Correct Ideas and True Reverence
"Unless correct ideas of true worship and true reverence are impressed upon the people, there will be a growing tendency to place the sacred and eternal on a level with common things, and those professing the truth will be an offense to God and a disgrace to religion" (Testimonies to the Church, 5:500).
"The test questions for every Christian to ask himself is, "Have I, in my inmost soul, supreme love for Christ? Do I love His tabernacle? Will not the Lord be honored by my making His sacred institution my first consideration?" (Gospel Workers, 433).
"Every morning lean thine arm awhile Upon the window sill of heaven And gaze upon the Lord. Then with the vision in they heart, Turn strong to meet the day." ─Author Unknown
Promptness
"I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, 0 Lord, among the people" (Ps. 108:2, 3).
"It is a part of my religion not to interrupt the religion of others" was the reply of a devotedly pious lady to the question why she always went early to church.
"Whoever through indolence or indifference, is behind time, sins against God, his fellow worshipers and his own good. A tardy courtier offends his prince─how much more a tardy worshiper his God." ─Anonymous
"We believe if congregations made it a part of their religion not to twist their necks almost out of joint to witness the entrance of every person who passes up the aisle during service, it would be better both for their necks and their religion." ─R. A. Bertram
Reverence
"Serve God acceptably with reverence" (Heb. 12:28).
"True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness and a realization of His presence" (Education, 242).
"If He be 'our Lord,' let us do Him reverence." ─Adams
"There are practices tolerated in religious congregations which Christians who are jealous for the honor of their Master's house should utterly condemn. Decorum is the handmaid of devotional feeling, and for this reason the house of God should never be disturbed by the slightest approach to irreverence." ─Anonymous.
"Unless you educate yourselves to respect the place of devotion, you will receive no blessing from God" (Testimonies to the Church, 5:608).
Godly Fear
"In thy fear will I worship thee" (Ps. 5:7).
"When thou goest to God ... take thy heart aside, and say, '0 my soul, I am now addressing myself to the greatest work that ever a creature was employed about. I am going into the awful (full of awe) presence of God, about business of everlasting moment.'" ─Salter
Privilege of Public Worship
"O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker" (Ps. 95:6).
"If a saint's single voice in prayer be so sweet to God's ear, much more ... His saints' prayers in consort together." ─Gurnall
"In public worship . . . strong and imperishable links are being created which will bind us together through eternity." ─R. W. Dale
"Our meetings for worship should be sacred, precious occasions" (Testimonies to the Church, 5:607).
"Our meetings should be made intensely interesting. They should be pervaded with the very atmosphere of heaven. Let there be no long, dry speeches and formal prayers merely for the sake of occupying the time. All should be ready to act their part with promptness, and when their duty is done, the meeting should be closed. Thus the interest will be kept up to the last. This is offering to God acceptable worship. His service should be made interesting and attractive and not be allowed to degenerate into a dry form" (Testimonies to the Church, 5:609).
"And now the wants are told that brought They children to Thy knee; Here lingering still, we ask for nought, But simply worship Thee." ─Canon Bright
Intelligence in Worship
"Sing ye praises with understanding" (Ps. 47:7).
"The Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding" (1 John 5:20).
"If Christians would take home the teachings of Christ in regard to watching and praying, they would become more intelligent in their worship of God" (Testimonies to the Church, 2:582).
"Worship is an act of the understanding applying itself to the knowledge of the excellency of God and actual thoughts of His majesty.... It is also an act of the will, whereby the soul adores and reverences His majesty, is ravished with His amiableness, embraceth His goodness, enters itself into an intimate communion with...all his affections upon Him; we must worship God understandingly; it is not else a reasonable service." ─Charnock
Wholehearted Participation
"I will praise thee, 0 Lord, with my whole heart" (Ps. 9:1).
"We should not dare to give God a piece of our heart, when we apprehend Him present with the whole." ─Charnock
"Seek Him here with all thy soul; thrust not Christ into the stable and the manger, as if thou hadst better guests for the chaffiest rooms." ─Baxter
"Similar is the presumption of neglecting to participate in divine worship when present in God's house. Negative sins are sometimes most intensely sinful. Heedless sins are sometimes most fearfully fatal." ─Phelps
"To be spiritual in worship is to have our soul gathered and bound up wholly in themselves, and offered to God." ─Charnock
"O thou Great Chief, light as a candle in my heart that I may see what is therein and sweep the rubbish from Thy dwelling place." ─African Child's Prayer
Thoughts Centered on God
"Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5).
A remembrance of God's omnipresence will quell distractions in worship....An eye taken up with the presence of one object is not at leisure to be filled with another.... Oppose to every intruding thought the idea of the Divine Omnipresence, and put it to silence by the awe of His majesty." ─Charnock.
"It is impossible to have clear conceptions of eternal things unless the mind is trained to dwell upon elevated themes" (Testimonies to the Church, 2:141).
"A listless and wandering mind roving like fool's eyes in the temple of worship, is a most insolent indignity to the King of kings." ─Phelps
What To Pray For
"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder ... at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God." ─Phillip Brooks
Practice the Presence of God
"Practice the presence of God.... Let us think often that our only business in this life is to please God, and that all besides is but folly and vanity.... Let us think of him perpetually. Let us put all our trust in him.... We cannot have too much in so good and faithful a Friend, who will never fail us." ─Brother Lawrence
