YOUTH CORNER

SOUND WORSHIP

“How good it is to give thanks to You O Lord, to sing Your honour, O most high God, to proclaim Your constant love every morning and Your faithfulness at every night.” (Psalms 92: 1-2)

PART ONE

The apostles watched as the Resurrected Lord Jesus ascended into Heaven and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They stood gazing to the sky until two angels appeared, consoling them, “He will come back.” We, devotees of Christ believe that He will come again, as He said to His disciples, “I will go and prepare a place for you, then I will come back and take you with Me to the Father.” (John 14)The Holy Bible emphasises, “He will appear a second time not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for Him.” St. Paul warns us, “For you yourself know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night.” He further advices us, “Let that day not take you by surprise like a thief; we all should be awake and sober.”

How can we keep ourselves prepared when we do not know the day or the hour? Through His daily life practices, Lord Jesus Himself set us an example on how to prepare ourselves to be perfect and holy to welcome Him as King. The Holy Scriptures teaches us that very early morning, long before daylight Lord Jesus woke up, leaving the house to go out of the town to a lonely place, where He prayed.

Our Master taught us to be vigilant and to pray at all time to overcome temptations. It is a righteous and proper act to worship the Lord before beginning your daily schedule. Look at the nature and its creation. The birds sing praises to their Creator before the sunrises, making us aware of the rising sun.  Instead of enjoying the wonders and splendour works we seldom shut the doors and windows of our life. Every morning He showers upon us fresh love and mercy forgetting our past. We human beings are foremost among God’s creations, but how do we reciprocate to His blessings?

Let’s take a look at the lives of various religious men in the Holy Bible and how they succeeded in uprooting their temptations and received favours from God. Take a look at David who prayed three times in a day with a contrite heart. He says, “I pray to you Lord; you hear my voice in the morning; at sunrise I offer my prayer and wait for your answer.” (Psalms 5:3) Even when he arose to the status of a king, he continued his practice. Read further and you meet Job, a man who was upright in the sight of God. He would wake up early every morning to offer sacrifice on behalf of himself and each of his children. His practice of daily worship gave him the courage to face the fortunes and misfortunes as the will of God. During moments of crisis, kneeling down Job acknowledges his faith “I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing.  The Lord gave and now He has taken away.  May His name be praised.” Instead of blaming God and rebelling against His plan, Job offered all his emotions as a sacrifice of praise to God and gained deep rooted foundation of His Faith.

Are you like the above men a morning worshipper? Do you have a generous heart to offer the early morning hours of your day to God who has gifted you another twenty four hours. Overcoming all obstacles and laziness, instead of listing out excuses that you do not have the time or the familiarity to pray, rather by acknowledging your unworthiness to receive another day if you could sit in His Holy presence; you would be one of the joyfully blessed person on this earth! The well experienced St. Paul repeatedly requests us to be joyful at all times and to be thankful in all circumstances.  This is what God wants from you and me in our life in union with Christ Jesus.

Let me take this opportunity to introduce a young man, who is also a member of our team who would love to share his testimony with our dedicated readers:

I, the youngest of five siblings was a very jovial and social person who had lots of friends. I was in love with my life and would prefer watching movies, spending time with friends, roam around. I had a small gym set up at home and would love to spend the mornings exercising to gain good health and be proud of my physical structure. Studies never interested me and I would find out some innovative excuses to explain those who lectured me to study well. At the home front, my parents would be worried seeing my carefree and disobedient nature. For them my future and career seemed blank. They would pull and push me to certain prayer meetings and I had to sit myself those hours uninterested. Prayers never fascinated me. My idea of stress buster was listening to bollywood films and I could spend hours noting, singing and listening to it. During those days, KLWC- a new prayer meeting evolved and everyone seeking peace of mind to miracles would participate in it. My parents began to be a regular in those prayers. One day, it so happened that I had to meet my parents urgently due to some reason and on enquiring knew that they were at KLWC prayer service; I decided to meet them there. Just few minutes at the KLWC venue and unconsciously some force attracted me to the prayer and Word of God there, however intentionally left the place in a hurry. That night I turned and tossed in my bed, pondering over the Word of God I heard at KLWC that shook the core of my heart. Something like a magnet kept attracting me towards KLWC and I found myself finding excuses to visit the prayer centre. Slowly without any hesitation or compulsion I began to be a part of the crowd. The preaching and explanation of the Word of God attracted me; I fell in love with the melodious devotional songs that had been sung there; the prayers felt more interesting and lively. A young and fresh KLWC did wonder in me and I began to realise the knowledge of the True God, His Love for me. I realised my exact state. Born into a Christian family, I was far away from the deep knowledge that God eventually knows my secret thoughts, deeds that comprised of good and bad. First day at KLWC prayer service, tears of God’s Love filled me and a mighty power granted me courage to renounce my way of life. The knowledge of  God created in me fear of God and my obligation towards obedience.  I began to make the required changes to my lifestyle, so that I could be a person of true faith. This inspired me to be more mannered in my approach and seek out time to be in His Presence. But the waves of temptation would hit hard on me that I would slip and fall often; weakening thoughts like I would never stand firm in my faith would cover me making me more restless and dissatisfied. That’s when my Loving God sent me another lifeline from KLWC prayer group. They were conducting a meeting and prayer service designed exclusively for the youth. After the initial greet and introduction, Respected Sister, began her oration on the importance of Personal Prayer. I listened attentively, the guidelines were easy to follow and moreover I was inspired to submit myself further to my God than self struggling. Respected Sister stressed the holy verse, “His grace is all you need; for His power is greatest when you are weak,” throughout the entire meeting. Everyone, present at the meeting were asked to memorize this Word of God, as a weapon to recite and fight against emotional and personal moods arising from laziness, arrogance and pride.  Glory to the Marvellous God! He diverted my young mind towards Him thus making me a mature and obedient son of God. Soon by following these instructions, I was chosen by God who separated me from the crowd and called me to be a budding minister for His service in the KLWC Music Ministry.

(...To be continued)

May the Lord bless you and take care of you. May He be kind and gracious to you. May the Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.

With love filled blessings,

Your Sister in Christ