Private Worship, Part 6

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

7. Perspective

Make sure that you private worship is multi-perspectival. In other words, incorporate different elements into your worship that shall serve to draw you nearer to the Lord. Here are a few different elements you might want to try:

Bible – This, as previously mentioned, is most important. Remember to have a plan. You will most likely stay on track when you have a systematic way of progressing throughout the year. Find a good 1 or 2 year through the Bible reading plan, and do your best to stick with it. And if you don’t, just keep reading – don’t read to finish, read the be changed.

Prayer – A vibrant prayer life is an eclectic prayer life. It is helpful to sometimes use lists or written prayers. Pray through passages in the Bible. Sometimes your prayer should be spontaneous, sometimes short, and sometimes long. It is also helpful to use resources that will help you remain mindful of the global work of Christ like Voice of the Martyrs or Operation World.

Journal – Something like the ESV Journaling Bible is useful in private worship, along with, perhaps, another journal for miscellaneous notes regarding your daily life, prayers, and what God may currently be working in your life. Journaling is helpful as you take the time to reflect.

Song(s) – God doesn’t care if you have a bad voice! The bible gives instruction to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to the Lord with your heart (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).

Books – Books are helpful in private worship to get you to think more deeply on specific passages (commentaries), theological points, or various elements of Christian living.

8. Pleasure

Worship is for your joy, because joy that causes worship is joy in God. In the book Desiring God, John Piper writes, ” worship is essentially a way of honoring God… worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth… [but] it is necessary to define worship not simply as a way of reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth, but, more precisely, as a way of doing it gladly.” In all forms of worship, it is important to fight against the tendency to relegate it to a simple duty, and to pray that God would grant the deepest sense of delight. A fundamental aspect of private worship is the delighting of oneself in the Lord: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Fight for joy in God, that your worship may be complete.