Prayer Series - Adoration Series

Prayer Series - A C T S

Adoration

Many have said that a good prayer outline is A C T S, adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. Tonight we will look at adoration. Adoration involves declaring the glories of the Lord, which should evoke praise in the individual as well as inspire intense devotion to God.

We know that the divisions in Scripture were made by man to ease the reading of the Word and I think these three Psalms go well together to show the idea of adoration.

Ps 148

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

6 He hath also stablished them forever and ever: he hath made a decree, which shall not pass.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

9 Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:

10 Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:

This is recognition of God as creator. This is something we take for granted and many even deny. We get so wrapped up in "our world" that we forget whose world it really is and who sovereignly controls it.

We can understand the how the angels can praise the Lord, but creation itself? While definitely poetic do not forget that Christ said that if the people stopped praising Him then God would raise up children of Abraham from the stones themselves. (Luke 3:8) I recently saw a program where the scientists stretched out the chirpings of the cricket equal to a human’s life span thus slowing it down. It sounded like a symphony by Mozart. Indeed, the creation may be praising God in songs that we cannot hear, but He certainly can hear them.

11 Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:

12 Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:

13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

Now, David enjoins the crown of God’s creation, mankind, to praise and adore Him. All people regardless of human ranking are still the creation of God and need to praise Him. His name is above all names. His power is above all earthly powers and He is the mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It helps to shrink our egos when we consider where we stand in the midst of God’s universal glory.

14 He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD. (KJV)

We go from angels and general creation to mankind to the people near unto Him, His saints. We of all people should adore and praise because we know more about Him and have experienced more of Him and His grace in our lives than anyone else on the planet. This God of this awesome creation saved us from sin’s penalty! This perfect and holy God that could take us all away and create a new race chose instead to send His Son to die and redeem us. He has exalted the horn or power of His people for we had no power. We were lost and undone and yet one day we shall judge angels. Does it seem necessary to exhort us to adore and praise Him?

Ps 149:1-9

1 Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

Adoration and praise will make you break out into a new song. The word sing conveys the idea of a traveling minstrel who would go about singing hoping for his daily bread. We should be about the world singing because He has given us our daily bread and Living Bread. The new means freshness and as His mercies are new every morning so also should be our songs to Him not vain repetitions. We should especially sing in testimony in church and even at our fellowships to exhort and strengthen each other with His praise.

2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Again, we see the exhortation to rejoice in our creation and that He is our king. Both should be blessings and worthy of praise. They are only a source of sadness when we are disobedient for we then know that we are responsible and accountable before Him. Yet, we should praise Him for that as well since His conviction is to heal us and restore us to fellowship and not to our condemnation.