I remember a few years ago when I was pregnant with my second daughter, I was really struggling to balance the life of staying at home with my then 2 year old, the exhaustion of pregnancy, and my relationship with the Lord. At that point in my life it felt very hard to abide in Him in such a stressful and tiring season. I hadn't yet learned to be attuned to His voice in the mundane. I remember one night after putting my daughter to bed I cried out to the Lord asking Him what I should do in this exhausting time of my life. I felt like I had nothing to give. His words sunk deep into my heart. He said "In this season, worship is your weapon." Right away, a song was placed on my heart and I sang it in the quietness of my mind and heart. This immediately drew me into the Lords presence.
Worship is extremely powerful for me because it helps me to pray the words I may not have the strength to say. It puts words to the story in my heart. It helps me to speak words of life and truth that are hard to say out loud in times of weakness. There are so many times I sing worship not because I am feeling the words, but because I am agreeing with the words.
Worship is a weapon for warfare. There have been countless times where I have avoided the Lords presence out of fear, shame, or unworthiness, thinking if I came to Him He would start by laying out all the ways I’ve failed Him..(even though I’m fully aware that is not at all His nature). In these times that I’ve struggled to come close, I still have a desire to listen to worship. Time and time again I’ve been cut deep with conviction from the words in a song. Not because the lyrics are directly confronting my sin and exposing my failures, but because the lyrics reveal and remind me of His glory and His love for me. I am cut deep because of the truth being sung about His divine nature and character.
How amazing is this and how wonderful of God to deal with me so gently? To understand my difficult seasons and not force me to pray, but to lovingly invite me into worship to sing the prayers that my heart doesn’t have the strength to pray.
Recently when I was driving, I was wrestling in my soul. It was very hard for me to accept my weakness and pray. As I struggled in extreme frustration to get out the words I needed to pray, the Lord prompted me to sing what I was feeling out loud. So I sang. Simple little words and prayers came out that were real, deep, and vulnerable. I felt like in that moment I could not pray any other way.
Worship is a divine tool for vulnerability with the Lord. He understands the intimidation we sometimes have in approaching Him, the God of the universe. And although He wants us to have a Holy fear of Him, He does not want us to shrink back from being extremely vulnerable with Him. When the reality of what I pray is sometimes too much for my heart to bear and I’m struggling to be honest, I can sing. It feels like barely enough, but it is so much in the eyes of God.
I absolutely love the power of worship and desire others to be transformed by God through music as well, but not any type of worship music. There are many songs for the Lord that are entertaining, fun, catchy, (I love these songs as well and there’s nothing wrong with fun music) but there is an extreme difference between entertaining worship and adoration worship. Adoration worship always speaks biblical truth about Gods nature and character, and it causes our hearts to love Him for who He is. There’s a tangible humility in the words. It causes us to be wooed into the heart of Jesus. I am so passionate about this, and I think everyone should have an adoration playlist on hand!
All throughout the Psalms we are encouraged to sing to the Lord and there is a powerful reason behind it. When you are struggling to pray, to be in the Lords presence or to read His Word, try first listening to adoration worship. Allow the words to cut deep, to convict, to cause you to repent, to cause you to fall on your knees in awe of Christs immense love and grace. Let it soften your heart in times of weakness. Sing truth and let it wash over your mind so that you can boldly approach the One who is calling you into His presence.
