Astronomy and Politics Through the Lens of Epistemology
How do We Know What We Know?
What is Our Method of Evaluating Truth?
Christian Epistemology
A “Personal Relationship With God”
My Quest for more Effective Adoration
By Bill Anderson 12/10/2017
UPDATED 1/21/2021
A central tenet at the center of Evangelical and similar Christian theologies is that each adherent is entitled to and encouraged to have a “personal relationship with God”. Yet many have questions about specifically what that really means in our every-day lives. What most Christians will properly cite in this regard is the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:5-15 and Luke 11:1-13. One of the most dramatic movies ever produced on a personal relationship with God is “War Room” which is about spiritual warfare rather than physical conflict. The “room” is the “inner room spoken of in Mathew 6:6 in Yeshua’s Sermon. If the reader has not seen this movie, I would suggest doing this before reading further. Yet, War Room was about prayer under acutely dramatic circumstances which many would classify as a Satanic attack on a family unit. For this type of prayer, I am reminded of the verse in Luke 6:12, “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God”. Yet, this is not the only type of prayer.
There are other types of prayer which one should engage in which do not have either major decision or crisis motivations. Although a family break-up or direct Satanic encounter, may be frequent, it is fortunately not necessarily the everyday experience of the average American believer. So, what should be the characteristics and specific elements of an everyday prayer life where you may, be for example, seeking enlightenment about God’s Word? Now many believers would be affronted by such a detailed analysis of what to them should be a natural consequence of faith without any need for instructions. While that is often a natural reaction of mature believers, young converts are still often beset by the question, what should be a standard pattern or outline for prayer under more routine life circumstances? While it is easy to pray under crisis circumstances, I call this a prayer of discipline - for daily practice. A great starter outline for developing your everyday relationship with God is the Navigator model for a daily quiet time in a tract titled; "7 minutes with God".
The seven minutes in the title I believe is there to encourage those with limited time, but this expectation may intimidate some who would desire more time. I have never executed this prayer model in less than 20 minutes. Yet, rather than my re-inventing the wheel by expounding at length on this model, it would be better to visit the Navigator site and review their detailed description on your own. Another good site on the A.C.T.S. prayer model, if one wants a better initial grounding. This model starts out with a brief Bible reading for enjoyment (but no complicated word studies).
Many young believers have a tendency of skipping over the brief Bible reading because they want a direct short-cut to their relationship to God. Others want to read the Bible if and only if the readings apply DIRECTLY to whatever crisis or situation in life they are currently dealing with.
The short-sightedness of these inclinations is that general principles in man’s personal relationship with God (Adonai) and His law, has been revealed to us through tutors throughout the history of the Biblical narrative. Among these tutors in the Word are the prophets, Israelite Kings, Jesus (Yeshua – God among men) and the personal stories of the apostles, not to neglect “the law of Christ”. Thus, the Bible is a history of how God interacts with his followers and insomuch, they are our role models. By studying how God works though the lives of these tutors, we gain insight on how God can work through our own lives. For that reason, daily Bible reading must be a central part of our prayer life with Jehovah, Adonai, Elohim whose names fit under the generalized title of God.
That Bible reading time is then followed by what the Navigators cite as an acronym for prayer which is A.C.T.S.: 1) Adoration, 2) Confession, 3) Thanksgiving, and (4) Supplication (prayer requests). Because in this text, I will be focusing on 1) adoration, let me say a few words about the other 3 elements in the Navigator prayer-time/quiet-time model for engaging and initiating our walk with God each day.
1) Adoration – We will return to Adoration which will be my primary focus shortly.
2) Confession is like admitting to God things that put the brakes on our relationship with Him. Without a doubt, one of my collection of sins has been my slowness to spend time with Adonai each day. We are all different; however, the list of things that inhibit our relationship with Him are listed in the Bible, which after all, is the reason this should be early in the sequence of our daily relationship with Him. Thus, confession is something we are all obligated by Elohim to do in the passage, 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
3) Thanksgiving is something we should practice with all our relationships, from a simple thank-you to a card, paying for a movie, etc. Thanksgiving to God, however, is frequently confined to our daily relationship and quiet time with Him. There are 134 Biblical reference to various derivatives of the word thank among which is, Matthew 11:25 “At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from [the] wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”
4) Supplication or our daily needs should be the easiest thing to do each day. It is important here to lay before Him everything from the smallest thing or need all the way to serious burdens or crises we may face. In making these requests, we have to remind ourselves that Jehovah has sovereign control of all of these problems in our lives with passages like, Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” In that regard, we need to understand that these issues work to His good which may or may not be perceived as good from our perspective. From that standpoint, we must submit to His perspective rather than ours. One deficiency of the Navigator prayer model, versus the Lord’s Prayer is the concept of yielding to God’s sovereignty and allowing him the control over our lives and our world with the words in that passage: “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Mathew 6:9).” Indeed, that is a critical doctrine and a concept we dare not neglect.
So, I do not cite the Navigator model because I believe it is the only superior prayer model. I also would never suggest that the Navigators have some monopoly on Godly prayer life. What I do find unique about the model is that although it is like a set of training wheels for beginners, its elements (A.C.T.S.) are essential to any good prayer model. Again and again, in my own prayer life, when I think that I have matured beyond need or time on one of those elements, I find myself burned realizing I have a sort of spiritual dunce cap on! Why did I leave that critical element out, if not my entire daily prayer??
Now returning to the Adoration of God (1)
Many Christian converts in life would have been astonished at part of my subtitle above, "the problem of Adoration. I gave that subtitle, because people who have been in church circles since birth, often see the adoration of God as a routine daily understanding that everyone should know. For such people as myself, when practicing adoration, we can be slow to be inspired in this manner. For that reason, I utilize Christian music videos as and aid prior to my beginning the daily adoration process so as to make my adoration more efficient.
The Adoration of Elohim is not necessarily included in public or private praise and can be distinctive as compared to praise in several respects. Adoration is a state of mind, not an action like private or public praise. Adoration can be best compared with how a girl or guy in their youth fall in love with each other. A man, for example, will go through quite a stage of adoration of his girl which is an integral part of their relationship. The same is true with our personal relationship with God. In this context, adoration of God is often associated with mature believers when they speak of returning to their first love.
Yet, I have found that often I am slow to get started on adoration. I have difficulty here with my mind wandering more than with confession, thanksgiving or supplication. With those remaining elements of a daily quiet time, I can make up a list for each and go through them with far less distractions. Given I have been a believer for 48 years, the adoration of God can be abstract for me which challenges my concentration. Now because most of my life has been in the astronomical sciences, I can be very inspired by “The heavens declare the Glory of God” and there are many aspects of astronomy that can be that inspirational and resulting in the adoration of God. Yet even here, I can find myself meditating more on the creation than the creator. That is really NOT GOOD! Recently, when I was once again burned because of neglect in adoration, I decided to put my foot down and do something about my “slow to start” problem that I have with adoration of God early in my quiet times.
What I discovered that helps me start or recapture my first love in my adoration of Adonai are songs of adoration or better yet, music videos. So, I began to collect them for variety obviously. Here is one of the best music video on the adoration of God I have ever heard, and it was born out of the contemporary music scene (“Eye of the Storm”, by Ryan Stevenson). This song adores God for what He has done for us in our personal relationship with Him. It is especially helpful when things in your life are falling apart and where chaos seems to reign. "Eye of the Storm" is a music video that cites Psalm 62:5-8, and the 23rd psalm for support.
In a remarkable way, the music video "Eye of the Storm" is the perfect complement to the movie, War Room in the way that both demonstrate to me personally how the Christian walk and spiritual warfare are so intertwined. In that sense, these two expressions of art also demonstrate how dependent we are in our daily walk with God and how much we suffer when we (I) fail to communicate and worship Him daily.
Next is the classic, "How Great Thou Art," by George Beverly Shea where I give 2 links, the 2nd with Bill Gaither. This song of adoration, adores God for who he is and what he has done in nature. This song better fits into a classical hymn category. I use it most often when life is not in immediate crisis.
How Great Thou Art--music video with George Beverly Shea (Billy Graham Crusade)
How Great Thou Art--music video with Shea with Bill Gaither
Great Is Thy Faithfulness--music video with Gaither-Hampton
The next set of links are not overtly songs of adoration. Yet, following the theme of these lyrics will nevertheless, stimulate a basis for us to better put our minds and spirits in our “first love” of adoration. Often people will lift up the word “faith” as something of value in itself. The following lyrics will better convey the superior value of what and who our faith is in. As such, a tremendous reminder of the object of our faith is conveyed in the following teaching and moving hymn about our faith in history. It reminds us of how our God turns despair into victory and works ultimate evil for the good described in Romans 8:28. In my opinion, it is taught narrated and sung by one of the most powerful and well educated musicians in America today, namely Wently Phipps.
Turning the evil of slavery into Divine victory (from God's standpoint)
Amazing Grace with Wently Phipps
Similarly, when we are reminded of the anchor of our soul, we are likewise elevated into a state of mind referred to as the adoration of a holy Yahweh. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, Heb 6:19 NKJV.
The Anchor Holds--Music Video with Ray Boltz
Testimony, story, and song by the composer of the Anchor Holds for Ray Boltz (Lawrence Mendel Chewning Jr), describes how, through death, the sum of his dreams literally slipped through his fingers.
The Story behind "The Anchor Holds"--Music video and text by Lawrence Chewing
You will notice that I mix links to classical hymns compared with contemporary music videos. Yet I have always had criticisms about both classical and contemporary Christian music. The lyrics of many classical hymns are quite frequently written by brilliant word smiths with a thorough dissertation on the elemental doctrines of the Bible, yet housed in music style almost deliberately designed to bore one to death! On the other hand, contemporary Christian music is so exciting it has lifted the dynamism of Christians around the world. But when you look at the sentence structure in much of contemporary music, it often appears to me to be written by song writers with the intellectual capacity of a Forest Gump!
Yet, there are a number of contemporary Christians songs that have the advantage both classical hymns and contemporary Christian style. One example is "In Christ Alone" sung Travis Cottrell which surprising to many is definitely contemporary written by Christians in The United Kingdom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Christ_Alone).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjR_A2pGPrY
A Christian Family calling themselves "Sounds Like Reign" also presents a powerful version of In Christ Alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnLl663WWnc
Another outstanding and brilliant Song Writer is Alisa Turner. A hit song of hers is "My Prayer for You". That is particularly appropriate for the 2020 election and such equivalent long term prayer issues that seem to never get solved, at least in our nation. This where trusting and waiting on God's timing for a solution is absolutely essential. My Prayer for You hits the spot precisely to the point of "are you trusting in God while you wait"? This video is a spectacular production.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj_0pvIGkks
Most striking, my prayer for you is a direct reflection of her relationship with God. In other words, that song is evidence that she does not merely talk the talk, but walks the walk. That is demonstrated by her testimony below which she shares in the following link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeC72CAG5IU
The Gaither family, previously mentioned, are innovators in bringing new exciting inspiration to older Christian music, for example, in "That Old Country Church":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6xZ3k7yHNM
Another ministry of the Gaither family is how they mentor, nurture and inspire MANY individual Christian musical artists. The list there is long which I will not attempt to itemize here. But one artist stands out, in my mind, above all the others, and her name is Linda Randle who was mentored by Bill Gaither's wife after Linda completed her schooling at Liberty University. Two of her most popular music videos are "One Day At A Time" followed below by "God On The Mountain" as follows below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhUvFqOY00I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCTl4tUYIAg
One of the most long-time popular song writers in contemporary Christian is the unforgettable Twila Paris in probably her most memorable rendition of "Lamb of God" which is another formidable example of contemporary lyrics and music akin to classic hymns. There are two versions below of this video, the first of her in a live setting and a second with lyrics only. If there ever was music from heaven, her rendition of Lamb of God is it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZxhg8oEUKU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGNUDsQ6fI
One song which I cannot possibly leave out is Amy Grant's blockbuster rendition of
Michael Card and John Thompson's "El Shaddai"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qJMl95lb9k
Now the next music video is largely a reflection of the passage in (2 Chron. 7:14), "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves". Then God makes them and us the same promise. This Gaither video is a convergence of both white and black culture in an old song called, "Take my Hand, Precious Lord". The white culture here is what appears to me to be an Assembly of God group in a Gaither Tent Meeting. The song starts out as is conventional in those circles. Soon enters a black singer, Angela Primm. Essentially her role in this music video, appears to me, to teach the huge white group how to sing a style of black gospel. She does just that and the largely white crowd just loves it and you can see it in their faces. You will notice in the crowd an older gentleman that appears to be George Beverly Shea in his later years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaF16IlysQc
The next music video, "Days of Elijah" is a prophetic video in several ways. For one, as I write this, the transition of power between Donald Trump and Joe Biden appears to be taking place. This produces much fear, not because of allegiance to Trump, but what many perceive as a coming totalitarian rule of domination and repeated censorship by the Democratic Party and the destruction of our freedoms. However, since "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds" (2Co 10:4), we do night fight with guns, bullets or tanks. We fight instead with prayer and the ADORATION of the creator of the universe - who fights for us. So, this video of very animated soldiers, likely Charismatic, is normally a bit much for this stuffy old evangelical, yet, it is a blast to watch under these circumstances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6woSL6yC9wA
All Hail the Power of Jesus Name is a new twist on a very old classic Hymn that is done well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIjZxS9nDNo
All Creatures Of Our God And King is an English Hymn sung Choir from Maranatha Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d3gO6qDLNAttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D35FILs1qiVA
This music video is another classic Hymn and one I could not determine the source of. Just from the music, I assume it is a very Charismatic black choir (granted I am guessing). Yet despite its wild and wooly nature, to me it is still done in Biblical order and its title is, "Blessed Assurance".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D13ffki1_74
Another remarkable and fun video is by the artist Courtney Patton with a group called, "A Southern Gospel Revival". playing "Take your shoes off Moses"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFe8k5ZrAFs
Yet, another classic country hymn is sung by the famous Alan Jackson is "Are You Washed In The Blood? which he merges into another classic "I'll Fly Away".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWgpljckbA
I certainly cannot leave without posting one of most famous hymns of history, The Hallelujah Chorus by the Royal Choral Societyin London England 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c
Yet, what blessing do we receive AFTER we invoke the adoration of God? The next link, is probably not appropriate for one recovering from the death of a loved one, but is better viewed if one is well on the path to recovery. This is not a song of adoration, but one that focuses on what He can do in our lives, regarding the daily ordeals we face - if we let Him, which brings to mind the phrase, “Victory in Jesus”. We need a motivation to begin to follow a principled and daily prayer life – and this song is it!!! As the eventual result of adoring God in the links above, we can eventually realize that we have become an overcomer in our daily routines. It is a song, that is born of contemporary black Christian music with a fast pace. Many evangelicals may object to this as manifesting a Rock'N'Roll nature. This music video cites 1 John 5:4-5 for support.
Overcomer--music video by Mandisa
Now after letting those videos of Adoration sink in and change our outlook, we can turn our eyes to what promises we benefit from as a result of following the A.C.T.S principles. MAKE THEM A DAILY ROUTINE IN YOUR LIFE!
I know there are other songs of Godly adoration out there. So, if you see any, could you forward them back to me.
God bless you in getting to know God better.
Your friend in Christ, Yeshua, Bill Anderson
