The One Thing

Encouraging prayer, God offers open imitation for his people to talk with him anytime about anything encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to love and now today on the first encouraging prayer to talk about the one thing James would you like to explain your listeners what the one thing is absolutely so remember the if it were where Martha is working in the kitchen and she upset with Mary because she isn't. She complained I know well maybe better than I'd like to admit that we all know Mark is so busy and you do good things for Jesus, you know, but there's something that matters more so here it is in Luke 1042 Jesus says to her there is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it and it will not be taken away from her. So the one thing is being with Jesus sitting at his feet that that's right and another way to describe what Mary is doing is worship. She's placing herself before Jesus.

She's humbling yourself before him, she's just again simply loving being in his presence have this really is a great topic for the beginning of the year.

We need to do this exactly and end the beautiful thing about worship is that we can do it anywhere. This isn't simply about going to a worship service, although, according to God's word that needs to be the start of our worship every week, but this is about going to God in our hearts where ever we may be think about Hebrews 1121. It mentions how Jacob toward the end of his life worshiped as he leaned on his staff know if it's in the moment kind of thing.

And that's the kind of in the moment.

Love to God it is so vital to our relationship with him about the revelation and all the worship that's going on there right or or or think of Romans 12 that tells us to surrender our bodies to God as an act of worship so so this is all encompassing an end as we stand at the beginning of the year. It's good to take inventory and and ask ourselves how much is worship a part of my heart and life every day because that's what God really wants us.

Jesus said that the father is seeking people who are worship who will worship him in spirit and truth.

That's a great point, you know, because it it shows us God's heart. He really wants us to do this you know he's against seeking those who worship him, not because he has some great need of us to worship him. Not at all. He's entirely sufficient, but if we do worship him will find that he gives so much more in return than we could ever give to him because he's like that he's that good sometimes. What's a good starting point for this, for someone who wants to worship him more like this what it has to do with the heart. Most of all, you know, so if if he wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth. That's the first part, this isn't just about what we do. You know it's not this thing we do. It's about who we are, so worshiping him in spirit and in truth means it were real with them.

It means that our hearts and minds are are nourished by the truth of his word. So if if you want to look at and how to worship him in truth that you want to worship them first in your heart and then you go to him and his word shows us how to go there how to go there and truth season a lot about this with your books on playing the person the Bible, but she could point us to one place to start. When would that be will look at David, and I think the reason David was called a man after God's heart was more than anything else.

He was a man of worship, so if you if you want to see what that looks like first go to the Psalms you know you'll see David's resolve their like the times he says I will praise the Lord, you know, I will worship it, but you see, also, being still before the Lord. There, resting in him. Think about the 23rd Psalm. The Psalms also talk about praising God with instruments and singing to him and also humbling ourselves before him, confessing our sins to him. So it's a broad slice of life it, it's all in their spaghetti sauce.

It really is James.

When I think of this kind of personal worship. What does it look like for you will again it's broad and includes all of the things we talked about but really drawn to his tender kind worship you see in people like John who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper. I am a tactile person. I express myself to touch frequently so like to imagine leaning on Jesus and thinking mindset that all and I think what Scripture says about clinging to him and if were going to have childlike faith that means we live dependently on him in the moment. No matter what our age is that's helpful and if you add to that the thing Scripture tells us about giving thanks and praying continually all kinds of comes together right and here's another idea, especially for those who love this thing and end. By the way, that doesn't matter him if you can't carry it. You may still of the think, but live like a musical. Just burst out and saw Mitt make something up if you like but let your heart respond to him in love like that. There's a verse in decisions about that making music in your heart to the Lord that that's right and I had a mother who did this all the time she's kind of like a product of the age of musical economic be talking with her and all of a sudden she get this light in her eyes and surfacing at him the course of the kids sometimes would cringe and now I find myself doing the very same thing yeah mom you never know which lessons will stick a man and I need this one to you know because if our lives aren't filled with worship to turn inward turn inward on ourselves and the ironic thing is, that's no way to be happy but but if our hearts and minds are filled with him praising him, loving him that her cursor really is in heaven, and nothing can touch that really is the surest and best way to have a happy new year James, so let me close our time together with a prayer that we all should should do this. Lord, we thank you for this encouragement to do what our hearts really were meant to do and and I pray that you would guide us in some of the things that James taught today on how to truly worship you put the weight and value there that you are in our lives that that we can enjoy what we truly were meant to do, and that we would have a year 2020 scene 2020 seeing you in a way that we never have before. Jesus name I pray, amen, amen. Hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website James Banks.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray