by Doug Hunt
Everything in all of creation was made for one ultimate purpose, the worship of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We see this all throughout Scripture. Jesus put it this way in John 4:23, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” The Apostle Paul, wrote in Philippians 2:10-11, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” And in Revelation 5:13, John wrote, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!””
We were all made to worship God. I don’t mean that we have to sing songs all day. Singing is part of worship but worship is much more than that. Here is my definition of worship.
Valuing God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) above ALL things with ALL that we are by responding to ALL that He is.
Worship is about living a life that shows God how much He is worth. Part of our struggle is that it is easy for the realities of everyday life to get us off center from God. We don’t try to devalue God. I am fairly confident that most of us don’t don’t sit around and think, “What can I do today to worship God less than I did yesterday.” But, we drift away from our ultimate purpose in the midst of the craziness of life and before we realize it, God is not the center, we are. As DeVern F. Fromke says, “Believers may not realize it, but even as believers we are either centered on man or centered on God. There is no alternative. Either God is the center of our universe and we have become rightly adjusted to Him, or we have made ourselves the center and are attempting to make all else orbit around us and for us.” It happens to all of us.
When we are at the center, valuing ourselves above all things, we miss out on the best that God has. He is the ultimate joy and wants us to experience His joy through the goodness of worshiping Him.
This leads us to this question, “How do we fight against the current of life that leads us to value self above all things?”
I have found that much of the answer comes in slowly reading, praying, and meditating on the character of God. As my heart and mind see God more clearly, my worship of God increases. As my worship of God increases, I move back into the place I belong. As The Apostle John wrote, “He must increase. I must decrease.”
One of my favorite places in scripture to slowly read, pray and meditate on the character of God is Psalm 145. The Holy Spirit, through David, gave us this rich insight into the character of God. It is beautiful and I have found myself coming back here over and over.
Following are a set of prayers that were born out of my own journey through Psalm 145. They are an invitation to slowly read, pray, meditate and learn to worship. They are an invitation to fight the current of life that leads us to value ourselves over God. They are an invitation to enjoy what you were made for, worshiping God.
The instructions are simple.
- Begin by slowly reading entirely through Psalm 145.
- Each day following, read and pray one of the written prayers.
- After each prayer, pause for a moment and silently think, meditate on how you have seen the characteristics of God in or around your life. If you struggle to recall a way that you have seen that part of God, ask Him to show it to you in an area of life where you need it.
- Journal. Even if you do not typically journal, I would challenge you to try throughout this brief prayer journey. Simply write your own prayer or response to the verses and prayers.
My prayer is that you would enjoy God and grow as a person who worships Him in spirit and in truth. Now as the Psalmist also wrote in Psalm 95:6 and 7, “Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For He is our God…”
Prayer 1
I Come to Worship You
Verses 1 & 2
“I exalt You, my God the King,
and praise Your name forever and ever.
I will praise You every day;
I will honor Your name forever and ever.”
Great and Mighty King!
Turn all of my heart, soul, mind and strength towards You and You alone!
Help me today to see Your greater worth. You are my God.
Help me everyday to tell You how wonderful You are.
I worship You right now. You are my King.
I bow down only to You today. I surrender to You.
You are the only God.
I worship You only today. I put nothing ahead of You.
You are worthy.
As I journey deeper into Your Word to worship You,
Protect me from treating You less than You deserve.
I also ask for Your mercy and patience to cover me while I read, pray, meditate and learn to worship.
My God the King, I have come to worship and grow as someone who worships You in Spirit and Truth.
My God the King, be glorified.
—Amen—
Prayer 2
Greatness
Verse 3
“Yahweh is great and is highly praised;
His greatness is unsearchable.”
God, to say You are great does not seem to do You justice.
But Your greatness is infinite and near impossible to get my mind around.
I worship You for Your greatness right now
As I read and pray this verse, I am reminded of just how small I am and how big You are. But then again, You are God and infinitely bigger than me.
So I pause today and think on Your greatness.
Your greatness is unsearchable!
Your greatness is beyond the capacity of my mind!
Your greatness is far beyond anything else that I consider to be great.
Your greatness is infinite.
There are no limits.
There are no boundaries.
There is nothing else in all of creation that comes close to You and Your greatness.
You are truly great!
So God, I worship You.
As much as I can, with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, I worship You.
You are great and greatly to be praised
—Amen—
Prayer 3
Worth Passing Down
Verse 4-7
“One generation will declare Your works to the next
and will proclaim Your mighty acts.
I will speak of Your glorious splendor
and Your wonderful works.
They will proclaim the power of Your awe-inspiring works,
and I will declare Your greatness.
They will give a testimony of Your great goodness
and will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.”
Mighty God.
I worship You today because everything that You do is filled with power, magnificence, and beauty. Everything You do is perfect! Even when I don’t understand all the details, all that You do is right.
When You work, I gladly stop and worship You. You are all that matters!
So I pray today that my eyes would be open to see You working.
I pray that my mouth will be ready to give You praise.
You are the Mighty God.
As You work, help me, with excitement, tell the story of all that You are doing to the generation behind me.
I pray that they would see just how amazing You truly are.
I pray that the generation behind me would be a generation of people who worship You in Spirit and in Truth. I pray that they would be a generation who passes down the stories of Your greatness to the next generation.
Spread the word of Your greatness through them!
You have done so much! You continue to do so much! You are so good!
If there are any stories in this world worth passing down, they are the stories of You and all that You do!
—Amen—
Prayer 4
What I do Not Deserve
Verse 8
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in faithful love.”
God,
I am so grateful today for this truth about You.
Grace.
Compassion.
Patience.
Love.
I do not deserve any of these things.
But, I need all of them in the way that only You can give.
You give what I do not deserve, life with You.
You feel with me when I hurt.
You choose to withhold anger when I deserve it.
You never stop loving me.
I do not deserve any of those things but You give them anyway!
Thank You Lord! I worship You today for Who You are!
—Amen—
Prayer 5
Soaked
Verse 9
“The Lord is good to everyone;
His compassion rests on all He has made.”
God.
Mighty God.
King.
You are infinitely and perfectly good.
It is mind blowing to pause and think that You have more than enough goodness to go around. So I stop today and reflect on all the ways You have been good to me.
As I reflect, my mind rests on Jesus. Your precious and perfect Son.
Above all, You have been good by sending Him.
I worship You because of the goodness of Jesus.
I worship You because of the compassion of the cross.
Your compassion. Resting. Covering. Soaking. Everything.
Your compassion. Resting. Covering, Soaking. Me.
Your compassion in the form of Your own Son.
Thank You my good and compassionate King.
Thank You!
I worship right now as I am covered in Your goodness and compassion.
—Amen—
Prayer 6
Everlasting and Glorious King
Verse 10-13
“All You have made will praise You, Lord;
the godly will bless You.
They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom
and will declare Your might,
informing [all] people of Your mighty acts
and of the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
Your rule is for all generations.
The Lord is faithful in all His words
and gracious in all His actions.”
Everlasting and glorious King!
That is Who You are and You are worthy of glory and honor for all eternity!
I pray today that my mouth would speak of how wonderful and powerful You are.
I pray that I would see what a great and glorious King You are.
I pray that my response would be one that gives You everything You deserve.
I pray that the generation behind me would see and hear from me just how powerful, good and glorious You are!
Let them be a generation that loves You!
I belong to You my great and glorious King!
To be in Your Kingdom,
one that will never end,
one that is perfect,
one that is filled with Your power, love, and Hope,
Is beyond incredible!
Ofcourse, ALL of Your works, including me, will give You glory forever!
I worship You today and forever my Glorious King!
—Amen—
Prayer 7
You Keep Me Going
Verse 14
“The Lord sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.”
Oh God, thank You for the hope in these words.
You “sustain all who fall”.
That even includes me!
I fall often. I fail. I mess up. I miss the mark.
But You! You God, in Your grace and strength, hold me up!
You keep me going.
You lift me.
You hold me together.
You give me fresh starts.
Thank You for Your grace!
Thank You for Your strength!
Thank You for being with me!
Thank You!
I worship You today, for Your strength that keeps me going.
–Amen–
Prayer 8
The Perfect Provider
Verses 15 & 16
“The eyes of all look to You,
and You give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
God, The Perfect Provider.
I am looking to You today.
I am looking to You because there is no one else who loves me so much that they would give everything I need for life.
Your love, Your provision, Your open hands, Your heart for my satisfaction are unmatched.
You are The Perfect Provider.
So I will keep looking to You and You alone.
I will keep my eyes and my hope expectant, pointing in the perfect direction.
I know that You will always come through with perfect generosity.
I know that You offer perfect satisfaction.
Even when what You give may be different than what I think is best,
I will receive it with gratitude, knowing deep inside that what You have done is perfect.
I worship You today, God, The Perfect Provider!
—Amen—
Prayer 9
Always Right
Verse 17
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all his acts.”
God.
Every single thing that You do is right!
Every thought.
Every motive.
Every plan.
Every action.
Every emotion.
Every Word.
Every instruction.
Every single thing is exactly right.
There is no imperfection in You at all!
That seems impossible for me to get my mind around.
I make so many mistakes all the time.
Yet You never do.
“Everything”! Such a huge word!
What a comforting thought!
To know, even when I don’t fully understand it, that You are always right gives me hope.
So help me to have more faith in You and greater trust in all that say and do.
I worship You today, because You are always right.
—Amen—
Prayer 10
Near
Verse 18
“The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.”
The Lord of all creation.
God of all the universe.
The One who is infinitely greater than everything.
Powerful.
Holding everything together.
The Almighty God.
You are near.
How amazing that You would come close to me when I ask.
I do not want to miss out on You.
So help me call on You in Truth today.
Help me come to You in humility!
Be near to me!
Be near to me!
I worship You, the God who is near.
—Amen—
Prayer 11
Faithful to His Own
Verses 19-20
“He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.”
God, here I am today, bowing down to You and You alone.
I know that I need You.
You are the only One who can truly fulfill my desires. You are the only One who can rescue me. Thank You for being so faithful to me.
I know that You will put Your justice on full display oneday.
That is beyond what I can understand.
I just know that I am Yours and grateful that You are watching over me right now.
God, I also know that You are worth so much more worship than I give You. I do not give You the honor You deserve.
Forgive me and help me worship You in the way You deserve.
Oh, how I love You. Oh, how I love You!
I worship You today, my faithful God.
–Amen–
Prayer 12
Worshipped Forever
Verse 21
“My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.”
Great and Mighty King.
Lord of all Creation.
The Perfect Provider.
The One who does everything right.
Faithful One.
My Sustainer.
Everlasting One.
Intimate Friend.
There has never been and never will be a single moment when You are not worthy to be worshipped with everything that I have.
There has never been and never will be a single moment when You are not worthy to be worshipped by everyone with all that they have.
You are beautiful.
You are majestic.
You are mighty.
You are good.
You are right.
You are satisfaction.
You are eternal.
You are perfect.
You are infinitely worthy to be worshipped.
So, I worship You today,
I will worship You tomorrow.
I will worship You the next day and the next day.
I will worship You every day.
You are God.
I love You.
—Amen—
Continuing the Journey of Worship
Now that you have prayed through Psalm 145, you may be asking, “what can I do now to keep growing as a worshipper?”
Several years ago I started a yearly tradition that helps me in my worship. It is called the 31 Day Journey. I learned this at a conference I was attending in 1997 and have done it every year since then. I have adjusted it a little over the years but the purpose remains, worship.
The 31 Day Journey
Set aside an entire month to grow in your worship of God. Here is what that looks like for me each day.
1. Pray: Father teach me something new about You or remind me of something that You need me to remember.
2. Read and Listen: Begin reading in Psalm 1 and read slowly, looking and listening for God to say something about Him that you need to hear. You may read 2 verses or 5 chapters. It doesn’t matter. But as soon as something stands out to you about God (ie. that He is strong, faithful, providing etc) stop.
3. Worship: Spend a few moments in prayer worshipping God for that part of Him. Take your time. Tell Him you love Him for that. Tell Him how you have seen that part of Him or how you need to see that part of Him.
4. Write: I know that not everyone journals but I recommend it for the 31 Day Journey. Take a moment to record what you saw in God’s Word. It could be in the form of a prayer or even just a sentence or two describing that part of Him.
5. Remember: Think about this part of God during your day.
It is that simple. Do this every day for 31 days. It is quite probable that you will not get all the way through Psalms and that is ok. It is about God and knowing Him and worshipping Him.
Abiding in Jesus 