Private Worship

Bible reading and prayer are the two bedrock spiritual disciplines. How do we know who God is unless we read His word? And how do we have a relationship with Him unless we talk to Him? Simply put, private worship is the foundation of all other Christian activity. Yes, private worship is the foundation from which all other spiritual disciplines can either flourish and wilt. When private worship is in place, family worship and public worship are given the soil they need to thrive. 

Perhaps it is helpful to liken the necessity of private worship to the necessity for spouses to spend time together. If the only time a wife spoke to her husband was when their children or friends were present, it would result in a shallow relationship. So too with God. On my side, there are sins to confess and experiences to relate and feelings to share that are  not appropriate or helpful for others to be party to, and from the Lord's side there is affection and rebuke and encouragement to be given that either does not apply to others or else they would not understand it. The Lord Jesus, our Heavenly Husband, would have each of us spend time with Him individually. He loves the church as a whole, and He loves each member in her as if we are all the apple of His eye. He calls to you, "arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely." (Song of Solomon 2:13b-14)

So, what is private worship? 

Well, it's private and it's worship. It is worship that you do by yourself with God and only God. 

Private worship always comprises of Bible reading and prayer as a bare minimum, but it can also include singing, scripture memorization, dancing, mediating, and making use of devotionals or commentaries. A hour is better than 15 minutes, but 15 minutes is better than nothing. If 15 minutes is all you can manage, do that. If you can do an hour but chose to do only 15 minutes God knows that too. How much time you spend with the Lord is between you and the Lord to work out, the bottomline is that private worship ought to be done every day. Every day, regardless of your life circumstance, you either read or listen to the Bible and you spend some time in intentional prayer. I do it in the morning before I go to work--which means I must get up in decent time. My friend does it while her children nap--which means she is not folding laundry or tidying her home. 

Luke 6:45 says, "The good person out of the good treasure in his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Our hearts cannot produce good treasure if we have not stored good treasure in them. 

How do you begin? Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to take a reasonable look at your day and decide when the best time would be to meet with God. In all likelihood, you shall have to tweak something because it's unlikely that you have 30 minutes during your waking hours when you simply sit and wonder what you ought to do. We are all busy. Something shall have to be removed or shuffled in order for you to engage in private worship. Once you have decided on a time, you choose what book of the Bible you're going to read, and then you actually spend the time in prayer and reading. Below, I have listed some practical helps to get you started. I do highly recommend that you read through an entire book and not jump around because context is extremely important. 

Now, be warned, all the powers of hell do not what you to do this. Satan, the world, and your own flesh shall fight you tooth and nail to keep you from private worship. Carry on. There are times when it will be boring and times you shall simply not want to do it and times when you will believe the lie that you do not have enough time. Carry on. 

I believe the lack of private worship has caused a great spiritual deficient in individual Christians, which has worked itself out to be detrimental to the spiritual health of the church and the world. Spurgeon said, "a prayerless church member is a hindrance. He is in the body like a rotting bone or a decaying tooth. Before long, since he does not contribute to the benefit of his brethren, he will become a danger and a sorrow to them. Neglect of private prayer is the locust which devours the strength of the church." 

The reward of private worship is beyond what I could have imagined. It is during private worship that the Holy Spirit does surgery on my sinful heart and mind, and it is during private worship that God meets with me in a special way.

Private worship can only do good to us, our churches, and the world, and it can only bring praise to God and acquaint us with Him better. If there was only one thing that I could implement in your life it would be daily, private worship. 

Some helps:

If you're new to reading a book of the Bible through, J.C. Ryle has commentaries on all four gospels that he wrote as aids to his congregation so that they would better understand the scriptures. Also, Spurgeon has a devotional on the Psalms that is very good. If you'd like a reading plan, Ligonier Ministries has several to choose from. I have also found it helpful to print a list of the books of the Bible and cross one out once I've finished it. 

As far as helps with prayer, praying through the Psalms is always helpful, this article can help you understand how to do that. One thing that I have found particularly helpful is taking a Q-card and simply writing down a couple things I want to pray for every day so that I remember to pray them and then using it as a bookmark in my Bible so I see it during private worship. Also, journaling your prayers can be very helpful. 

For my private worship, I also almost always sing Psalms or Hymns. It is particularly helpful to praise the Lord and it also puts a good song in my heart at the very beginning of the day, so I can start off well and have something to go back to. Using whatever song book your church uses is a good place to start.