Pursue God Prayer Journey PURPOSE: To seek God first, followed by His way and will for the worship & arts ministry of Northside Christian Church. WEEK 1 REVIEW Matthew 22: 37 NLT Jesus replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. *The process of leading worship together as a ministry should be preceded by the life of worship that we lead as individuals. Psalm 99: 5 NLT Exalt the Lord our God! Bow low before His feet, for He is holy! *God is BIG. He can magnify Himself without us. BUT, He has invited us into the process of bringing Himself glory. WEEK 2 REVIEW Zephaniah 3: 17 NASB The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Psalm 46: 10 NIV Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. *As worship leaders, we must embrace the challenge of leading in a way that doesn t add to the noise, but rather leads the Church into stillness into a presence with God in which He is exalted. Week 3 Creativity of the Creator As leaders in an arts ministry, we re called to create heavenly art within the limitations of our earthly bodies. It s one of the healthiest, yet most difficult tensions to navigate on the journey of pursuing God. Even the most creative person on this earth is merely a shadow to the creativity of the Creator.
2 I love Paul s words in Ephesians 3: 20 where he reminds us that God is able to do more than we could ever IMAGINE or THINK. Not only that, but Paul reminds us that God has chosen to do HIS WORK within us. PRAYER GUIDE Ephesians 3: 14-21 NLT For our prayer journey this week, we re going to use Paul s words in Ephesians 3: 14-21 as a guide. The scripture passage is written below with breaks between verses for reflection and guided prayer. There s also space to journal your prayers, thoughts and ideas as you go. Take time this week to really chew on this passage, reflecting on the creativity of the Creator and the call that we ve received as worshippers and worship leaders. In our corporate gathering this week, we ll journey through this passage together. If you re doing this on your own this week, be sure to take the time to meditate on each verse of this passage. Don t rush through it. Maybe even take a different verse or two to focus on each day. Ephesians 3: 14-21 New Living Translation 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. These 2 verses begin with Paul on his knees. If you re able, follow his lead and take a posture of kneeling before God. Pause and be still. Reflect on the fact that God is the Creator of everything. Let that settle into your heart. Prayer point: Be still. Be quiet. Reflect. Listen. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Think on the words resources and strength in this verse. Arts ministries are often bound by earthly resources the latest and greatest technology, the right
3 sound system, lighting or instrument, more money, etc. Without thinking about it, we can easily become consumed with those things, to the point of even making them idols. If we re not careful, we can easily take on the mindset that our strength and ability to create our art comes from those tools rather than from God. But, Paul tells us that God s resources are enough and that we are empowered by His Spirit. The earthly resources mentioned above are gifts from God and can be used for great good as part of our canvas for worship. But, it s not about those things. Prayer point: Pray that God would encourage and refuel us by His resources and strength, beyond the tools we use here on earth. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God s love and keep you strong. As a ministry of worship leaders, how do we maintain a heart rooted in the strength and love of Christ? Prayer point: Pray that our ministry would be rooted in LOVE. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. God s love is unfathomable. We see that truth in the fact that God sacrificed his Son so that we would have life. Paul reminds us of the depth of God s love, but also charges us to have the power to understand even stating that as followers of Christ, we are to know God s love. As we think about being rooted in love, what are ways that we want the church here at Northside to see God s love in our leadership?
4 Prayer point: Pray that God would give us the power to understand and the courage and boldness to lead out of that understanding. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. This verse is complex, especially since we ve just been called to understand in the previous verse. In thinking about the word experience, let s think about the worship experience that we lead as a team of worship leaders. We just prayed about what the congregation sees in our leadership. In what ways do we want the church to EXPERIENCE the love of Christ in our worship? In what ways do we want to experience the love of Christ in our leadership? Prayer point: Pray specifically about our worship experiences here at Northside, whether it be for a Sunday service or a special program/event. Think about how our pursuit of God manifests itself in those experiences. 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. God is able. God is able. GOD IS ABLE. This is such a powerful verse. Just pause and think about that last part to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Prayer point: Pray that God does just that, allowing us to be His pure and holy vessels.
5 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. We ve started all our prayer times with a time of adoration to God for Who He is. This week, we re going to close with that time. Give Him glory for His great work. For Who He is. And specifically for Northside, for the legacy of worship leadership that has spanned the history of this church through all generations. Prayer point: Give God the glory. It s HIS!