Simple prayer simply makes much of God and does very little telling God what to do.

The longer I live, the less I give God advice on how to run the universe and the more time I spend adoring Him. I’ve found that some of my sweetest moments of prayer happen when I stop trying to fix everything and just focus on who God is. Sometimes that means slipping on some headphones, hitting play on my favorite worship playlist, and spending an hour just worshiping Him.

This is prayer at its best.

The mighty men of prayer in the Bible, and the mighty men of prayer throughout the ages of the church’s history, have been men who were much given to thanksgiving and praise. David was a mighty man of prayer, and now his psalms abound with thanksgiving and praise. The apostles were mighty men of prayer; of them we read that “they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God” (Luke 24:53). 

Paul was a mighty man of prayer, and how often in his epistles he bursts out in definite thanksgiving to God for definite blessings and definite answers to prayers. 

Jesus is our model in prayer as in everything else. We find in the study of His life that His manner of returning thanks at the simplest meal was so noticeable that two of His disciples recognized Him by this after His resurrection.

Thanksgiving is one of the inevitable results of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and one who does not learn “in everything to give thanks” cannot continue to pray in the Spirit. If we would learn to pray with power, we would do well to let these two words sink deep into our hearts: “With thanksgiving.”[1]

Worship, at its core, is about recognizing God’s worth. It’s about lifting our eyes off ourselves and fixing them on Him. When we do, everything else fades away. Worship has a way of putting life in perspective. It reminds us that God is bigger than our problems, wiser than our plans, and better than anything this world has to offer.

What is Worship?

Worship isn’t just something we do on Sunday mornings. It’s not limited to singing hymns or raising our hands during a church service. Worship is a posture of the heart. It’s an attitude of reverence, awe, and adoration toward God.

Jesus said in John 4:23-24:

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

True worship is more than just singing—it’s a heart fully engaged with God. It’s declaring His greatness, acknowledging His holiness, and surrendering to His love.