Self-Forgetting Adoration
I was bragging to my wife about how my ‘default setting’ is gratitude. When I pray during the day, I’m usually saying “Thank you God” for something. “Thank you for forgiving me . . . for adopting me into your family. Thank you for saving my marriage. For turning my business around. For helping the doctor spot the cancer before it spread. For my church. For Radical Mentoring. Thank you God for my kids. . . my grandkids.”
I go on and on.
And it’s a good thing. Look at all this Bible about being grateful:
- And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 ESV
- Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thess. 5:18 ESV
- Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalms 136:1 ESV
- And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Col. 3:15 ESV
But then I read this . . .
“When I give thanks, my thoughts still circle around me to some extent. But in praise, my soul ascends to self-forgetting adoration, seeing and praising only the majesty and power of God, his grace and his redemption.”1
There’s a “me” and “mine” in my prayers I hadn’t noticed before. Not that it’s bad, but there’s something else . . . prayer of pure praise . . . of adoration . . . prayer expressing awe of God. The wonder of a Heavenly Father so big and powerful and creative that He made this world and everything in it, even life itself. The overwhelming idea that Jesus rules over everything that happens, yet He cares enough to know each of us by name. What an amazing, amazing God!
So what keeps us from expressing our adoration for God? C.S. Lewis gave four specific things that impede our praise. 2
1. Inattention – We get caught up in life, in what we want, even in gratitude for what He’s already given us.
2. The wrong kind of attention – “We see a sunset and get drawn into the analysis rather than doxology” (or praise).
3. Greed – We want more . . . and more. Instead of simply enjoying pleasures, we demand more pleasures.
4. Conceit – “How easy for those who discover God in the ordinary to get very smug about it all” says Lewis. “Don’t you get it?” we ask our less-spiritual friends. And “once conceit takes over, the focus is again on how wonderful we are – which is why it so effectively severs the cords of adoration.”3
The next time you turn to the Lord in prayer . . . before you get going with “Thank you for this day” and all that, spend a few minutes in intentional praise. In personal worship. In self-forgetting adoration. If you’re alone, pray and praise Him. Don’t just “think” the words, say them or sing them out loud so your own ears can hear them.
And it’s ‘both/and’, not ‘either/or’. Self-forgetting adoration AND heart-felt gratitude.
He is worthy of both.
Question: Will you forget about yourself for a little while and express awe and adoration for our wonderful Jesus? Share your thoughts here
1 Thomas Kelly, A Testament to Devotion (New York, Harper & Row, 1941) p.53
2 C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm
3 Richard J. Foster, Prayer (HarperSanFransisco, 1992) p.87
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