Adoration: Giving Prayer the Right Focus

On Monday nights we try to set up an environment that is conducive for prayer, but even more than that we try and set up an environment that is conducive for the human heart to encounter God in prayer.

Worship is at the front end of prayer.  About a year and a half ago we added worship time to the front end of prayer.  For us this usually means 3 or 4 songs that lean more toward intimacy.  There were a few comments when this happened that we were cutting down on our prayer time, but actually we were creating a time where the human heart could connect with God in Adoration and get in tune with who he is.

Many times prayer is begun from the vantage point of what we need, when in actuality the proper place to begin prayer is with a focus on who God is.  Recently I hear one of our missionaries say "Don't tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is."  The premise of this is depending on God and putting our focus on how big he is.  We have found that at Monday Night Prayer, when we begin in worship we put our minds on how Big our God is and it brings the correct perspective to all else.

Another facet of starting prayer with Adoration is that adoration is a catalyst to connecting with God in real and tangible ways.  It is hard to fake telling God you love him.  An amazing thing happens as we begin to get vulnerable and intimate with our God, we begin to encounter His amazing love for us.  This is a place where people are truly changed.  They encounter a real love, not one told in stories, or one memorized.  It isn't a head knowledge of Gods love.  It isn't a belief that happens because of an intellectual assent to facts.  It is a true relationship, a true encounter with God.  This kind of encounter transforms us.

Another thing we have found helpful in preparing peoples hearts to focus in prayer is playing more intimate worship music before and after the actual prayer time.  The music creates an atmosphere of encounter that people pick up on as soon as they enter the building.  Again most of this music is adoration.  We have people who will come early and just sit and listen and connect with God before anything formal ever begins.