Do you go to church? Do you worship God in Spirit and in Truth? Do you understand what this means? Welcome to this week’s Prayers for the Week post. This week, I’m sharing selected verses from Isaiah 25. Let’s see if we can come together and learn or remember exactly what worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth is all about.
1O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. 2For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners’ palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. 4For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, 5like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. 6On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” ~ Isaiah 25:1-9 (ESV)
When we worship God, Jesus tells us in John 4:23-24 that “true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
What do you think this means? From everything I’ve learned, I think that it means that we are not limited to a single place, such as a church, where we have to worship. We are worshipping in spirit, and this means that we need to put our heart into it, for that is where the Holy Spirit resides in us. To worship in truth, to me, is to make sure that we are properly armed with the knowledge of God that we have learned. That means that we need to dive into the greatest Book — the Bible. That is where the truth lives, and by reading it, we will learn a great deal about Jesus and we will learn why He is the way and the truth and the life. More importantly, we will learn why no one reaches the Father except through Him.
This can be a confusing thing to learn; in fact, I’m not certain that I have learned it well enough yet. However, if you have any questions, please talk to your Minister. Ask him or her what it means to worship in spirit and truth, and then, after they have told you, see if it makes sense to you. One of the biggest things to make sure of is the church that you attend. If you attend a church where they are not preaching to true Word of God, then I urge you to think about finding another church. A church that doesn’t read the Bible and worship God armed with the Word is not a church that worships in spirit and truth, in my opinion.
That’s all I’m going to say on the subject today, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment. Now, please read and pray with us our Prayer Requests and Praises.
Prayer Requests and Praises…
- Please pray for my friend Teresa. Here is what she wrote:Tonight a very dear aunt of our passed on. She was a huge part of our lives – full of love, understanding and always there for you no matter what. We will all miss you and love you forever Aunt Gilda. RIP – Give dad a big hug from me when you meet him again there in heaven.
- My friend Jodi has sad news to pass along for prayers. Here is what she wrote:Oh my heart is completely broken! Adam’s Little League coach from last spring just lost his oldest daughter Hallie & her 5-month old baby Brayson yesterday. Their jeep had become stuck in the mud, and they were in the backseat, keeping warm when they were tragically poisoned by CO2 coming into the vehicle. Please pray for the Lewis family!
- Please give praise to God for my cousin Barb — she is a new Grandmother! Baby Blair was born the other day, and is a wonderful baby girl. Mother and Father are doing well, so please give praise to God for His Miracle of life!
- Today is our niece Jenna’s 21st birthday! Happy Birthday Jenna! Please give praise to God for Jenna, and pray for her life going forward that she continues to walk with the Lord in all she does!
Now, please pray with us the prayer that Jesus taught his Disciples to pray:
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever and ever.
Prayers please for my friend Bob and his wife Jen, and all of their family. Here is what Bob wrote on Facebook:
Heaven has received a new angel…Jen’s grandmother passed away last night. We love you, Grammie Florida!
Marylee Yates Taylor Godwin
October 21, 1928 — March 15, 2015
Please pray for God’s Peace, Comfort, and Strength to descend upon all of Bob’s family, and that God would remind them all of the wonderful memories they have of their Grammie. Thank you everyone!
Lisa left us a comment on Facebook. Here is what she wrote:
A friend of mine lost her Dad this morning. Thank you for posting….I am sharing with her.
She then followed up with this update:
Guys continue to pray. He is still holding on but unresponsive. Pray that his journey is peaceful and pain free.
Please pray for God’s Peace, Mercy, Comfort, and Strength to descend upon all of them in their time of sorrow. Thank you!
My friend Natalie has a prayer request. Here is what she wrote on Facebook:
My cousin and dearest friend in the world Tyra Williams is at the University of SC having her pancreas removed. She is undergoing an islet cell transplant as well. This is a very dangerous life threatening surgery. She will remain in the hospital over the next 2 weeks. Please lift up her name in prayer. She’s one of the strongest most caring people I know.
Please pray for her Healing, Peace, Comfort, and Strength, and for that for all of her family and friends as well!
My friend Hiro has a prayer request. Here is what she wrote on Facebook:
Request: Prayers please or please send positive vibes…
This past week I found out that one of my Karate students has leukaemia. He is only 10 years old. He has been a student at our Dojo since he was 4 years old. He is such a strong and enthusiastic student.
When the Doctor explained his condition to him, his mother said that one of the first things he asked is if he could still do Karate.
And when I talked to his aunt, she was telling me how happy he was when he found out my father was going to visit him in the hospital. He kept saying, “Master Kancho is coming to visit me!”
We were really touched that Karate means so much to him.
If you have a chance to pray for him it would really be appreciated.
(I know some friends are not religious so positive vibes will help too)
Thank you.
Please pray healing prayers for him, and pray for his Peace, Comfort, and Strength, and that of his family and friends as well. Thank you!