New Testament Worship—Worshiping God in Prayer

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            Anyone who knows anything about the New Testament understands that the church of the New Testament was often found in prayer. While the importance of personal, individual prayer is emphasized as a regular part of the Christian’s life (1 The. 5:17), the church is also depicted as praying when it assembles to worship God (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 14:15–17 etc.). God has communicated His Will to us through the Bible, His inspired Word. He has graciously provided a way for His children to verbally communicate with Him—through prayer.  Several principles must be respected if our prayers are to be acceptable:

1. We must pray in Jesus’ name, that is, by His authority or on His merit (John 14:13). On our own, we are unworthy to address God, but through Christ we can boldly approach Him (Heb. 4:15–16). The practice of praying to Mary or in the name of Mary or to some so-called “saint” is a direct contradiction of God’s Word. There is one and only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ (1Tim. 2:5).
2. We must pray according to God’s will, asking and thanking God for those things that are in agreement with His revealed Will in the Bible (1 John 5:14). We must seek God’s pleasure, not our own, as we pray (Jam 4:3).
3. We must pray in faith, believing that God will hear and answer us (Mat. 21:22; Jam.1:6–7). If we don’t believe God hears and will answer, we are hypocrites to even pray. Prayer is preeminently an exercise of faith. Atheists don’t pray.
4. We must do our best to live righteously if we want God to hear our prayers. God does not hearsinners (John 9:31), and when we turn our ear from God’s law, our prayer is an abomination (Pro. 28:9). We must “lift up holy hands as we pray” (1 Tim. 2:8).
5. We must pray to be heard of God, not to impress men with our piety (Mat. 6:5).

Prayer is a glorious blessing God has given to His children by which we may express praise and thanksgivings and bring our supplications to God (Phi. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:1). What a glorious privilege it is to worship God, especially as His children assemble! Why anyone who claims to be a Christian would intentionally be absent is incomprehensible. Likewise, why any professing Christian would even consider tampering with God’s revealed will concerning how He wants us to worship is beyond our understanding. We plead with all men to cast aside all human opinions, traditions, and preferences and be governed only by the New Testament in worship as well as in all other matters.

[Note: I wrote this article for, and it was published in the “Bible Thoughts” Column for the Hood County News, Granbury, Texas, September 11, 1977.]

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