True Worship & Bold Prayer - episode # 6 - Romans 12:1

The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt

Well, hey there, and welcome to this episode of The Prayer Podcast. Jan L. Burt here today to share a verse from the New Testament that has some wisdom and encouragement for us as we pray. Thanks for joining me - I am so grateful you’re listening and hey, I’d like to invite you to let me know of any specific prayer topics you’d like to see covered on The Prayer Podcast. Please shoot me an email at [e-mail] and I will be so thankful to hear from you.

We often hear the two words praise and worship used together. Like pb&j, they go well together. It is an aim of our Sunday morning services, praise events or Christian concerts, our Spotify playlist could be entitled “Praise & Worship”.

I want to add a word to this for the podcast today: Praise & Worship & Prayer

Can I read a verse out of Romans that has some info for us about worship?

Romans 12:1 from the NLT says this:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I please with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.

Paul, in writing this letter, gave to everyone who would ever read, or hear, these words tremendous insight regarding how to actually worship our Lord in the best possible way (which means, in the way that God wants to be worshiped…which would be the correct way.)

By giving our bodies to God because of all He has done for us.

My life is not my own, for I have been bought with a price, and that price was the precious blood of Christ.

And so, living my life for the One who purchased it at such great cost to Himself, that means giving my body to God.

How does this relate to our prayer lives?

When I am this kind of close to the Lord…when I am living my daily life in the light of the fact that if my body has truly been given to Him, then the thoughts that I think, the things that I do, all my habits, all my moments, all my relationships, every single thing that has to do with my body (and that’s a lot of things!) all those are given over to Him, I am yielding to Him in all things that concern my body (and thus, all the things that concern my life) - when that’s how closely I am living with the Lord, living fully for Jesus, that’s when I am able to be His vessel. Because it’s not about me at that point. I have decreased, the Lord has increased.

And He can lead the way, carrying all my heavy burdens, giving me His light and easy yoke, guiding me as a Good Shepherd, willing to heed Him and do His will in this world that He created, only wanting Him to choose.

And then, when I go into my prayer time, when I step into my prayer closet, I am in a very good place. This is like our prayer sweet spot. Less of me, more of Him. Praying out of a lifestyle that can be described as living worship, I am living out my worship of God and a big part of that is trusting Him in everything, even and perhaps especially when I go to Him in prayer.

This level of worship, of living a life that is a poured offering to the Lord, can only really be accomplished by the Holy Spirit’s power at work in us. So it is a continual yielding, me fading into the background, my flesh being crucified, and Him being lifted up, kept at the forefront, and the focus of my worship, when I pray and once I say Amen.

May this be my story daily. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to pray that this will be your story daily, too.

Lord, thank You for Your Word. For the ability to come to You in prayer, and to be able to set aside the things of this world that pull on us and try to drag us down. May we not be kept from our prayer times. Lord, draw us to Yourself and enable us to pray from a life that is dedicated and set apart for You and Your purposes.

We seek to glorify Your name in all things.

Help us to live for You, in a state of worship, never failing to know that You are with us always, even to the end of the age. With You, Lord, we can do anything. And without You we can do nothing.

Grant me my requests today, Father…that each one listening will be blessed with enough grace to do what Romans 12:1 says - to give their body to You because of all You have done for them. Less of them, more of You. Peace that extends beyond their understanding. Joy that comes from You and results in their being strengthened. Hope that is not deferred, but accomplishes what Your word promises. May they be blessed when they go in and go out, when they lie down and when they rise up, in their conversations and their relationships, may Your blessing make them truly rich in the most important aspects of life, and Lord, add no sorrow with the blessing and prosperity that I am asking You to grant each one today.

Keep us humble, keep us close to You, and thank You for Your marvelous provision and the gift of knowing Your Son, Jesus, in whose name I pray these things. Amen.

My very best to you today, my friend, and thank you for checking out the show today. As always, my prayer for you is that you would receive every single bit of all the very best that the Lord God Almighty has for you, and not one smidgen less than that.

Hope you’ll join me for the next episode, and have a truly blessed day.

Bye bye.