GOING PUBLIC WITH PRAISE by Terry Benson

 “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Psalm 122:1 (NLT)

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t need to go to church, I worship God in private – after all, it’s between Him and me, right?” No doubt personal and private worship is an important essential in our walk with God. I have often worshiped God gazing at a sunset on the beach or sitting by a waterfall in the mountains. But there is nothing like praising God with other believers. The passage above says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”

Jesus promised something special would happen when people get together in His Name. It’s the synergy of God – God’s love in you meets God’s peace in me and connects with God’s healing power in someone else, and before you know it, God’s presence transcends our individuality. When we sing with open and honest hearts it feels like (and sometimes sounds like) all heaven is singing with us. When we pray in one accord we sense the unity that only the Spirit can bring—and with that unity comes the Spirit’s power.

Our worship is personal. But it’s also public – and if you get a taste of praising God together with 10 or 100 or 1000 other believers, you too will “be glad” when you get to go to worship in the house of the Lord. Because when we show up to praise God together, He shows up to accept those praises and to “rejoice over us with singing”! (Zephaniah 3:17)

 T.B.

 Think about it: When was the last time you went to weekly worship with the primary purpose of giving God praise?