Dave's Diary

Prayer

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 63:1, 3-4

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek You;
I thirst for You,
my whole being longs for You.
Because Your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify You,
and I will praise You as long as I live,
Show me Your glory in Your Holy Word.
Amen.

Reading

John 4:19-26

When Jesus gently confronted her deepest struggle, the Samaritan woman tried to deflect the conversation in a different direction. She raised an issue of great controversy between Jews and Samaritans regarding the correct place to worship Yahweh. As later Bible readers, we should be grateful that she did, because her “red herring” question presented the opportunity for Jesus to state a beautiful and enduring truth:

²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

To truly worship God is not a matter of geographic location. In Biblical terms, worship is expressing to God our love, honour, and reverence for Him.

The modern worship lyricist, Bob Kauflin, defines worship well in light of Jesus’ statement here when he writes:

Christian worship is
the response of God’s redeemed people to His self-revelation
that exalts God’s glory in Christ
in our minds, affections, and wills,
in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit and guided by the truth of God’s self-revelation (in both the Bible and nature) true worshipers express the truth about our love, honour and reverence for the One True God from the depths of our spirits. True worship is neither all cognitive, nor is it all emotion; it is neither all spiritual, nor is it all physical. It is mind, heart, body and spirit, all presented to God in awe and adoration of Who He truly is!

Will you choose to worship God in spirit and in truth in private now, and with God’s gathered people at the next opportunity (as He has revealed He desires for us to do)?

Will you present your entire life, and every minute of today, as an act of living worship, seeking to express awe and reverence for God in every thought, word and deed?

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn this declaration over and over in your mind. Keep it in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will worship God in spirit and in truth!

Holy Spirit, show me the truth about the One True and Living God. Teach me how to love Him more. Teach me to honour Him and live in awe. Amen.