How to Worship God When You Pray and Why You Should

How do your prayers sound?

If you’re like most of us, they probably a involve mostly a lot of requests on behalf of others and a lot of “me’s.”

Help me, heal me, change me, guide me, forgive me.

These are all wonderful and powerful prayers to pray.

However, unfortunately, that’s as far as many of us ever get. Our prayers are almost totally preoccupied with our “horizontal” lives on the earth. Our focus is so consumed with ourselves and others, we fail see past the things of the world to truly see God.

We fail to ever actually turn our eyes upwards and worship.

In fact, many of us just plain don’t know how to do that.

I’m thankful that someone took the time to teach me this. It was life-changing, and honestly, I needed to be told and taught how to do it. Even though this practice is literally all over the Bible, I’d never figured out its importance or how to apply this in my own life until I was shown.

You can do it too.

Why we should worship God when we pray

We should worship Him because He is worthy.

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created” Revelation 4:11

It’s why He created us. It’s pleasing to Him.

Worship deepens our connection with Him and opens doors in our relationship that can be opened no other way. It is deeply healing because it takes our eyes off of ourselves. It frees us from self-pity, self-importance, ingratitude, and the weight of the world.

The perspective that true worship bring to our days and lives is monumentally refreshing.

Through worship we gain a sense of eternity, the complete peace and joy in God, worshiping Him in His glorious presence. It is otherworldly.

How to worship God when you pray

Worshiping is more simple than you think. Proclaim back to God who He is, and you’re worshiping. Declare His character as revealed to you personally and through scripture.

It’s as simple as that. Yet how often do we actually do this? Say, for a whole minute. Or a whole ten minutes before we’re on to all about us and our families, friends, etc..

One of the easiest ways to do this is through the book of Psalms. David, the man after God’s own heart, understood the importance of worship. And the beautiful poetry that He wrote can lead us into worship as well.

Start by writing a question in your journal:

Who are you Lord?

Then open to a Psalm and read. Write down and pray back to Him what you see. For example,

Psalm 18

God, you are

My Strength
a Fortress
My Savior
Deliverer
One Who Delights in Me
Rewarder
Faithful
Pure
Light
One Whose Way is Perfect
Solid Rock
Gentle
One Who Appoints

Thank Him for who He is. Let it soak into your life. Stop and dwell on one thing you’re learning about Him and let it rock your world.

Meditate on His character.

When I start out my time with God in this way, it leads me into what are by far the deepest, richest, sweetest and most life-changing times with Him.

Can I give you some homework?

This week, please take the time to pray and journal through 5 Psalms. Practice worshiping God by telling Him about Himself. It may feel awkward at first because we are so used to making this about our lives. You may need to redirect your mind, but please try it.