It’s a new month, which means it’s time for the 5-Day Worship Challenge again! Let’s go!
This is a week focusing on our overall posture in worship. The Bible calls worshipers to not only have bowed hearts and minds, but to have an overall posture that is yielded to the Holy Spirit and that engages our entire being before God.
Read through these worship passages each of your 5 days, and DO what you read. If you read “I bow,” then bow. If you read “I lift my hands,” then lift your hands. If you read “I clap my hands,” then clap your hands. Fulfill the posture of your words, not just in your heart and mind, but with your whole self. As you enter this personal time of worship, ask God to help you to physically, mentally, and emotionally enter into the expressions of joy, surrender, reverence, acceptance, and affection with all of the sincerity that the psalmists were expressing towards God when they wrote them.
Don’t rush through this. Don’t treat it like an exercise, but express them as sincere prayers. Make sure you have chosen from each category by the end of your five days. You may do all one category a day, or one or 2 passages from each category a day. Whatever works best for you.
I’m just quoting the verses that use the physical expressions here, so I’d suggest you use your own Bible to read a greater portion of these psalms. Or use these verses to initiate worshiping with your own expressions and words to God. Some of you may want to include music that express and encourage physical expression of worship. (See the song list under Lesson 9 of the Worship Songs for Lessons page for ideas.) However you feel like you can best engage in the expression of true worship. If you have any questions, let me know!
Lifting hands –
“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name” (Psalm 63:3-4).
“Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help,
When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary” (Psalm 28:2).
“Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, Who serve by night in the house
of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD” (Psalm 134:1-2).
“May my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering” (Psalm 141:2)
“I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land” (Psalm 142:6).
Bowing/Kneeling –
“But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,
At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You” (Psalm 5:7).
“Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him” (Psalm 45:11b).
“Come let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker” (Psalm 95:6).
“I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name
for Your lovingkindness and Your truth” (Psalm 138:2).
“Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool: Holy is He” (Psalm 99:5).
Clapping –
“O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy” (Psalm 47:1).
“Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the LORD” (Psalm 98:8-9a).
AND for those of you who are really getting into this…:-)
Dancing –
“Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre. For the LORD takes pleasure in His people” (Psalm 149:3-4a).
“Praise him with timbrel and dancing. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (Psalm 150:4a, 6).
Enjoy!!
Also, why not encourage your small group or Bible study to take this challenge with you! Share the impact of the challenge with one another.
NOTE: If you missed any of the previous 5-Day Worship Challenges, go here!
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