Personal Worship get_app

Do you like being alone? For some of us, who are more private or just enjoy solitude, being alone is peaceful and enjoyable. For others, who seek to be around people all the time, it is boring and often makes us feel lonely. Maybe others of us are somewhere in between: we like times of being alone and times with others. I’m sure you’ve already decided where you land on that scale. Do you realize that in our times of being alone, we need to be giving our worship to God?

Read Mark 1:35, Matthew 14:23, and Luke 5:16.

• What is the one thing Jesus did each time he prayed?
• How does this help us understand how important private time with God is?

Read Matthew 6:5-6.

• How does it help us to be alone when we pray to God?
• What is the point of private time in prayer? (review your week of prayer discussions)

Scripture points to Jesus being alone many times. It also gives us direction, in the passage we just read, to be alone when we pray. But is that the only thing we can do alone? Of course not. We can read Scripture, we can sing, we can dance, we can bow down or lay face down in a posture of reverence, and there are many other things. In fact, you can do all of these without embarrassment or shame because you’re ALONE. No one but God is there to see and hear you. This is the best time to unashamedly try to express yourself in worship! Just like a child who is wanting a parent’s attention and praise by showing off a talent or their artwork, God is going to enjoy hearing or watching you praise Him and will be proud of you too.

Read Psalm 62:1-2.

• Why would you wait in silence? What do you hear when YOU wait to hear God?
  (Parents, take time to teach your kids how to sit and read, pray, and listen by themselves.)

When we are actively doing our best to daily read God’s Word, pray, sing (even listening to music on the radio can be helpful), we are learning and growing in our efforts to worship the Lord. If we rarely, or never, take time on our own to practice private worship and listen to the Lord one- on-one, then we are going to struggle to truly worship Him in public with others. We can’t have someone else worship God for us. King David even points out in 2 Samuel 24:24 that he won’t give something in praise to God that costs him nothing. We have to do this in order to honor and worship our Lord. So, this is your encouragement to start practicing!

Listen to “Psalm 23 (I Am Not Alone)” – know that even when we are alone, we are not alone!
(If you don’t have internet, just read it in Scripture as worship for you)

Do whatever you feel led to do by yourself in worship to God... and try something new.