“For The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt“
Public reading of scripture certainly is key for helping us to remember God’s story. I have also experienced other benefits of public reading of scripture. I work with a missions organization and over the years I remember a few occasions where God challenged our team to read aloud the whole Bible (taking turns as a team) over the area we were trying to minister into. What we noticed after we did, there was a greater openness in the area and receptivity to the gospel. Declaring God’s word over our community has power! If the people of Israel were regularly publicly reading God’s word, I wonder what impact it was having on the community they lived in!
Public reading of scripture also has power in our own lives. There is something powerful in speaking out God’s word and promises over our lives, or over our communities. As we speak it out, pray it out, it gets into our hearts and we start to believe it and live it out. I’d love to see more public reading of scripture in our church services and have some ideas of where to start in my own church.
My eyes have also been opened to the vast number of beautifully crafted prayers and metaphors available to be used which could really enhance and bring new meaning when incorporated into ones personal or corporate worship experience. I would want people to reflect on what the prayers are saying and respond personally so that they don’t become meaningless prayers we just recite without taking in what they are really saying.
“What we pray or sing will tend to shape what we believe”! I think this is key, and why it is also so important that we look at the words of the songs we are singing, and that we are incorporating more of “God’s word” into our services, declaring it out, because that will shape us!
