2 Chronicles 7:11–16 (NIV)
(11) When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, (12) the Lord appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. (13) “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, (14) if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (15) Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. (16) I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
The first pillar to building a life of true worship is “Intentional Preparation.”
The second pillar to building a life of true worship is “Seeking God’s Presence.”
The third pillar to building a life of true worship is “Humility and Repentance.”
The fourth pillar to building a life of true worship is “Daily Obedience.”
Is my worship simply something I do, or is it becoming the way I live?
Point 1: Intentional Preparation
2 Chronicles 2:1–7 (NIV)
(1) Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. (2) He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them. (3) Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. (4) Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel. (5) “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. (6) But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him? (7) “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.
Your preparation will reveal your priority.
2 Chronicles 3:4–7 (NIV)
(4) He overlaid the inside with pure gold. (5) He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. (6) He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. (7) He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.
God is not looking for perfection, but He is worthy of our excellence.
Point 2: Seeking God’s Presence
2 Chronicles 5:7, 11–14 (NIV)
(7) The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. (11) The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. (12) All the Levites who were musicians, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives, stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. (13) The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:
“He is good;
his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, (14) and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
Point 3: Humility and Repentance
2 Chronicles 6:12–15 (NIV)
(12) Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. (13) Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. (14) He said: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. (15) You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it, as it is today.
2 Chronicles 6:18–21 (NIV)
(18) The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! (19) Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. (20) May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. (21) Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
2 Chronicles 6:29–31 (NIV)
(29) and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel, being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple, (30) then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), (31) so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
Point 4: Daily Obedience
2 Chronicles 7:17–22 (NIV)
(17) “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, (18) I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’ (19) “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, (20) then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. (21) This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ (22) People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them; that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”
“If you’re not worshiping God on Monday the way you did the day before, perhaps you’re not worshiping him at all.” A.W. Tozer
Psalm 86:11 (NIV)
Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
He wants a people who worship Him wholeheartedly.
“The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become. That’s what you will take into eternity.” Dallas Willard