Hallowed be Thy Name

The definition of an inspiring worship service is one where we meet God, so to be ready to meet God on a Sabbath morning we need to find out more about Him.

One of the best meetings at Big Camp 2010 was the morning meeting with Buffy Halvorsen where she went through the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-10) and expanded on the meaning.

Prayer is an important part of worship. In "Such a Heart" what we are to pray for before the worship service is outlined, but today we are going to look at the God that we are praying to.

In this second line of Jesus' model prayer (Matthew 6:9), He emphasises that God is holy.

What is holiness? How is God holy?

I'm not going to try to define "holy" except to say that it means that God is very different from us and so much above us.

Even His name is holy. Buffy listed some of the names of God, this was quite an experience. Here is a similar list of God's names. Just for fun read through it and be inspired over what God is to us. These names are not just advertising, God really IS what He says He is. If He promises to be "Our Peace", for instance, then He really can be peace for us.

By praying to our God using one of His many names, we are claiming the firm promise of what He can be to us. This is potent inspiration for worship.

Better than Hallelujah

One of the most memorable things I heard up at Big Camp last week was Amy Grant's song "Better than a Hallelujah". The chorus goes:

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah

Better than a church bell ringing
Better than a choir singing out, singing out

One of the verses is:

The tears of shame for what's been done
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes

The implication is that God enjoys our honest, heartfelt prayers more than canned praise or worship, even if they aren't particularly attractive prayers.

Tuesday's Sabbath School lesson on Hannah, when talking about her prayer says:

This pouring-out prayer is perhaps the most intimate kind of prayer. It involves being absolutely honest with God, expressing our deepest pain and fears... She was, in fact, clinging to God...

This intimacy with God is what makes the centre of Inspiring Worship. God values our honesty above all else.

Back in August I posted "Such a Heart" where I quoted Jesus in John 4:23

...the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

In that post, Luther claims that "spirit" means "whole-hearted" worship. But such a heart can only come as a gift from the Holy Spirit. The "truth" part of "true worship" involves us being honest. Mrs White in Steps To Christ Ch 11., says it like this:

Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden him; you cannot weary him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of his children. "The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." His heart of love is touched by our sorrows, and even by our utterance of them. Take to him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for him to bear, for he holds up worlds, he rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of his children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our Heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which he takes no immediate interest. "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul for whom he gave his beloved Son.

Inspiring worship is whole-hearted honesty with God. He enjoys it more than a "hallelujah".