“Yet the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24
True worship of God is not determined by the place one worships (Jerusalem or Mt. Gerizim), nor by outward forms (liturgies, vestments, instruments, etc.). As Jesus said, true worship is “in spirit and truth.” It is not just words spoken by the lips; it is genuine prayers and praises from a penitent heart that trusts in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for mercy and forgiveness.
Dear Father in heaven, grant that I worship You not merely with my lips or with outward forms but with a heart cleansed of my sin through the shed blood of Christ Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
“Therefore thus says the LORD: If you return, then I will bring you back, and you shall stand before Me; and if you take out the precious from the worthless, you will be My spokesman. Let them return to you, but do not return to them.” Jeremiah 15:19
God calls upon all of us, especially preachers, to return to Him and His Word so that He may grant us true repentance and faith in Christ Jesus and His cross. We are to distinguish between the truth revealed in God’s Word and the worthless errors and false teachings of men. While it is always a temptation to compromise and return to a church and fellowship that is less than faithful to Christ and His Word, God tells us to let them return to us and the true doctrine, but let us not return to them and their errors.
Grant to me true repentance and faith in Christ Jesus and His cross, O LORD, and keep me in the truth of Your Word. Let me not compromise the truth for the sake of earthly peace and fellowship but hold fast to You and the teaching of Your life-giving Word. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
“This is the word of faith that we preach: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:8-10
Salvation is not through the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He died for your sins and rose again in victory, you will be saved. Why? Because God justifies and counts righteous those who trust in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and those who believe in their hearts confess their faith with their lips.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for bearing upon the cross the just punishment for my sins and rising again in victory. Grant that I always trust in You with my heart and confess You with my lips. Amen.
“A wise man fears and departs from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless.” Proverbs 14:16
One who is made wise through hearing God’s Word sees that his evil ways lead to death and turns from them. The foolish rage against the truth and are confident in their evil ways, even though they lead to eternal death and damnation.
Grant me the wisdom, O Lord, to hear Your Word and turn from my evil ways to You for mercy in Christ Jesus. In His name, I pray. Amen.
“For, being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God. Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness for everyone who believes.” Romans 10:3-4
The Apostle Paul desired the salvation of his fellow Israelites, but most sought to be righteous before God based on their own keeping of God’s law, and they rejected the imputed righteousness God desired to give them through faith in Christ Jesus and His holy life and innocent sufferings and death in their stead. Many churchgoers today make the same mistake.
Grant that I not trust in my own righteousness, O God, but in the perfect righteousness of Christ and in the atonement He made for my sins and the sins of the world. Amen.
