Purpose Driven Life chapter 13

Chapter 13: Worship that pleases God

Something to remember: God wants ALL of you! That is so important, when you are worshipping God you cant just give part of yourself to him in worship, he wants ALL of you! Your WHOLE self. One time during worship we were singing a song with the lyrics "what can i give what can i bring what can i give as an offering" and it was clear as day, God said "yourself" Thats all he said, as i go in depth in this book i am now realizing, he wants ALL of myself. Not just 'ok Lord, here i am, i dont want to be here but i am' type thing, you cant just do that. When you are singing worship to God you have to WANT to be there or else you will just sing for the sake of singing instead of singing with your whole heart to God.

Verse to remember: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" Mark 12:30

The statement(s) that was the most impactful: God is pleased when our worship is accurate. When i first read that i was like, what?? But as i read further, it makes sense. Our worship needs to be based on the truth of scripture, not our opinions about God. The bible says that "True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks"John 4:23. Rick says in this book that to "worship in truth' means to worship God as he is truly revealed in the Bible. I like that

God is pleased when our worship is authentic. So many times we are just singing and dancing just to impress our friends, and not God. When you sing the words you sing, MEAN THEM. If you dont then its just empty words. It doesnt matter HOW you worship him either because it says here that "the best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God" This book is SO cool! Worship happens when "your spirit responds to God, not to some musical tone" I LIKE IT! For me so many times i am like "man this song is SOOOOOO old! and overused!" but thats because God loves it and maybe wants to speak to us through that song. for instance: Blessed be your name. That song is used so much but it never gets old. i love it! I had an experience not to long ago wth my kitty. She was very sick and so we had to give her back to the place where we adopted her( Royal City Humane Society) so they can propely care for her, we didnt have the energy nor the money. So that was on August 8th and she was put down on the 23rd cuz she was getting worse, the doctor says it was cancer.so on the 9th(of august) i went to youth group very emotional, nothing had to be said to me to get me crying. we started singing Blessed be your name. The lines that got me were "you give and take away you give and take away my heart will choose to say blessed be your name" i was alright, i wasnt crying i was on hte verge of it. Then Karyn started speaking about this (she knew the situation, i feel that it was partially directed toward me) and i just started crying. that song has touched my life so much.

God is pleased when our worship is thoughtful. When you say things to God, think about original things to say. Like dont just say "praise the Lord" its kinda overused. Its like 'praise him for what??" give a reason why you praise him! and tell him the reason why you praise him!

God is pleased when our worship is practical. things that cost us when we worship is our selfcentredness, its focusing on God, not ourselves. It takes energy and effort to worship too, but its not always convenient for us. but that shouldnt matter, what should matter is that our worship is convenient for God (and HELLO, its ALWAYS convenient for God)

Man i love this book! not as much as the Bible, but this is second on my list!

I cant wait til the listening prayer tomorrow, its life changing. I never realized how much God speaks to me. there was this list of 8 ways God speaks to me and i think i raised my hand every time. Once Brad asked us to ask God to convict us of sin and tell us what we have done right this week. My neighbors were being very loud lol so he asked them what God told them, they didnt say anything so i shared what God told me. God told me that something i did write TODAY was give a gift to a friend [Karyn :)] and Brad asked what the reasons that God was happy about that. And i said that God told me it was because "She is His daughter and He loves her" SO TRUE KARYN BAKER!!! :D I felt my face go red when i spoke, but i stepped out of my comfort zone, i spoke! YAY LOL....

Anyways, its SOOOOOO late, and I have to be up by 730 cuz i am leaving to be at the church for 830...ahh LOL!! tylenol 3's here i come LOL..... no thats for my pain... my tooth is bothering me, I am goin to keep my prescriptions in my backpack so I don't forget.

Blessings.....

and Michelle, i am very sda that u werent online when i was :( I missed my laugh 2 NIGHTS IN A ROW :( LOL Love ya!