Read: John 4:19-34
The true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (v. 23 NIV)
When I was in college, struggling to maintain a vital devotional life, I was greatly helped by these words in today’s key verse. Two things impressed me: First, the idea of worshiping the Father “in the Spirit and in truth,” which seems to say: worship by the help of the Holy Spirit through Jesus, who is the Truth. We need God’s help always to truly worship. But second, the especially helpful and powerful thought for me at the time was that the Father seeks such worship. He looks for it, desires it, welcomes it. Our heavenly Father seeks our worship, wants our prayers. If I didn’t show up to pray one morning, the Father would miss it! All this gave me a moving, powerful incentive to keep on seeking God.
Ceasing to pray is like forgetting God, which grieves his fatherly heart. Listen to God’s lament when his people Israel did that. He reasons with his followers in Jeremiah 2:32: “Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.”
Think about your devotional life recently. Do you feel in reflecting about it some pang of conscience? Do you feel deep regret about any of your forgetting? Make a fresh commitment to do this beautiful thing: remember the Blessed One who never forgets you! —Bill Brownson
As you pray, thank God for his delight in you, his beloved child.
About the Author
Dr. William C. Brownson was the President Emeritus of Words of Hope. Dr. Brownson served Reformed churches in Lodi, New Jersey, and Chicago, Illinois. In 1964 he was appointed Professor of Preaching at Western Theological Seminary, a position he occupied for ten years before serving at Words of Hope. In addition to a widespread speaking ministry in churches, on university campuses and at conferences, Dr. Brownson wrote extensively for the Church Herald, other Christian periodicals, and authored many books. Dr. Brownson died April 1, 2022.
