A Prayer About Jesus Transforming Worship
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.? She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child (Jesus) to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38
Dear Lord Jesus, there are so many reasons to love and praise you. Today I’m profoundly grateful for how you radically transformed the worship of God. The main reason I’ve been created is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, so nothing is more important than how I relate to you, the Father and God the Holy Spirit, in worship.
Though I admire Anna for her life of devotion-worshipping God ceaselessly in the temple-I adore you for removing all the limitations temple worship imposed. When she met you as an eight day-old infant, little could Anna have imagined that you came into our world to fulfill and actually replace temple worship forever.
How I praise you, Lord Jesus, for fulfilling the entire sacrificial system. By giving yourself for us on the cross, you have, once-and-for-all, atoned for our sins and exhausted God’s righteous judgment against us. Not only is there now “no condemnation,” there is now full celebration, for we are fully and eternally acceptable to God in you. The sacrifice we make is one of praise, for you are the Lamb of God who has taken away our sin forever. The gospel put an end to all self-centered fears and concerns in worship.
How I praise you, Lord Jesus, for removing all spacial and calendar limitations on God’s worship. We now worship God as “true worshippers”, in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-26). Not just in one place, but in every place. Though we are still to gather with our brothers and sisters for services of worship, you have transformed the entire Christian life into worship service!
Indeed, one Day the entire earth will be covered with the knowledge of the glory of God. The final sanctuary will be the new heaven and new earth. Every creature and all creation will be liberated for the praise of your glory and grace. Oh, hasten that glad and glorious Day!
Until that Day, Lord Jesus, may the gospel free me to worship God more passionately and faithfully through prayer and fasting, like Anna, but also by everything else I do in life-with my thoughts, by my words, and through multiple gospel-deeds. So very Amen, I pray, in your holy and loving name.