God has said to you today into practice.
In order to help you to respond to God in sung worship, we have created two playlists for you on Spotify.
The Everyday Devotions playlist contains a handful of songs which are particularly relevant to our Everyday Devotions this week. This song list changes each week along with our devotions.
The Everyday Church Song List playlist contains most of the songs that we are singing right now across the venues of Everyday Church. This is a wider song list for you to play throughout the day to help you worship as you wash up, as you drive, as you shower, as you sit on the bus and as you go about your daily life in other ways.
If you are somewhere where you can sing loudly, why not use these two playlists to end your devotions by singing some songs of worship to the Lord? If you are on the bus or train, why not put on your headphones and sing in your heart to God instead?
In order to help you to respond to God in sung worship, we have created two playlists for you on Spotify.
The Everyday Devotions playlist contains a handful of songs which are particularly relevant to our Everyday Devotions this week. This song list changes each week along with our devotions.
The Everyday Church Song List playlist contains most of the songs that we are singing right now across the venues of Everyday Church. This is a wider song list for you to play throughout the day to help you worship as you wash up, as you drive, as you shower, as you sit on the bus and as you go about your daily life in other ways.
If you are somewhere where you can sing loudly, why not use these two playlists to end your devotions by singing some songs of worship to the Lord? If you are on the bus or train, why not put on your headphones and sing in your heart to God instead?
Comment: to friends on social media by using the hashtag #WeAreEveryday
Connect: We’d really like your feedback on how these Everyday Devotions are helping you and how we might help you even better. Talk to us by emailing: devotions@everyday.org.uk
Continue: your connection with us by attending our Online Church Service
Connect: We’d really like your feedback on how these Everyday Devotions are helping you and how we might help you even better. Talk to us by emailing: devotions@everyday.org.uk
Continue: your connection with us by attending our Online Church Service