ADORATION

 

 

July 12, 2024

 

Revelation 7:12

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen

 

This week we have looked together at some resources that may just be the nudge we need to help us during those times, that we all have, when it seems hard to pray. There are various reasons that each of us identified that seem to trigger our prayer distancing. I believe what we all can agree on is that those prayerless spaces are not the way we want things, to experience a disconnection with our Creator leaves us with an almost unbearable restlessness.

So, I pray that some of these types of prayers we have looked at this week will be helpful for us to have in our prayer toolkits, to help get us through those dry periods where prayer is a struggle. Today, I want to add one more type of prayer: Adoration Prayer.

Sometimes in prayer, we get caught up in the asking. Adoration prayer is a type of prayer that solely focuses on adoring God, our loving Creator.

I want you to know, if you do not already, that there is no correct way to do adoration prayer, our adoration of God takes on a personal nature based on our experience in our journey with God.

Here are a few ideas that might be helpful to us.

1. Choose a Characteristic: Begin addressing God by one of his many names or characteristics. Ask yourself, how have I seen God recently? Who do I need to remember God as? Some examples could be Abba, Prince of peace, Bread of life, Maker or Protector.

2. Find Scripture: After you’ve chosen a characteristic, find verses or passages of Scripture that include or demonstrate this characteristic. How has God shown himself as this characteristic throughout history? What does his Word say is true about him? Some Bibles have a concordance in the back that you can find verses that fit under many different categories. If you are a computer device person a quick search engine search under a characteristic of God will yield many possibilities to focus on. For example: Bible verses on God as our peace.

3. Reflect on personal experiences: Now that you’ve examined Scripture, examine your own life. Consider times in your past or present where God has revealed himself in this way. Reflect on small moments, notable circumstances or seasons of life.

4. Pray: Spend time in prayer, for however long you desire, adoring God for this characteristic. Invite him into your story, thank him for who he is, and pray that you will  continually see him in this way.

 

Adoration prayer focuses on expressing love and exalting God above everything. It is setting our eyes on the goal of knowing Christ Jesus and delighting in who he is. Adoration prayer can be beneficial during moments when you need to reflect on the complex nature of God. Delving deeper into His attributes may lead you to a more profound love for Christ.

In Luke 11:1, Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray with the model of the Lord’s Prayer. Like the disciples, we also seek direction in our prayers. Breath prayer, one-sentence prayer, and adoration prayer are forms of prayer that can grow your spiritual practice while maintaining a focus on Jesus and the cross. Breath prayer is a concise expression of praise or petition silently recited while breathing deeply. One-sentence prayers are powerful, succinct requests that can be made at any time. Adoration prayer is an act of worship that expresses deep love and respect for God. Some very useful tools for our spritual toolboxes don't you think!

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! 

Amen