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Intimate Worship - a short devotional message by Rev. Shaw

Exodus 33:11 "And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."

Rev. Geoff Thomas of Wales states, "Nowhere in scripture is true worship portrayed in other than serious terms". This is true of worship in general but how true of the kind of intimate worship Moses had with his God. Intimate worship demands not only a serious attitude but a holy, godly relationship with God. So much of our intimacy in worship is spoiled by insincerity and impurity in our lives and a lack of real respect for God Himself.

What experience in this sad world could be sweeter than when a redeemed soul bows in intimate, respectful, face to face worship with God. John Newton described it in his hymn as "blissful hours".

Fanny Crosby states it so well -

"Oh the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend
When I kneel in prayer and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend."

Intimacy in worship must never be understood as freedom to be brash or bold or intended to bring God down to the level where we can treat Him as one of us and become commonly familiar with Him. No one who has experienced intimate worship will ever do this. God's presence becomes so precious and so sweet that we are compelled to stand in hallowed awesomeness.

There can be no pleasure so rich, pure and fulfilling as that time in personal, intimate worship alone with God. Intimate worship brings God to His rightful place in our lives where reverence of God becomes so thrilling that we are only then fit to serve Him effectively. May God help us to lament the lack of this intimate worship in our lives and yet create a strong desire for it again. Remember the words of A.W. Tozer "….. true spiritual worship is at a discouragingly low ebb among professing Christians". The fault is certainly not on God's side but very definitely on our's.

Reflection - "Worship is transcendent wonder." Thomas Carlyle