I was in service today and singing my heart out. And so thought about how I wanted the Lord to know my worship was … I dunno… meaningful? Real? So I said to Him whether I sing loud and jump around or I am quiet and still, receive all my worship and He said to me, if want it to be more, the opportunity is later when you are just sitting on your bed or hanging out with friends. It is the moments when no one sees but Me. Worship me then with obedience. That will be hard core. I love that you are free and can give me your all when the music is on. I love and made you that way but if you want it to be more - obey. Yes sir! 🫡

Do you ever do freestyle worship, where you just hang out with some folks with music and just sing or meditate however the Spirit wants you to?

In the lament psalms, we hear the strong, emotional words of suffers. These are words written by real people in very difficult situations. Sometimes the forcefulness of the psalmists’ complaints against God is shocking; but these godly suffers know that God will not be angry with their honesty, for even when they scream at God, it is a scream of faith. The following is the basic structure of the psalms of lament: 1. An introduction cry 2. The lament proper • I am hurting • You do not care • The enemy is winning 3. A confession of trust 4. Reason for God to act 5. Petitions • Hear me • See me • Save me • Punish them 6. A vow to praise the Lord. In what ways does this resonate with you? Have you ever felt arrogant and perhaps unworthy because you were mad at the Lord? Have you ever screamed at God in your honesty?

Worship is a declaration of value. There are two types in my opinion: direct and indirect. Direct worship is declaring that the Lord not only has value but is value. And then there is declaring that anything else has value due to its relation to God. It’s indirectly giving praise to God because God made the thing valuable.