The Marks of a True Worshipper

The Marks of a True Worshipper
What prompts a young man to love God so much that he relentlessly serves Him and hangs out in His House? These two photos are of my grandson, Payton Wallace: the first one, at age 15, and the second (now age 18) was Sunday when he was praying for a businessman at church. The back of his shirt explains it: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6.

Payton has a true heart of worship. He is an extraordinary young man who could care less what someone thinks about his extravagant love for God. He would rather hang out at the church with his fellow musicians and crew members (the guys that set up the stage, props, and tear down) than anything else. When I hear about all the negatives in this world, I only wish that more focus would be placed on kids like this who are making a difference in their generation.

So what's the big deal about this kind of praising and worshipping God -- people of all ages raising their hands while singing songs of praise? Among the reasons are to show surrender, submission, humility, dependence on God, adoration, to give their all to God. I love the parallel of the universal act of someone surrendering by putting their arms and hands in the air. Another visual is a child reaching up for his father to carry him. Both examples apply to us as we raise our hands in surrender and ask for our Father to carry us..

The Bible says that God looks at the heart us. (1 Samuel 16:7). I honestly don't think He cares if we are standing in place, arms at our side, or raising our hands and can't stand still. He doesn't care if we are worshipping with hymns or choruses. But, He DOES care if we are TRULY worshipping Him. In defense of raising hands in worship, there are many places in the Bible that speak of it: Nehemiah 8:6, Psalm 28:2, Psalm 134:2, Psalm 63:3-4, Psalm 88:9, Luke 24:50, and more.

God looks at OUR heart in worship, and most importantly, is that He has our hearts -- surrendered and tender toward the ONE Who gave His all for us. We will NEVER experience all that God has for us until we are able to TOTALLY surrender and love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, just as Jesus said in Mark 12:30 -- "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." True worship flows from our total love and devotion to God. We will never fully know our Lord until we are able to be a true worshipper that is not just for an hour, one day a week on Sunday. True worship is a lifestyle. Dear Lord, please help us show in our words and actions, our desire to love You and worship You with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.

Who Has Your Heart?

What prompts a 15-year old to post this to his Instagram yesterday? If I was still focusing on finding photo inspirations for each day of the year, like I did last year, this one would have surely made today's post. It made it anyway.

This is my grandson, Payton Wallace. To say "I'm smiling and rejoicing" puts it mildly. Payton is an extraordinary young man. He could care less what someone thinks about his extravagant love for God. In fact, he wakes up each day, gets his school work out of the way (he's home schooled) so that he can get to his church. He would rather hang out at the church and his fellow musicans and crew members (the guys that set up the stage, props, and tear down) than anything else. Really. You see, their youth group are in the middle of a tremendous time of refocus. They desire to center on Jesus, His love, and applying His Word in a fresh, uncompromising way. It is truly remarkable. When I hear about all the negatives in this world, I only wish that more focus would be placed on kids like this who are about making a difference in their generation.

When I see this photo, it reminds me of a true heart for worship.So what's the big deal about this kind of praising and worshipping God where people of all ages raise their hands during praise/worship songs in church or at Christian concerts? Among the reasons are: to show surrender, submission, humility, or dependence to God, to give God reverence or adoration, to give their all to God, or to be filled by God.

I always heard two great examples that I love: First, the universal act that a person is surrendering is to put both hands up in the air. Second, is the picture of a child lifting both of his arms above his head for his father to carry him.

The Bible says that God looks at the heart of each person (1 Samuel 16:7). I honestly don't think God cares one bit if a person is standing in place, arms at side, or raising hands and moving around. He doesn't care if we are worshipping with hymns or choruses. He DOES care if we are TRULY worshipping Him. In defense of hand raising in worship (and prayer), there are numerous places in the Bible that speak of this: Nehemiah 8:6 , Psalm 28:2, Psalm 134:2, Psalm 63:3-4, Psalm 88:9, Luke 24:50, and more.

God looks at OUR heart in worship, and most importantly, that He has our hearts -- surrendered, pliable, and tender toward the ONE Who gave His all for us. Acts 13:22 -- "After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’" And those are words I want God to say about me -- "Donna is a woman after my own heart; she will do everything I want her to do." How about you?