Can We Go Back to the Way Worship Used to Be? Facedown?

 

It is interesting to note that there are very few major heroes in the Bible who have not been seen face down before God.

Moses and Aaron hit the dust!

Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them.
Numbers 20:6

In a moment of sacrifice and worship everyone knees gave way.

Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
Leviticus 9:24

When God’s glory showed up and showed off. He left none standing.

When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God.
1 Kings 18:29

When Moses and Elijah made a reappearance on planet earth it underscored the reality of God’s glory, and (you guessed it) bodies hit the ground. 

When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.
Matthew 17:6

In the human realm, being face-down is the ultimate act of vulnerability and danger.

When you are face-down, you cannot fight or even defend yourself. When you are face-down on the ground there is no escaping. But being face-down before God is quite another matter.

Being face down before God is the most secure place you’ll ever be.  It’s impossible to trip or fall when you are face down before God.

Have you been face down before Him?  In your worship have you learned the power of this posture.  There are many new types of worship.  We have achieved the heights of technology. I’ve been amazed by new songs and ways to communicate the Bible, but before there were electric guitars, before there were pipe organs and hand bells, there was a much more powerful type of worship that is as rare as it is radical.

In today’s worship, being face down is so rare that if someone actually went face-down on the floor they’d probably be accused of yoga or handed a saltine for low blood sugar. But we’d better start practicing it because we’ll be doing a lot of it through eternity.

In a culture that genuflects to every sports hero and TV reality star, we are a very hesitant to worship God in humility.

There are two impostors for genuine worship. They are dignity and hysteria.  They are both stumbling blocks.  We’re either too dignified to really worship or we are so emotionally driven that there is no substance. Truth is often thought about as intelligence. Intelligence that is puffed up becomes dignified.  Emotions can produce hollow worship that is fueled by feelings. These polar opposites produce lifeless, mediocre, and purposeless worship focused more on tastes than transformation.

My prayer this week is this:

God, let us worship you with our minds, our passions, our bodies, and our voices. Teach us how to fall face down in worship before you.  Help us not look to our right or our left. Remind us not to judge our worship leaders. We are expecting to see you do amazing things!  Tear us apart with your love. Clear out lifeless, judgmental, impersonal, preoccupied thinking so that You will take your church by storm!