I love watching athletes doing their pregame rituals. Whether it’s LeBron James throwing up the chalk, Nomar Garciaparra’s obsessive batting glove routine before each pitch or Tiger Woods wearing his red shirt before the last round of a tournament, pregame rituals are a way for athletes to put on their “game face.” It’s a way that they say to themselves, “I’m ready to do what I’m supposed to do.”

In WholeLifeWorship, I also have a way to put on my “game face” before I go out into my everyday ordinary. At the end of my Personal Worship Time (quiet time devotional), I say a prayer. It’s my way of catapulting me into Everyday Worship mode. I call it the WholeLifeWorship Prayer. It goes like this:

Lord Jesus,

I surrender myself to You and offer my whole self as a living sacrifice in worship of Your Name.

Open my eyes that I might see Your face.

Open my ears that I might hear Your voice.

Open my heart and knit it to Yours.

Open my mind and renew it with Your Truth.

Open my lips that I might tell of Your glory and grace to others.

Open my hands that I might do Your works of love to the world.

And lead my feet into Your will and into Your ways.

Make me an instrument of Your peace through Your Holy Spirit Who dwells within me.

Glory be to God the Father.

Glory be to God the Son.

Glory be to God the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, so it is now and so shall it ever be: world without end.

Amen.

This prayer can be broken down into several parts:

1. Purpose. I begin the prayer by essentially citing Romans 12:1, which is my definition of worship: to offer my body, my whole self, to the Lord in honor of what He has done for me. 

2. Perception. Then I proceed to offer my perception abilities to the Lord: my eyes, ears, heart, and mind. Note that this part of the prayer is essentially about opening my being to the presence and the mission of Jesus. I’ve learned that I can never assume what God’s will is for me at any given moment. My default (and yours) is to perceive reality through a worldly perspective. That is a false reality that will always render us ineffective for Christ’s service. We need to constantly have our senses open to the true reality of God’s Kingdom – which means to have our perception changed (“renewal of the mind” Rom. 12:2).

3. Mission. I offer the parts of my being that are used in accomplishing God’s will: my lips (speech), my hands (work), and my feet (direction). Note that these members of my being are used to bless the world around me; not to curse or violate or tear down.

4. Spirit Empowerment. Then I ask the Spirit to empower me to be a vessel of God’s Shalom/Peace from the inside-out. This is based on the beginning of St. Francis’ wonderful prayer.

5. End Game I end my prayer by reciting the famous benediction, the “Gloria Patri.” My whole life has its meaning when I live for the glory of the Triune God. The chief end to my life (and all life) is to live forever in this beautiful mystery of “Glory” – the resolution of all things being at peace, in love and in unity of Creator and Creation.

I pray this prayer aloud and I use body motions so that it involves my whole being expression. (If you would like to see a video of me doing this, click here).

And that’s my pre-game routine. That’s how I put my game face on. This helps me to focus my whole life on worshiping God in everything.

Do you have a routine that prepares you to go out in your everyday life to be a blessing to God and others? If so, what is it?

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