true & proper worship
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2
”Lord, I’m Yours. Whatever the cost may be, may Your will be done in my life. I realize I’m not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment or my own glory. I’m not here to indulge my desires, to increase my possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I’m somebody important, or to promote myself. I’m not here even to be relevant or successful by human standards. I’m here to please You.
I offer myself to you, for You are worthy. All that I am or hope to be, I owe to You. I’m Yours by creation, and every day I receive from You life and breath and all things. And I’m Yours because You bought me, and the price You paid was the precious blood of Christ. You alone, the Triune God, are worthy to be my Lord and Master. I yield to You, my gracious and glorious heavenly Father; to the Lord Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me; to the Holy Spirit and His gracious influence and empowering.
All that I am and all that I have I give to you.
I give You any rebellion in me, that resists doing Your will. I give You my pride and self-dependence, that tell me I can do Your will in my own power if I try hard enough. I give you my fears, that tell me I’ll never be able to do Your will in some areas of life. I consent to let You energize me…to create within me, moment by moment, both the desire and the power to do Your will.
I give You my body and each of its members…my entire inner being : my mind, my emotional life, my will…my loved ones…my marriage or my hopes for marriage…my abilities and gifts…my strengths and weaknesses…my health…my status (high or low)…my possessions…my past, my present and my future…when and how I’ll go Home.
I’m here to love You, to obey You, to glorify You. O my Beloved, may I be a joy to You!”
—Ruth Myers, from part IV of 31 Days of Praise : Enjoying God Anew, 1994.
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i just remembered this little gem yesterday, triggered by the discovery of joy ridderhof’s 31 days of devotionals on praise. i first read 31 days of praise in 2003, at the beginning of a two-year break-up from my now-husband josh. it was a lifeline to me! ruth herself first discovered the power of praise when she lost her first husband at the age of thirty-two, leaving her a single mother of two young children. “I grieved and shed my tears; I felt deep loneliness, along with the pressures of being left alone to raise two young children. At times I felt overwhelmed at making all the family decisions. Yet at the same time I found bright rays of sunlight shining into my heart. How grateful I was to the Lord for His many blessings…As my human aloneness pressed me to love and adore the Lord in new ways, He gave me joy in the midst of sorrow.”
here’s a sample :
“I praise You for Your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details. With You, nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, and no experience is wasted. You hold in Your own power my breath of life and all my destiny. And every trial that You allow to happen is a platform on which You reveal Yourself, showing Your love and power, both to me and to others looking on. Thank You that I can move into the future non-defensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, for You hold the future and You will always be with me, even to my old age…and through eternity.”
—from Day 5 of 31 Days of Praise : Enjoying God Anew by Ruth Myers, 1994.
