I sense, that often our worship and our prayers are more directed by what we need rather than by who God is. We are to worship God and not what God has done for us. We ought to love, serve and worship God whether He has done anything for us or not, because He is worthy of all that I can do to bring Him Glory, in whatever capacity I can. I feel this problem (of worshipping God solely based on what He has done on my behalf) leads to a man-centered view of God and is rooted in our tendency to view God in light of who we are and our circumstances, instead of viewing ourselves and our circumstances in light of who God is and this problem can be clearly seen in how we pray. In Matt.6:9-10 when The Lord Jesus is teaching us to pray; I do not not think He randomly choose these first words; "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." I believe that the worship of God will lead us to have a proper desire for His will to be done and only when we have that desire can we truly pray without praying amiss. However our petitions often precede our worship and therefore our prayers are first selfish (in subtle ways) and second impotent because we are not focused on the attributes of God and His will. We can also clearly see that the one attribute of God that The Lord mentions is His Holiness. Psalm 99:1-5 "The Lord reigneth;let the people tremble: He sits between the Cherubims; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion; and He is high above the people. Let them praise Thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. The king's strength also loves judgment; thou does establish equity thou executes judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye The Lord our God, and worship at His footstool;for He is Holy. Oh! When we are bowed before this all powerful, sovereign, righteous God we pray with boldness knowing that He is able and is bringing all things to consummation to the praise of His own glory and that Jesus Christ is the risen Lord and exalted King. However I feel that many are only praying to a God that helped them get out of going to hell and they are confused by all the difficulties they must endure and are left with; my kingdom, my will be done. My friends we must stop praying to and worshipping a god that is there to solve all my problems and start praying to and worshipping The Holy, all powerful, sovereign, all knowing, God of the Bible that has pre-determined all things for His own Glory and for His own purposes.
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