Worship Articles by Stephen M. Newman Pastor of Worship and Arts February 10, 2007

I honestly admit that I am not the greatest student of the Bible. I tend to look at things for what they are, and through prayer, question only the things that send up red flags. I was doing a word search last week and decided to see how many times certain words appeared in my NIV Bible. It's hard to say if the number of times it is used coincides with the importance of the act or meaning. I entered the word worship and ran it…….158 times. I entered praise and ran it…… 340 times. I entered love and ran it as well, mainly to check for my own interest…… 551 times. Must be important if it is used that many times. From there I entered the two words that I was most interested in. The first was pray…… 121 times. Next, I entered sing……. 122 times. Imagine that! For some reason the word sing is mentioned more times than prayer. They are both things we do, and they are not used in past tense or to tell a story. These words are verbs - actions that we do. Why, you ask, would I look up these two words?

Christians understand prayer. They, for the most part, understand it and most practice it. If you asked a Christian if they pray, their answer will most likely be affirmative. If you ask a Christian if they sing to the Lord, you will get a host of answers from sometimes, all the time, never, or I can't sing. If you ask Christians which is more important, the answer will most likely be prayer. Why? Because it is the act that we have been taught for years. We are taught to pray from the time we become new Christians. For some of us, we are taught before we are Christians as part of our bed time activities, or when a crisis hits our lives. Prayer is good as it is a necessary element for the Christian to communicate with the Lord. We take our pleas and requests to Him, and we pray for our lost friends and families. The Bible tells us to pray at all times...to pray without ceasing. We cannot eliminate prayer from our lives and expect to know God more. We cannot live from day to day without coming to Him in quiet meditation. Prayer is one of the foundations that a believer must base his faith upon. If we are to truly know God and build a relationship with Him, prayer must be a vital part of our lives.

Why is it that all people do not sing? How is it that people come to church week in and week out and never once lift their voice in song? Isn't singing a part of our worship expression to God? Is singing only for the talented? I have personally served in, and attended, many churches where people would not sing. It was as if they were refusing to sing when others were worshiping. If you hold the belief that the word sing is mentioned so many times in the Bible because it is an important act, then how can someone go through life without practicing it in worship? These same people will sing to the radio in their cars and yet will not sing during the corporate worship time. Why is that? Is it education? Is it a lack of knowledge of the Bible?

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Prayer as a Discipline Hi Steve,I enjoyed your article and as it turns out it is right down the alley of what I’ve been teaching in my mid-week Bible study. I think asking the question about prayer is complicated by a perception of prayer that strays from the biblical ...more Submitted by: John A. White Location: Orange, CA
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