These days, the whole world seems to be connected. Devices, screens, alerts, notifications, and more drive our attention through constant communication. Who doesn’t love getting a fun picture from a friend or a text from someone they love? But sometimes things break. Connections go bad. Calls get dropped, the power goes out, the battery dies, and the internet goes down. And when the signal is severed, the relationship stops until the signal is restored.
When God created humans, his design was for us to be in relationship with him. We’re meant to communicate with God, and the ways we do that are through prayer and worship!
We can see a great example of that in Psalm 63:1-5 as David cried out to God, recognizing his great need for him:
O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!
I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
God’s design for relationship with his creation was beautiful and perfect but early in the story, the connection was broken. Genesis records the way that this relationship between God and people was severed – Adam and Eve disobeyed what God commanded – to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And it is because of this, sin entered the world.
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Romans 5:12
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Romans 3:23
God is holy and righteous, and sin caused a separation between God and humanity. We’re all sinners! We have all disobeyed and turned against God. But our great hope is that Jesus’ death on the cross provided the grace that overcomes sin; when we trust in him, he forgives our sin and restores our relationship with God.
Jesus’ death and resurrection changes everything, and, because of this hope, we can’t help but respond to him! That response is the heart of prayer and worship, knowing we owe everything to Jesus. Through him, we have access to God and can have a real relationship with him.
A relationship like we see in the stories about the early church. A relationship like we see between Jesus and his heavenly Father.
What could our response to God look like? It not only includes our words but also our actions, attitudes, and emotions. Because God desires a friendship with us, and he made each of us unique, he gives us a framework and opportunity to communicate and connect with him through prayer and worship whenever we’d like!
Let’s take a look at one woman who was forgiven by Jesus and watch how she responds:
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
Luke 7:36-38
The woman’s humble actions before Jesus were striking; her worship of Jesus an expression of sacrificial love and generous gratitude overflowing from deep inside her soul.
It’s clear that the woman in this story knew she was a sinner and had some brokenness in her life. The passage calls her an immoral woman. And her actions - well, they tell us there’s something more going on in this story, something linked to her restoration and relationship with God.
Regardless of her story, we can assume that before this dinner moment, she must have encountered Jesus, realized he was who he claimed to be, and fully trusted in him. She knew that she was dependent upon him for forgiveness, for life - for all that she had. Let’s continue and see how Simon the Pharisee reacted to what he had just witnessed:
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” …Then he (Jesus) turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:39, 44-47
It's clear to see from this passage that Simon seemed more concerned by this woman’s social status than the beautiful act of love she demonstrated. He thought he was better than her and instantly became critical when Jesus allowed her to touch him.
Knowing this, Jesus took the time to honor this woman publicly and teach Simon, a religious leader, how her response to him pointed to a deeper work that God had done in her heart through his love and forgiveness. Jesus showed her that she was forgiven and welcomed into a relationship with God, and her display of gratitude was extravagant!
She expressed a humble heart of love and adoration toward him, where Simon puffed himself up with self-importance and pride.
Let me ask you a question: Which character in the story do you tend to be more like in your response to God? Are you reserved and proper, and maybe a little judgmental or prideful like Simon? Do you throw caution to the wind, humbling yourself in expressing your adoration to Jesus?
The truth is both Simon and the woman were sinners. Both needed a Savior. But only one recognized their own need for forgiveness and that they were in the very presence of God at a dinner table.
And although Simon welcomed Jesus into his home, his inward and outward expressions toward both Jesus and the woman revealed he didn’t believe he needed forgiveness. Simon may have been religious, but he didn’t have a relationship with God. He scorned the woman, and, instead of helping her, he judged her.
And what’s even crazier is that Jesus was in Simon’s house. Jesus wasn’t withholding forgiveness or relationship from Simon, but Simon’s inward and outward responses revealed his pride. And it was his pride that prevented him from seeing who Jesus really was - the long-awaited Messiah.
So what about you and me? How do we respond to Jesus the Messiah? How do we respond to God’s kindness? Not only the first time we receive it, but every time we realize our sin and our need for help? Romans puts it this way:
Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
Romans 2:4
While the apostle Paul is directing this comment to those who don’t yet know God and are resisting his offer of forgiveness, we can take a lesson from this passage and know that God is always extending this kindness to us - seeking relationship with us, offering his love and forgiveness.
The woman knew this, and her focus toward Jesus, her act of worship, redirected her from an immoral life to a humble expression of love, gratitude, and adoration for her God.
Where do you place your focus? Despite God’s willingness to forgive our sin, we can find our hearts straying from him as we place our focus on other things. And when we focus on other relationships or other people instead of God, we become like Simon, forgetting our need for forgiveness.
Listen - don’t let the sacrifice of Jesus become familiar. Don’t become so self-conscious or self-righteous that you forget your sinful state and how you desperately need God’s love and forgiveness. Instead, let this story wake you up and grab your attention.
The truth is, you and I are always welcomed into the very presence of God, through Jesus. Every moment of every day, he desires to communicate with and relate to us. When you take him up on this opportunity, when you pray - talk and listen, thank him, or sing to him, you’re redirecting your heart back to God, teaching your soul that God is where you place your focus, your trust.
You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 26:3
Like the prophet Isaiah’s song says, as we trust in him, as we reach out to him through prayer and worship, God moves in our hearts - our perspectives are shifted, our faith is increased, and our peace is strengthened. A heartfelt response to who God is and what he has done is all that is needed.
