When I was young I was a pretty decent pitcher. It was mainly because I was wicked fat and could throw the ball real hard, think Bartolo Colon, haha (if you don’t know who that is, google him and you will chuckle). After pitching a terrible game, I felt defeated (literally- that is a great pun). When I arrived for the next game I expected to ride the bench. However, during the pre-game talk, the coach handed me the ball and said, “You’re pitching.” We needed a win. When I had faced this team previously, I utterly destroyed them. So despite coming off a bad game, my coach handed me the ball. He trusted me. He didn’t want to give the ball to someone else. So I pitched. We won. I owned them, ha!
You know how I felt when he gave me that ball? I felt honored. I felt treasured. I felt important. I felt dignified. He could have given that ball to someone else, but he trusted me and gave me the ball. This will sound weird, but my coach “worshipped” me.
Before you burn me alive, here is what I mean; worship simply means to ascribe someone or something worth. The word use to literally be read as “worthship”. They didn’t worship me as a god, no one EVER should. I would suck in that position. My coach simply communicated that I had worth. Now I don’t think we should go throwing this worship word around, so I am only using it to make a point and that is; worship means to ascribe someone worth.
No one is more worthy and more deserving of our worship than the Lord. No one. Period. So here is where I want to challenge you. We value endless growth. We value constantly growing in our relationship with Jesus. Here is a challenge we may all be able to improve on. Consider these two verses:
Matthew 6:9-10, “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”
Philippians 4:6, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Do you hear the elements of worship in that? When I pray, I ascribe God worth by:
- Calling Him Father!
- Telling Him how special His name is!
- Desiring His kingdom!
- Desiring His will over mine!
- Giving Him my anxiety!
- Bringing Him my request!
When I bring my requests to God I communicate something very special. “God I have a need, or I know someone with a need and I bring it before you. I’m not bringing this to so and so, I bring this to you because you alone can handle this. You alone are worthy of such a request.”
This doesn’t mean God won’t give us wisdom to handle important situations. In some cases it may mean bringing the request to people. But did you pray about it first? Did you relinquish the outcome to Him? Do you trust Him with the results?
Your prayer is a form of worship. It is a way to ascribe God worth. It is a way to give Him your trust. Will you?
Give Him the ball!
Pastor Jason Coache, Lead Pastor of Wellspring Church
