So I'm working on my latest book, Praying Like the Early Church, and I'm working on a functional definition of prayer as opposed to worship or praise - not a technical or scholarly definition, but a practical definition - you'll see what I mean - here's what I have so far:
1. Not all worship is prayer: Prayer is addressed to God in the grammatical second person (You are awesome, God); but non-prayer worship is addressed to others, talking about God (Our God is awesome, isn't he!)
2. Not all prayer is worship: Prayer addressed to God is a form of worship, if only because it expresses an assumed trust in God's Providence and God's omnipotent ability to answer prayer; but prayer addressed to anyone other than God (like saints) is not worship, because we do not ascribe divine attributes or powers to the saints, nor do we thank them for providence or seek to do their will
So where does the word "praise" fit in? It seems like praise can be in the grammatical second person (you can praise God directly, and that would be a form of prayer), or in the grammatical third person (you can praise God by talking up God's awesomeness, as if you're telling others about it, or agreeing with others about it in worship/hymns, etc.). So not all praise is prayer - does that mean praise and worship are synonymous?
What would be something that is worship but not praise? Perhaps acts of service/submission to God that have no words associated with them?
What would be something that is praise but not worship? Perhaps talking about how great God is, but outside the context of worship, like in casual conversation? Or does the act of praising God automatically make it worship? If you & I are in the pub having a beer, and we talk about how great God is, is that an act of worship?
Thoughts...?
Could we come up with a venn diagram for praise, worship, and prayer?
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
I hope to have another installment of THE JOURNEY up this Saturday - here's the text for the rest of the chapter - I didn't bother with the colored text since this is all from the Gospel of John.
