I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

~Psalms‬ ‭9:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

One morning, a verse came to mind while I prayed and thanked God for some wonderful things I saw Him doing. At the same time, it made me wonder if I had participated in unintentional worship.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.

~Psalm 22:3 NIV

God reminded me that when we recount His wonderful deeds, He draws near and is enthroned by our praise. Our praise acknowledges Him as our King. And when He rules in our hearts, His authority brings peace and divine blessing to the kingdom of our lives. Blessing comes as a result of recounting His marvelous works.

Then, a song by Bob Dylan came to mind: “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Not only will we have to serve somebody, but we will also have to worship somebody. Just as we enthrone God when we recount His wonderful deeds, we enthrone the enemy when we recount his hellish deeds.

Every time we indulge the desire to grumble and complain about our circumstances, poor health, the actions of others or our leaders, and the turmoil in the world, we recount the enemy’s killing, stealing, and destroying deeds. The enemy receives our grumbling as worship. No wonder God hates it when we grumble. And no wonder we feel worse after we do it.

Complaining gives honor and glory to the enemy. And just as the Lord draws near and uses His power to bless as we worship, the enemy draws near and uses his power to torment when we grumble.

Nothing good can ever come from grumbling, so we just need to stop. We don’t have to accept Satan’s invitation to worship him and invite hell into our worlds.

Let’s ask the Father to open our eyes to the power of our words and the destruction we invite into our lives. We don’t want to grumble and recount the enemy’s works of darkness. By the power of Jesus’s shed blood, we can curse the powers of darkness. We can also repent of and renounce a spirit of grumbling, complaining, and ungratefulness.

Think of some ways you can avoid unintentional worship. 

Father, make me wise and aware, with godly discernment and firm reins on my tongue, so I don’t partake in unintentional worship. You alone are worthy of my praise. May my worship be reserved exclusively for You. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2024: Unintentional Worship: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly: All Rights Reserved