Author, Gerrit Gustafson, who was part of Integrity Music’s original Creative Team, has been a reasoned, passionate voice to the worship movement for the last 25 years.  He invites you to join his newsletter and FREESONGS program at: www.worshipschools.com/theworshiper.  Gerrit and his wife, Himmie, live in Brentwood, Tennessee.  

So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ.  I Corinthians 4:1

Scenario 1:  You have received an invitation to dine with a distinguished community leader.  On the appointed day, you anxiously arrive at the massive entrance to his palatial estate, ring the bell and wait.  Immediately you are greeted by a gracious butler who takes your coat, puts you at ease with just the right words of how glad the host is that you have come, and escorts you down the hallway to the presence of the revered and generous host.  After greetings and introductions, a great feast begins…

Scenario 2:  Same invitation… same palatial estate… same massive entrance.  This time, however, the butler, after taking your coat, strikes up a conversation with you in the foyer about the weather, his health, what his children want to study when they go to college, and so forth.  You’re drawn into the conversation, and after a lengthy and engaging chat you take your coat and go home.  On the way home, you come to an alarming realization:  you never saw the host!

You say, “it would never happen!”  But sadly, it happens all too often.  Worship leaders and musicians (…and really all ministers) are like butlers whose job it is to bring the congregation before the King.  But many people on their way home from the service find themselves with a nagging dissatisfaction… they didn’t get to see the King.

Being Good Butlers

How can we who serve in God’s house make sure we are good butlers?  Let’s consider 3 words:  Purification, Consecration, and Service.

First, purification.  Many church musicians were, as I was, musicians trained by the world.  I played jazz and learned to love that feeling that came when you aced your solo and the crowd clapped and cheered. 

Guess what?  You can get addicted to that.  Guess what else?  That addiction’s got to go before you’re ready for God’s service.  In God’s rehab, i.e. discipleship, you’ll learn that there’s another audience you’ll be performing for:  God, himself.  His “well done, good and faithful servant” is what you live for now.

Deep-sea divers have decompression chambers. Our music ministries need something similar.  In Christian music, whenever our shepherds notice that we’re drinking too deeply of the people’s accolades, they should invite us to the decompression chamber:  “Take a couple of months off until the joy of singing in your living room before God alone is greater than singing before the congregation.”

Music, apart from God, has a contaminating mark that goes all the way back to the origin of human culture in Genesis 11 and the story of the tower of Babel.  Their governing passion was to make a name for themselves. 

In contrast, God told Abraham in Genesis 12, that, if he would walk in obedience, he would bless nations, and God himself would make Abraham’s name great.

Purification is about moving from Genesis 11 to Genesis 12… from a self-promoting passion to a God-honoring passion… from wanting to make your name great to wanting to glorify God and be a blessing. 

Next, consecration. 

Consecration means to be set apart or devoted to a specific sacred task or purpose.  Before the ark of God’s presence returned to the city of David in I Chronicles 15, the priests consecrated themselves.  Before the glory of God filled Solomon’s temple in II Chronicles 5, the priests consecrated themselves.

Modern day worship ministries need to be consecrated too.  In II Chronicles 5, we see the dynamics of consecration:

“All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves… All the priests who were musicians… stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres.  They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.  The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord.”

Of interest to me is that they joined as one “to give praise and thanks to the Lord.” They weren’t uncertain about their purpose.  Oh, the awesome force of being united in purpose!  When they put those linen garments on, it was like a soccer team dressing out to play for the championship, except their task at hand was to bring sacrifices of praise to God!  It wasn’t to entertain the congregation; it wasn’t to make a name for themselves as the best worship team in the Middle East.  It was to minister to the Lord.

May I suggest that on every occasion of public ministry, before you walk through the doors, you and your team mentally put on the linen garments of praise… that you unite yourselves in the holy purpose of leading God’s people to the One who is really worthy of praise… that you remind yourselves that it’s about Him and not you.

Now, service. 

Did you know that in both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the words for service, worship and ministry are almost synonymous?  Worship is service.  Service is ministry. 

The desire to serve is the Kingdom characteristic that our King so perfectly exemplifies.  Jesus said he came not to be served but to serve.  What an amazing contrast to the ways of the world!  Here is the Creator of the universe  –  that’s pretty important –  not trying to convince anyone how important he is, but serving His Father’s honor and the needs of those around him.  As a result, his Father highly exalted his name!

I love to think of the Church as heaven’s colony on earth, where its citizens reflect the ways of their King… a kingdom where everyone - including the musicians - are servants.

Picture this:  worship leaders who have become good butlers… cleansed of the Babylonian taint… consecrated and united for a holy purpose… devoted to a lifestyle of service. 

“May I take your coat.  My Master is eager to see you.  Here… right down this hall.”

Gerrit Gustafson

Copyright © 2009 by Gerrit Gustafson.  All rights reserved.

I trust that all of you– even in the midst of commercialism, economic stress, and busyness – have found what Os Guinness calls “signals of transcendence” in this Christmas season. I also trust that you are facing the future in complete trust in the unshakeable character and power of our Lord.

On behalf of Steve Fry, Howard Rachinski, and Glen Roachelle, I want to give you a peek into what we see just down the road in 2009.

But, first, let me recall how we arrived at the “port of entry” to a new era of service to the Lord.

Where we are and how we got here

When the founder and leader of WorshipInstitute.com, LaMar Boschman, resigned from his roles in the spring of 2007, we all found ourselves thrown on the Lord in a new way. We had no crisis management blueprint to guide us; we had no game plan. Our only option was to look to the Lord and wait for His direction.

Then, at the 2007 INTERNATIONAL WORSHIP INSTITUTE, Bob Sorge delivered a message called “It’s Not Business; It’s Personal.” In Bob’s word, the Lord clearly reminded us that He takes His people – His bride! – very seriously and personally. She is not a business; we are not to market, merchandize, or manipulate her for our own career, commercial, or any other earthbound needs.

That message became the “continental divide” of WorshipInstitute.com. It was a prophetic word for us and, we believe, for most of the contemporary church. In fact, we have all become intertwined in a marketing and merchandizing attitude toward His bride. We lust for what we think she can give us.

At the conclusion of the most recent IWI, we felt like the Lord essentially said that we had more to learn about all of that. If we would listen to Him, He would show us a new way. We should cut back on activities and agendas, get very still, and listen.

So, we are doing our best to obey Him. Out of that, we made the decision to not have an IWI in 2009.

Where are we going?

At the present time, we believe the Lord has directed us to do two things in 2009.

1. First, we will be fully supporting and participating in the 5th annual NORTHEAST WORSHIP INSTITUTE. April 23- 25. For more information, go to: http://www.calvaryevents.org/home1

Pastors David Farina Sr. and David Farina Jr. have done a wonderful job at faithfully honoring and replicating the spirit of the INTERNATIONAL WORSHIP INSTITUTE into their own unique and so-delightful culture.

Steve Fry, Bob Sorge, Morris Chapman, and other IWI leaders will be joining the Farinas in leading the NORTHEAST WORSHIP INSTITUTE. All of us on the leadership team will be there (in fact, we may have an “event within an event” for those who have been part of the IWI… let us know if you’re interested).

2. We are reworking our website – www.worshipinstitute.com – into a connecting point for fellowship, ministry and encouragement, and new meeting purposes and venues. We believe it has a conversational and relational nature. Please drop in when you can and let us know what you think. The new site should be up by January 3.

Staying current and engaged with each other is always a challenge. Sometimes technology can impede more than it helps. So, we are trying to make technology serve the higher purposes of fellowship and ministry. We have at least started that process. Other changes will take place over the next month.

Beyond these two “action items,” we want to continue to meet with you in any way we can. We’re wide open to your thoughts on how to do that. We are certainly listening for anything the Lord will say about other venues and ventures.

More than that, we want to keep seeking the face of God. We believe He is creative, loving, and powerful. He can show us the way in the land beyond the maps.

We are honored that you have chosen to walk with us in the known world. We invite you to walk with us into the unknown regions.

God bless you as you step into a new year of possibilities.

We invite your thoughts, concerns, suggestions, and questions about these new activities or anything else.

Sincerely,
 

Ed Chinn
Executive Director, WorshipInstitute.com

Dear Friends:

The theme of God’s Presence continues to pulse in many of us since this past International Worship Institute. And as we enter another Christmas season, the whole world once again acknowledges (however imperfectly) that Presence.

I wonder how much we realize that the Lord reveals His presence not to impress us, but to draw us into intimate friendship with Himself.

Moses understood that. When God promised him that He would manifest His presence through an angel, Moses wanted more. Moses had a passion to know God, not just experience His presence through other creatures. He knew that his innermost longings would only be satisfied in an abiding and intimate friendship with his Lord. Nowhere was that longing more eloquently expressed than when Moses, alone on Mt. Sinai cried out, “O Lord show me Your Glory!”

The Pain of Rejection…

What brought Moses to this place of spiritual hunger? What was it that launched him on this journey to the glory of God? To discover that, let’s go back a bit.

For forty days, Moses had been alone with God, watching as God laid out a blueprint by which a whole nation could enjoy divine blessing. These were not the dry dictations of a distant god who wanted his creatures to obey his every whim, or the passionless mandates of a judge communicating laws. No – here was a loving Father, designing a government and environment in which His children could thrive and be happy.

And – incredibly – during this tender time, those very “children” were far away at the foot of Sinai, building their golden calf. This is shocking! It stuns me that a people who had seen God’s hand of deliverance and His awesome and fearful presence on Sinai, could so quickly forget all this, make an idol and declare that idol responsible for bringing them out of Egypt!

Then, in one of the most painful statements in the Bible, God said to Moses, “Go down because your people whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt.”

And I’m sure that episode brought Moses into the intense pain of rejection and disappointment. He had anticipated Pharaoh’s attack, had prepared himself for the rigors of leading the people across a barren dessert, had steeled himself against the opposition of all the enemies. But this was so unexpected – this outright disrespect and denial of the God who had so graciously displayed His power on their behalf.

…can be a doorway to His Presence

Moses must have felt a sickening blow to the gut when he saw God’s people cavorting before a lifeless idol. And yet this heartbreaking moment was the very doorway through which Moses entered into intimacy with the Lord.

Do we understand? It was out of this moment of intense discouragement that Moses entered into a conversation with God that would ultimately take him to the cleft of a rock from which he was to see the fire of glory.

The unexpected disappointments in our lives can be God’s call, and portal, into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him!

Have you ever unknowingly buried things that caused you to react to people in unhealthy ways? Have you ever discovered negative attitudes within yourself that grew out of unresolved pain?

For anyone (including me) who may have taken preventative measures to avoid getting hurt again, or withdrawn from someone simply because they’ve disappointed us…we can find solace – and confidence – in the reality that if we let the Holy Spirit do His work in us we too can be brought face to face with glory!

The Upside-Down Difference

For centuries, an old calculus of pain and insulation, action and reaction, love-your-friends-and-kill-your-enemies had ordered relationships on earth. And then… Jesus stepped onto the earth.

And, as Dallas Willard says, “He brought an upside-down difference.” Because Jesus was born into the corrupt patterns of earth – yet lived in total intimacy with, and reliance on, His Father – He changed the old calculus.

Because of Jesus, relational pain and disappointment do not have to win! They can be doorways into a more intimate union with Him.

He is the King of a whole new government and, therefore, a whole new way to live. He brought, He brings, the peace and glory and joy and harmony of Heaven into the earth. And through His Spirit, we have access to that higher order even as we TODAY walk through the pain and corruption of a dying order.

He is the One we worship!

So, in this 2008 Christmas season, may you find access to pass beyond pain to find the intimacy with Him which will release grace and peace and harmony into your world.

Merry Christmas to you, your family, and those who work beside you in His majestic reign.

Sincerely, 

Steve Fry - President, WorshipInstitute.com

Dear Friends,

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12: 2, The Message)

Recently, after spending some treasured time before the Lord, I happened to read some of the current headlines about finance and politics. As I compared the content of both realms and their impact on me, I heard the whispers of the Spirit of the Lord to write this meditation for you.

The political process and the media coverage of it are all driven by a desire for power and money. Sadly, very little of it is motivated by serving the good of the country.

I believe it is critical that God’s kids wake up to these realities and refuse to be torqued and engaged by this tumult and furor. It is important to stay free of the mold of the world’s culture and refuse to be pressed into its conforming pressures.

Each candidate will attack and accuse the other, whether accurately or not, in order to gain power and your vote. But, politics is a good barometer of how “well-adjusted to the culture” we are. Your decision as to how you vote should not be affected by alarm, emotion or the accusation and conflict in the political atmosphere. It should be ordered by the will of God.

Please understand: what is right for one may not be right to another. God’s will for one may not necessarily be His will for another believer. Did you get that last statement? God works through individuals in political processes to affect the outcome that HE decides is best. He is the King and he governs in the hearts of humanity.

I am a pastor. I pastor people who are voting for Obama and I pastor people who are voting for McCain. All are convinced they are voting according to the will of God. And, it is not my role (or yours) to correct or adjust or “educate” any of them. People walk through their times and places according to very personal reasons and rhythms. God is perfectly capable of orchestrating all the “competing” personal and national dynamics by Himself.

Humans plan their way, but God directs the outcome (Proverbs 16:9). God can direct the choices of individual voters, but be assured that He will have the people He chooses; they – and no one else – will be seated in the chairs of leadership. Need supporting scriptures?

For promotion and power come from nowhere on earth, but only from God. He promotes one and deposes another. (Psalms 75:6, The Living Bible)

He changes the seasons and guides history, He raises up kings and also brings them down, he provides both intelligence and discernment, He opens up the depths, tells secrets, sees in the dark — light spills out of him! (Daniel 2:21-22, The Message)

It is naïve to think like the earthlings of this age and assume we know the will of God for all believers.

Where is Your True Citizenship?

No one person in this crazy, mixed up political season can bring the answers that America (or any other nation) needs. Only God can to that. We must recognize our Lord as the King and our place with Him as subjects redeemed by His blood. We should not consider ourselves as voters or United States citizens first in this season, but rather citizens of another nation and government. We are first the family of God and citizens in His excellent Kingdom.

Our King has come to redeem and restore. And our place is to work with Him; not get Him to work with us.

We must entrust the process to Him. Our place is to trust Him and be obedient to His desires as individuals under His domain. Do not fret about what may happen in America and how that might bring harm or worry to you.

As a citizen of His country, let me encourage you to just let your heart drink in the Word of God from this passage:

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?

And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us — who was raised to life for us! — is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing — nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable — absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” (Romans 8:31-39, The Message)

Amen! Now embrace the Father’s pleasure for you today and stay a bit removed in spirit from the conflicts and concerns of this present age.

In our Great King,

Glen Roachelle 

 Changes at WorshipInstitute.com

The previously-announced downsizing of WorshipInstitute.com’s office has produced three significant changes.

1. Our dear friend, Marianne Paulus, has left WorshipInstitute.com. She has been approved by the State of Texas as one of the instructors for “Twogether in Texas Healthy Marriage Program.”  Her website at www.marriageprep.net describes her new direction.

We are so grateful for the excellence of spirit and service which have distinguished Marianne’s six years with us. Obviously, our friendship will continue, but we will miss her role and personality in our labors.  You may contact Marianne at her personal email address:  b.paulus@tx.rr.com.

2. Our longtime friend and co-worker, Lynn Naughton, is the new office manager. Lynn has served us so well over the past seven years and we are delighted to continue working together.  Her email address is lynn@worshipinstitute.com.

3. We have a new mailing address:

       WorshipInstitute.com
       PO Box 660675 #19290
       Dallas, TX, 75266-0675

Our phone number, 817-354-0690, remains the same.

Thank you for standing with us through this transition. We know the Lord directed us to get very still before Him and to allow Him to retool us for a new kind of service in the future. As we told you last month, that means we will NOT be convening the International Worship Institute in 2009.

But we do have a future.  So, we thank you for your continued prayers, friendship, and financial support during this time. We look forward to seeing you at the first opportunity.  

Dear Friends:

Most of you know that we, the leadership team for WorshipInstitute.com, retreated together August 28–29 for the purpose of considering the future of this ministry. Following our time together, we also submitted what we heard to mature, trusted, and nationally-respected leaders.

Bottom line: we do believe the Lord confirmed our future. But we will not convene an International Worship Institute in 2009.

Please hear our heart about this. We invite your feedback, questions, challenges, and comments.

Bearing the Ark

In preparing for this recent International Worship Institute, we all heard the Lord calling us to focus only on His Presence. “Embracing His Presence” was more than just a conference theme.

The IWI was wonderful (many thought it was one of the best ever). We loved it. At the same time, we were also somewhat disappointed. We expected more of a visitation than we experienced. This was also the first time we ended an IWI in debt. Painful debt. Continuing debt. The Lord often uses finances to get our attention.

Here is what we believe the Lord spoke to us prior to and during our recent retreat:

The Ark of the Covenant was built by Moses in accordance with the Lord’s specific direction and design. The Ark – whether stationary in their camp or being carried on their journeys or into war – would be the symbol and dwelling place of The Presence among the people.

The Lord’s instructions also included explicit details about how the Ark was to be carried. The priests were set apart for the purpose of bearing and attending the ark (Deuteronomy 10:8, Numbers 4:14–15).

Years later the Ark was captured and carried away by the Philistines. When it was returned to Israel, it was transported by oxcart. Strangely, when King David decided to return the Ark to Jerusalem, he had it placed on… a new cart, not the shoulders of the priests.

That procession of the returning Presence was joyful, festive, and musical. But it was also foolish, ignorant and presuming toward the Presence. At Nacon’s threshing floor, the ox apparently stumbled and almost dumped the Ark. When Uzzah, one of the cart’s drivers, reached out to prevent it from falling, God killed him “for his irreverence” (II Samuel 6:7).

Naturally, the human heart recoils at the severity of God’s judgment for a reflex action of care. But the larger issue was human familiarity with – and presumption toward – the holy and awesome Presence of God.

The Fear of the Lord

When the Lord spoke to us last fall about seeking and embracing His Presence, we thought we “got it.” However, we now see that His word to us is far deeper, more comprehensive, more ongoing, and more costly than we imagined. He is dealing with our attitude and our approach toward, and our conduct before, His Holy and Awesome Presence. He warned us to be very careful to not displease Him.

In fact, we now realize that we have not been bearing the Presence on the shoulders of priests. We too use an oxcart – designed by, and borrowed from, this humanistic age. From that, we have developed a means of bearing the Presence which is event-driven, dollar-intensive, more organized than organic, consumerist, and separated from the fear of the Lord.

We also see that this word started rolling toward us with Bob Sorge’s watershed message at the 2007 IWI. Titled “It’s Not Business…It’s Personal,” Bob used John 3:29 to examine our call to be a friend to the bridegroom – NOT DESIRE HIS bride or her pleasant attributes! But too much of the modern church has worked to build a relationship with the bride rather than Jesus.

In our meeting, the Lord continued that theme through a series of questions which Glen raised:

• Do we preach as an art form – to be enjoyed and appreciated by His bride – rather than planting the word which the Lord sent to earth on a mission?
• When we pray, do we seek the Lord or do we speak for the benefit of those gathered?
• Do we perform worship for the enjoyment and approval of the bride more than we do as adoration to our Lord?

Like the II Samuel 6 story of the return of the Ark, our processions have been very festive, happy, and musical… and ignorant and presumptuous toward the Presence.

In the renaissance of a fear of the Lord, we heard Him say, “Stop!”

Lay Everything on His Altar

We simply cannot continue business as usual. His dealings are too intense and precious for us to assign Him and His work in us to a side track.

John Stevenson said it very well: “God has something new, fresh and quite different in store for us. It will only be realized and recognized as we… lay everything on His altar and allow Him to resurrect His vision for our future. It is ‘the end’ of what was and ‘the beginning’ of what will be. There is no change without an ending!”

Therefore, after prayerful consideration, we have decided that “Stop!” means (among other things) that we will not have an International Worship Institute in 2009. Naturally, that means we will not need the same level of staff and office needs.

While we are making no assumptions at all about the future, we do believe this is the end of what we were, not the end of our journey together.

God is relational by nature. Our response to Him should be personal, organic, and intimate. Our attitude should always be eager to sit at His feet like Mary, rather than bustling about in busyness like Martha. We are not confirmed by what we do. Too often, events, programs, products, and plans have replaced the clean and peaceful state of simply abiding in Him.

What Will We Do in 2009?

As we pause and seek the Lord, we also believe He is directing us to serve those who walk in some dimension of relationship with our community of worship. So, we plan to extend ourselves in personal ministry, care, and fellowship to all who desire that. Therefore, we will utilize the following as platforms for our relationship (more details to follow):

The website – http://www.worshipinstitute.com– will soon become a place of ministry through articles and other postings, podcasts, and e-conversations. Our primary purpose in this venture is to extend care and nourishment to those we love.

Regional Institutes. 2009 will be the 5th annual gathering of the Northeast Worship Institute. Dave Farina Sr. and Dave Farina Jr. have done a very good job at leading this worship institute. We will bless and encourage this as fully as we are capable. We are also open to working with other regional expressions of worship. If you want to explore the possibilities of doing a regional worship institute, please let us know.

Serving local churches and pastors. We plan to reach out to pastors for the purpose of strengthening and encouraging them in their role of caring for God’s people. Of course, we only wish to support what they do, not influence their mission or their people. As part of that, we will serve local churches through anointed, gifted, and trusted leaders. After 20-plus years of working with worship and other ministry leaders, we will work to provide ministry to local churches, conferences, and seminars.

We will also be looking for other venues of ministry, fellowship, and interaction with you. Please let us know of any way we can serve you and your sphere of ministry.

We are, frankly, expectant and confident about the Lord’s continued direction and our ongoing friendship and fellowship with each of you. We believe we will all look back on this period of time as an essential pause in our journey. We will probably always consider it as a time when He recalibrated and renewed us into conformity with His heart and pace.

Please let us know your thoughts, concerns, confirmations, and challenges. We love all of you and desire to cross paths with you very naturally in the months and years ahead.

Sincerely,

Howard Rachinski      Steve Fry          Glen Roachelle        Ed Chinn

Dear Friends:

 This year’s IWI was indeed a sweet time in the Presence of the Lord. We have heard from so many expressing their gratitude that we were able to focus on, better understand, and enjoy His Presence in a unique way. Our focus on the “Presence of God” is a part of the transition we are experiencing with IWI, and the Lord is still fashioning us into what He wants us to become. Sometimes transitions can be challenging which is why it is so important to anchor transitions to some important scriptural moorings. 

 Roadmaps of Prayer

 Not too long ago I spent time meditating on some of the leaders in scripture and how they responded during their times of transition.  Specifically, I reflected on their first requests to God after they were initially consecrated into their new roles of leadership.

 The first leader I thought of was Moses.  What was his first request after he was commissioned to deliver the Israelites?  One of Moses’ first prayer requests is found in Exodus 6:12:  “The Israelites have not listened to me, so why should Pharaoh take any notice of a poor speaker like me?”  The background is that not only had Pharaoh denied Moses’ request to release the Israelites, but he then forced them to make their bricks without straw, greatly adding to their labor.  This had infuriated the Israelites and they rejected Moses. 

 So Moses comes to the Lord and basically says, “Why would you use me, an unskilled man?”  This was not a very significant first prayer from a man destined to be the great Lawgiver.  And yet we see in this prayer a man very much in touch with his weaknesses, very much in touch with who he was.  One day Moses would be known for the ages as a man of humility, so there is little wonder that we hear the theme of humility resonated in this prayer.  This was not the prayer of unbelief.  It was not the prayer of doubt.  It was the prayer of a man in touch with who he was.  And that is the measure of humility:  it is being known precisely for who we are.

 Transition Prayer One:  “Keep us rooted in humility. Keep us in touch with our weaknesses as well as our strengths - to know who we are and who we are not.”

 The second leader I considered was David.  His request to the Lord is somewhat veiled, and again it is not the kind of prayer for power or wisdom that we would expect a leader to pray.  After David is consecrated as the King of Israel, his first request of God is recorded in 2 Samuel 2:5, 6. David’s friend Jonathan had just been killed in battle along with his father, Saul.  Messengers came to a grieving David and told him that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had given Saul, David’s enemy, a proper burial.  To this David responded, “May you be blessed by Yahweh for showing this faithful love to Saul.”  In other words, David, taking stock of what these had done to his enemy, responded in the spirit of reconciliation.

 He could have taken their response as an indication of their allegiance to Saul and their subsequent reluctance to come under his own authority.  He could have taken it as disloyalty.  Instead he chose to bless those who blessed his enemy.  It was as if David prayed, “Lord, would you bless those who showed kindness to my enemy?” 

 Transition Prayer Two: “Lord, help us be people of reconciliation.”

 And then I looked at Joshua. After he received the baton of leadership from Moses, we have to read quite a way into the book of Joshua to find his first personal request of the Lord.  It came on the eve of battle at Jericho. 

 The Israelites had crossed the Jordan miraculously and now were facing Jericho.  The image we have of Joshua on the eve of battle is a poignant one – Joshua taking a long walk reflecting, wondering, and thinking about how they would take the land. 

 Suddenly he sees a man in front of him grasping an unsheathed sword.  Joshua is apprehensive, but intrigued, and walks toward him.  “Are you on our side,” he asks, “or on our enemies’ side?”  To this the man replied, “On neither side.  I have come now as the Captain of the army of Yahweh.” 

 All at once, Joshua knew he was in the presence of deity and he fell down and worshiped Him, “What has my Lord to say to his servant?”  One instantly sees two things here:  Joshua’s initial response of worship and his subsequent appetite for obedience.  In a sense, what Joshua is saying when he says, “Who are you?” is “I want to know who you are.” And this is the heart of worship.  It is coming to the Lord and asking, “Who are you - I want to know who you are!”  And when the worshiping heart encounters the Lord, the immediate response is, “In what will you have me obey?” 

 Transition Prayer Three:  “Lord make us people of worship, knowing that true worshipers seek not only to encounter you, but obey you.”  Worship is only genuine if it renders the heart obedient.  

 These prayers are certainly good ones to pray when in times of transition and new assignments – but actually, they’re good prayers to pray every day of our lives.  We will all face changes this year.  In these days of increasing uncertainty, may these ancient leaders show us roadmaps of prayer that will guide us into that peace which the world cannot take away.         

 Anchored in Him,

 Steve Fry - President, WorshipInstitute.com