Why Prayer and Worship Really Matter
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Romans 6:16 (NKJV)
Man was originally created divine, that is, spiritual. His true nature is not carnal but spiritual, because when God created Adam He intended his success and productivity to stem from fellowship with Him. All the blessings and endowments God gave man were contingent on his living from the spirit into the physical; man was meant to represent God fully in how he functioned. The physical plane is not the true home of man. God is man's true home, just as God planned for man to be His tabernacle.
This plan was disrupted by man himself, which altered the nature and the functions of man. I call it sin displacement, a switch from a spiritual default to a carnal default. Man lost the essence of the supernatural, and has been trying to regain it ever since. Have you never asked yourself why there are so many religions and forms of spiritualism in the world? Almost every human being practises some form of religion or spirituality, because the depths of man yearn and long for reconnection with the divine.
Another thing I want to point out is that hardship and pain on earth originated as a result of disobeying spiritual laws and commandments. The earth, as the representation of the physical world, was cursed by God because Adam failed in his commitment to the spiritual laws of God. These laws, principles and virtues make us who we are; without the anchor of the spiritual laws God has given, man is bound for failure. How well we adhere to spiritual laws and instructions defines not only the trajectory of our lives but our experiences. This means that sin and lawlessness are synonymous, and both lead to destructive and chaotic outcomes. Just look at our world, and at previous generations who chose sin over God, the right way to live this life: destruction came upon them. So we should not be fooled into thinking that sin and self-righteousness pay; on the contrary, the cost of living by them is far too high. But I digress.
One of the things man lost in the garden, which made him more beastly than divine, was the consciousness and fear of God. Nothing keeps us on the divine path like the fear of God. But we stopped fearing God, His wrath and His power, because we forgot who He actually is. Through sin we have unconsciously developed worldviews about God that cause us to stray even further from Him and to fear Him less, and when we lose touch with the divine, we become as animals. But man can rediscover his centre and develop a deeper sense of the awesomeness and fear of God. Reading about God is one way, yet the Bible is the most read book in the world and the vast majority of mankind is still without the fear of God; even Christians who read the Bible are not as convicted as they should be about the things of God. It is experience that changes a man, and the only way to come truly into deeper dimensions of the fear of God is to have undeniable experiences with God. This sounds mystical, but it is the only way.
Read your Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Most of these men had no book to which to refer their relationship with God, because God needs your spirit, not a book, to have a relationship with you. The Book was written for your learning, and that you may believe. But God is not a story; He is a Person who must be experienced.
Enter prayer and worship. They are arguably the only true way a man can experience the multidimensional and complex Person of God. Prayer and worship bring you into the reality of God; they are a vehicle, a transportation system, into God. Without them man on earth is naked, helpless, lost and unprotected. Prayer is recognising the limits of your capacity in life, acknowledging your helplessness to navigate this vast domain called life, and therefore submitting yourself to the mercy, will and authority of a deity. You cannot truly pray until you are fully aware of your hopelessness without God, until you have reconciled yourself to the reality of your weakness and God's infinite strength. Prayer has a great deal to do with surrender, submission and yielding in weakness to a greater power. That is why the demons prayed to Jesus to send them into the swine, and this confirms the deity of Jesus to those who think He was only a man.
While prayer has a great deal to do with you, worship has a great deal to do with God: your awareness of His majesty, greatness and magnificence. The Syrophoenician woman, whose daughter was possessed by a devil, came to Jesus begging for help. Not only did Jesus not help her at first; He gave her no answer at all. He ignored her. But she went on to worship Him, and that got His attention, because worship is a great dimension of faith that God cannot ignore. He cannot deny Himself; He is God, and that is what you are signalling to Him through worship. It brings you into the deepest and most real dimension of God-consciousness. If you have ever wanted to deepen your consciousness of God, worship. If you want to bring God into your house, and invite Him into your life and situations, worship. Not only will you find Him; He will find you.
Slavery to prayer and worship is the believer's greatest privilege. The Lord once said to me: "You pray too much and worship too little. Increase your worship, and I will manifest more glory in your life."
Lastly, you do not have to love prayer and worship to engage in them; nothing has to be aligned for this activity to become an essential part of your life. Frankly, it is not a choice you have been given; it is not optional. It is a commandment for man. To fail in your duty of prayer and worship is to fail as a man or a woman, and that is where life erodes and chaos ensues. So pray and worship: do it now, do it tomorrow and every day after. Do not live without it; do not live without God. Your whole life depends on it. Amen.