Just what is worship? We have lots of definitions, it seems.
My Word Thesaurus uses these synonymous: adoration, love, reverence, respect,
adulation, veneration, devotion. Obviously, these words do not include
"intercession."
What does the Scripture tell us?
The first mention of the word in Hebrew translated worship
is in Genesis 22:5, "And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with
the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come
back to you.” Remember the context of this verse? Abraham is obeying the Lord
God by taking his son, Isaac, to the mountain where he would put him on the
sacrificial altar.
The Hebrew word translated "worship" is shachah, which literally means "to
bow down" or you could substitute "get low." In essence, it is
referring not to merely a physical position but a humbling or submitting of
oneself. Again, that does not sound like intercession, as David Wilkerson was
pointing out.
What does that mean to us as praying moms?
I believe it means that prior to pleading before the Throne—interceding
on behalf of our children—we have to be humbled by the Throne.
Imagine yourself entering the Throne room. What would be
your first response, your first thought?
I think you would come to a complete "stop" in awe
and probable speechlessness. And when your mouth is opened, what words would
escape? Praise! In truth, this is worship that not only denotes adoration,
love, reverence, respect, adulation, and veneration but also that last synonym,
devotion—an action of a heart bowed down before and committed to the Creator
and Sustainer of all things.
Above all things, including the desires of our heart for our
children, the Most High God sits.
And our act of worship of the True King effectively
transforms our communication with Him concerning our children. Through our
worship, we are willing to give the One who sits on the Throne our trust that
His heart is for our kids. Because the action of worship is the willingness to
do as Abraham, take our child to His altar in humble obedience and in faith
that God is. By doing so, Abraham declared the worthiness of God and His right
to lordship over himself and his child. And, in laying Isaac before the Lord,
Abraham received him back.
Paul wrote that one day all of heaven and earth and even
under the earth would worship or "get low" by bowing their knee to
Jesus Christ and that every tongue would confess that He is Lord. (Philippians
2:9-11) What pleasure it is for us in this land of the living that we can do
that now!
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our
Maker.
Psalm 95:6 (NKJV)
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