Jan. 2 Devotion: Just Worship

Just Worship

Luke 2:36-37

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; [37] And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

We tend to focus on the beginning of this chapter most of the time. Especially this time of year. As you read farther into the chapter, you come across these verses about a prophetess, Anna.

We find she is a widow. It was a lengthy widowhood—likely beginning in her early twenties—that marks profound loss, yet she transforms grief into unwavering devotion. Rather than bitterness or remarriage, she dedicates herself entirely to God, never departing from the temple. As you study, you come across varying opinions of what her daily presence signifies. Her presence “night and day” suggests either constant attendance during temple hours or possibly quarters there as a recognized prophetess. Regardless of the reasoning, she was there each day! She showed up each day to worship the Lord. It doesn’t seem that she let her circumstances or others dictate anything about her worship. She serves Him “with fastings and prayers night and day,” embodying persistent worship, self-denial, and intercession.

As I looked at this over the past week, I’ve had several applications that I’ve thought about making. However, the Lord has settled my heart here. What determines your worship when showing up to the Lord’s house? Too often, I’m afraid it’s based on others’ attendance or lack thereof (too worried about who’s not there). It also seems to be affected by the attitude of others. Why should we allow this to affect us? If we are going to take the time to get ready and show up, then no one else should keep us from worshipping the Lord. Seems that our worship also seems to be predicated on what’s being preached. Why should this matter? Yes, there are messages that make you want to shout and some that make you want to crawl to the altar asking God to help or forgive you. Either way, if the truth is being preached, then we should worship Him!

Anna was able to do this every day for some 84 years. Why do we find it so difficult to do just a few times a week? How could the Lord transform our church and community if we showed up each service looking to worship Him and not have any services where we just go through the motions?

God bless,

Bro. Josh Richardson