Understanding the essence of true worship

Welcome to the 7th month and the second half of the year! Welcome to your season of open doors!

The number 7 stands for perfection or completion. It stands for rest. This month, the Lord will perfect all that concerns you and give you rest, in Jesus Name!

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Welcome to the Hallelujah Sunday. We set aside the first Sunday of every month to praise God and celebrate Him. This Hallelujah Sunday is significant in that it’s not only the first Sunday of the month, but also of the second half of the year. Worship God today with a heart filled with gratitude and hope.

What is worship?

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mathew 22:37-40). “…love the Lord with all thy heart…” That means total surrender! WORSHIP IS TOTAL SURRENDER.

BEYOND SINGING CLAPPING AND DANCING

God cannot be explained, God can only be experienced. Salvation is not taught or acquired from parents; it is experienced personally.

It’s not enough to be saved, it’s more important to surrender fully to the plans, purposes, and principles of God. God did not design us to function independently of Him. He gave us dominion not independence. You can only be in control as long as you are under His control. You and I need Him more than He will ever need us if He will even ever need us. Your authority is delegated authority. He remains the Sovereign Ruler of the universe.

Growth is about incremental surrender. The extent to which you surrender is the extent to which you can experience God.

It is not enough to sing His praises; you must be willing to obey Him in everything whether it’s convenient or not. He must be your Master; He must be your Lord! This is worship and this is praise! Verbal or physical expression is meaningless unless surrender is in place.

7 Questions That Determine Who Is Ruling Over Your Life

The answers to the following questions will help you determined who is in control of your life.

1. How much of your life is He controlling? Judges 17:6, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” This is the exact opposite of worship. If you are doing only what is right in your own eyes, then you have no king, and your life will be chaotic. How much of your day do you spend in prayer and study of the Word? Do you have a king in your life or you are your own king?
2. Who is in control of your relationships?
3. Who is running your account? Do you surrender your tithe completely and regularly? Are ready to trust Him with your seed that He will indeed multiply it back to you? It’s not enough to call Him Provider, are you willing to fully rely on Him for to provide for you?
4. Are you willing to obey Him in all things? Is there anything you’ll find difficult to surrender to God if He demands it? Can you surrender your Isaac if God calls for it? A young man walked away from following Him when asked to sell his goods and give to the poor.
5. What matters more to you, your ego, dignity, comfort or His instructions? Are you ashamed to preach Jesus because of your self-image? Are you willing to suffer for His name’s sake?
6. How much of your talent are you using to serve Him? In what way are you serving God? Is God using you anywhere in the church or outside of the Church?
7. Are you willing to go wherever He sends you?

Accept Christ not only as your Saviour, but also as your Lord, your Master. You cannot accept the salvation of Christ without accepting His rulership over you. You cannot enjoy rest as long as you allow self to rule you. You must surrender to Christ and allow Him to decide how you spend your time, energy and resources. You can only experience rest if you allow Him control. One of the greatest decisions you will make this season is to hand control over and back to the Holy Spirit. Stop trying to rule over your life. It doesn’t work! You simply don’t know enough or have enough power and resources to make your life work.

The sin of Adam was rejecting the rulership of God. He did not want to serve God, he wanted to serve himself. He wanted to be his own master, running his life the way he wanted. He became his own god. But Self-rule was never God’s idea. Man was designed to be ruled by God, and his success and prosperity would then be guaranteed. That was the reason God was angry when the children of Israel wanted a king and rejected theocracy. 1Samuel 8:7, “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” Here we see a nation repeating the sin of Adam in rejecting divine rule and opting for self-rule. Adam wanted to rule himself. He was deceived into wanting to be god unto himself. The most foolish thing a person can do is to reject the rulership of God. He knows what you don’t know, sees what you don’t see, has all the wealth you can ever wish for, and possesses the power you can never have! He is offering Himself, His unlimited wisdom, His unlimited wealth, His unlimited power, and all of His divine glory and you are choosing your miserable limitation?

Anyone can sing praises but not everyone can surrender.

Complete surrender guarantees you a permanent place in the Garden of Eden- the presence of God. Deepen your fellowship or intimacy with God, but importantly, surrender completely to His rulership.

There are those who have not experienced real salvation and there are those who have received Christ as their Saviour but have not surrendered fully to Him to control their lives. I’ll like to pray for both so that we can enjoy praise and His presence in a new dimension.

You will enjoy rest from now on! Welcome to a life of grace and abundance!

I cancel anything that will make you weep or put you to shame; you will not mourn neither will you be mourned, in the name of Jesus. God will visit you and bless you with financial abundance, in the name of Jesus!

Happy New Month!

Bishop Dr Charles Olowojoba is the General Overseer of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide with HQ in Abuja, Nigeria & President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l.