Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Worship leader…
Good morning, everybody. Whether you’re here or you’re online, we’re glad that you’re with us.
Looking at the life of Mary of Bethany…
Lately I’ve been stuck on the story of Mary. Mary of Bethany, Martha and Lazarus’s sister. This weekend I read Luke 10. It’s a very common story about Mary and Martha. And especially in the women’s ministry, how many sermons have we heard about that?
However, God had me look it up in some commentaries. And there was one commentary who pointed something out about Mary that I had never seen before. Mary of Bethany is seen three times in the Gospels. Every single time she’s at the feet of Jesus. Every single time. And it hit me.
Mary worshiping Jesus at His feet…
So the first time is in Luke 10 with Mary and Martha and she’s sitting at the feet of Jesus worshiping as a disciple. Learning.
Mary falls at the Savior’s feet…
We see her in, I believe it’s John 11, at the death of her brother. And she runs to His feet and she falls at His feet. And in her grief, she still declares who He is… “If you would’ve been here.” She knew He was the healer. So she was still declaring in worship who He was.
Mary pouring perfume onto His feet…
Then in John 12, we see Mary again at the feet of Jesus pouring out her perfume, the most expensive thing she probably had. Some scholars say that it was probably what she was supposed to actually give her betrothed, and she gave it to Jesus in front of everybody. Mary kept returning to the feet of Jesus. She stayed in a place of worship. Now, interestingly enough, it never says that Mary sang. Worship can include a song. I said that yesterday, but it is not a song. And I think Mary proves that.
Martha compared to Mary…
So if you go back to the story of Mary and Martha, you see Mary at the feet of Jesus. And we see Martha running around. She was doing all these things for Jesus when she really should have been just sitting at His feet. Jesus did not need to be fed. He is the bread of life and the living water. He did not need to be fed. Martha was trying to do something for Jesus He didn’t even need. What Jesus actually needed was her to sit back at His feet.
Corporate worship shows you how to worship when you are alone…
So we get the privilege at this church of having a space, Monday through Friday to come sit at Jesus’ feet. And this, as Pastor Bill Johnson said, the corporate worship should show you how to worship at home by yourself. You should be able to take what we do here and do this at your house by yourself.
Let’s be like Mary…
I want to be like Mary. I want to be found at Jesus’s feet all the time. Because when I worship Him and when I look at Him, everything else goes into perspective. The world doesn’t seem so problematic. My struggles don’t seem so big. The healing seems easy. Because He is all of those things. He doesn’t just do all of those things.
He is the healer.
He is the miracle worker.
He is provision.
He is good. Period.
Let’s focus on His face…
So this morning, I just want us to start from that place. Put all your Martha stuff aside and just sit at the feet of Jesus. Focus on His face. And let your problems fade away.
Jesus drank from that horrible cup so we didn’t have to…
There’s a line in this song that says, “drink from the cup in your hand.” Jesus drank from the cup in the garden and on the cross… that horrible cup! So we didn’t have to. And what is the cup He gave us? Communion. He gave us His own body and blood, which includes everything of who He is.
The cup overflowing is the Holy Spirit…
And then if you go back to Psalm 23, it talks about your cup overflowing. Well, that would be the Holy Spirit. So when we drink from the cup that’s in His hand, we get the body and the blood and all of who He is. And we get the Holy Spirit. He’s so good. We don’t deserve any of that. We only deserve it because He said we do. And this is why we need to sit at His feet. I don’t have anything good in and of myself. He is good. I am good because He has told me I am good because He lives in me.
So we’re going to sing that chorus again and I want you to focus on that. I actually want you to see Him giving you that cup… That cup that includes all of who His is.
Learn to become intimate with Him…
Proverbs 3:6 in the Passion says, “Become intimate with Him in whatever you do, and He will lead you wherever you go.” Become intimate. It requires an openness. It requires a vulnerability. Sitting at His feet is a vulnerable position because we have to trust that He has control of and can handle everything that’s around us and everything that’s behind us. He just wants intimacy with us.
Draw close to Him…
It says in James, “Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you.” Sitting at His feet, listening to His heart talk to you, looking at the smile on His face… This is where we all want to be.
Prayer leader Cindy…
Father, we desire to be close to you. We desire to lay our heads on your chest and hear your heartbeat.
What makes your heart beat, Lord, the things that move you, the things that you’re looking at, the things that are important to you. Father, we want them to be synced with our heart.
You’ve given us this secret place where we can rest at your feet.
We bring everything to your feet.
Your feet are a peaceful place, Lord, a place where we can have our souls restored.
For in this world, we have trouble. In this world, there’s things that try to get us off the peace of God that God has given us.
It’s ours in Christ Jesus.
Every opportunity, Father, we defer to you in whatever it is that you would give us your eyes to see.
We would melt into your peace.
It was the thing that was chosen. Mary chose the right thing.
We have choices every day, like forks in the road.
And I would say thank you, Father, for just helping me to be aware that I have the choice.
Give me presence of mind to know that your peace is available, that it’s already ours.
And it comes from just resting in and confidence in and trusting in that Jesus is taking care of everything.
So we are learning, Father, to stop the world and rest with you and melt into your peace and joy and all the holy emotions that you are feeling.
Let them be our feelings, Lord.
We want to know how you feel about everything.
We want to feel your feelings.
We want to know your thoughts.
We want to be synced into your purpose.
The understanding that comes from being in right relationship with you and having a living dialogue with you reserved in heavenly places.
We have free access.
Free access into your mind.
Free access into your thoughts and feelings and holy emotions that move us and keep us going, free from fear and doubt and keep us going forward.
