A glimpse at 24/7 worship in action.

It was the most unlikely place and most unlikely time. It was a rushed morning, my electric razor broke in the middle of my shave, I was behind schedule, I got mad at my family, and I was stuck in traffic – in short, I lost all semblance of “spirituality.” And all this on the way to a prayer meeting! It was then God tapped me on my shoulder. “Hey, relax, Doug. I got you all to Myself!” It was not what I wanted to hear! “Doug – Who are you serving anyway?” Ouch! “Have you considered that I may not want you to be at that prayer meeting right now? How about spending some time with Me?”

My experience knows that it’s not wise to fight the voice of God. So I took a deep breath and stuck in a worship CD. And in that moment of “impromptu worship” I experienced something very profound. My car became a sanctuary and I sensed the great presence of God – in rush hour traffic! Although my iPhone calendar said I  needed to be somewhere else at that time, I knew I was right where I needed to be: in the Presence of my True Boss, my Lord, my Redeemer and the Lover of my Soul.

The words of the very familiar praise songs came to life; they had new and deeper meaning: “You are Lord and King, Master of Everything, all of Creation speaks of Your glory, now I shout for joy – Your love has changed my life!”

However, the glory of this time was soon tested. As traffic began to open up, I started thinking, “Oh boy, maybe I can make it to that meeting on time!” But then traffic jammed up again. The tense thoughts and anxious feelings began to re-enter my mind. However, the Spirit helped me as I resolved NOT to give in to this trap. I prayed, “Another delay means … I get to spend more time praising You, Lord Jesus!” I continued on the path of worship, drawing closer to God in bumper to bumper traffic. Although I was late to my prayer meeting, my time with Jesus in the car prepared my soul for a sweet and powerful time of intercession.

In Luke 10:41-42, Jesus told Martha something very profound: “You are worried about many things, but only ONE thing is needed.” He then pointed to her sister, Mary, who was sitting as His feet, present to His every Word. What is ultimately needed is not completing our agenda, our goals, or our tasks in life. The only thing that is needed is being present for Jesus. And as we are present for Jesus, I find that we always end up accomplishing everything else that needs to get done.

Jesus continues to speak to our overly-busy, preoccupied lives: “Slow down and meet with Me!” Next time you hit a delay or a snag in your plans, don’t look around – look up. Turn your gaze to heaven. God is trying to get your attention. Sometimes putting something in your way is the only way He can get through to you!

One of the secrets to 24/7 worship of Jesus is to think “outside of the box.” Rather than thinking that worship can only take place in a church building, one day a week, with contemporary music (or traditional or alternative or gospel…); think about how you can worship the Lord anyplace, anytime with anything. Anyone can worship God on a Sunday morning at 10am with a full-blown worship band and a congregation of fellow participants. But see what happens when you worship Him on a Tuesday coffee break at your workplace by doing a random act of kindness for a co-worker. Or when you worship Him on a Thursday afternoon by praying for the people in front of you at the supermarket check out counter. Or when you worship Him on a Monday morning by singing a simple praise song in the midst of rush hour traffic.

This is the type of worship that totally blesses God’s socks off! In addition, this is the type of worship that will transform your heart and life to see the Kingdom of God in places you’ve never dreamt imaginable.

Turn your gaze to heaven and raise a joyous noise. The sound of salvation come, the sound of rescued ones; and all this for a King, angels join to sing, all for Christ the King.

(“O Praise Him” by David Crowder)