Adoration



Praising God for who He is

Define

This first step is a real refocus of our heart onto Him. It seems that as we grow in the discipline and in the delight of prayer, we naturally spend more and more of our time on this first element.

Adoration is different from thanksgiving. Here, we aren't thanking him for what he has done... Not yet. We will first adore him for some of His specific character attributes.

God is unlike anything or anyone we could ever know or imagine. He is one of a kind, unique and without comparison. Even describing him with mere words truly falls short of capturing who he is – our words simply cannot to justice to describe our holy God.
Still, God possess attributes that we can know (even in just in part) and he’s given us his Word as a means to understand himself. Here are a few of God’s attributes. Take time to meditate on a few of these. Think about what they mean, and how they are unique to Him.


Read

Psalm 146

1 Praise the LORD!
Let all that I am praise the LORD.
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

3 Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the LORD their God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them.
He keeps every promise forever.
7 He gives justice to the oppressed
and food to the hungry.
The LORD frees the prisoners.
8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are weighed down.
The LORD loves the godly.
9 The LORD protects the foreigners among us.
He cares for the orphans and widows,
but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

10 The LORD will reign forever.
He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.
Praise the LORD!


Declare

Take some time to declare God's worthiness of our praise. You can praise him for his omniscience, his omnipotence, his faithfulness, his generosity, his goodness, his mercy... Or you can use one of the verses below to praise him.


 For nothing will be impossible with God.
Luke 1:37

For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. 
His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. 
He rescues and saves his people; 
he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. 
Daniel 6:26-27

There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.
Hebrews 1:3-4

“Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Exodus 3:5

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! 
The whole earth is filled with his glory!” 
Isaiah 6:3

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glorious presence dwells. 
Psalm 26:8

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
Philippians 2:10-11


Next