Worship journey

My family, as far back as I can remember, have always sought God, even when we didn’t even know we were seeking God. My mother especially, would take us as kids to Sunday school. I remember pre-school days, my family stayed in Mutare, a small town in Zimbabwe, and I would attend Church Gomo ( Church on a hill), and I remember singing familiar songs like “Huyai mose, tinamate Mwari”, ( Come everyone, lets worship God).

Later we moved close to the capital city of Zimbabwe, to a town called Chitungwiza and my mum took us to Salvation Army Sunday School.  There we learnt all the bible stories they teach in Sunday School and morals and Christian values which I am convinced played a major role in shaping my adult life. So throughout grade school this was our way of Worship. The bible commands us to worship and Isaiah 43:21 comes to mind, “The people I have formed for myself, they shall declare my praise”.

My father then got saved at an AFM (Apostolic Faith Mission) crusade when I was now in secondary school.   I remember coming home from boarding school and finding out we were now going to a Pentecostal church. We had attended their home services sometimes when we were still going to Salvation Army and a  friend of mine would look at me and we would laugh when it came time to pray because they all prayed at the same time and others spoke in a funny language that didn’t mean anything. Others actually cried in a meeting full of people and acted like they were shouting at God. My mum and I would later discuss these things and concluded that they cried because their sins were too many and they were asking for forgiveness.

This is the church we now found ourselves attending after my father got saves. Slowly we became Pentecostal and soon I also repented of my sin and asked the Lord Jesus to come become the Lord of my life. I have always said this was the time I met God, I mean the true and living God. He moved from being a distant and terrible father to a present and loving father. I got baptised in water and in the Holy spirit and after some time began speaking in the strange language I had once laughed at.

When I first started writing this article, my aim was to highlight two types of worship I have noticed in my own life. When I was in high school and part of my adult life, the only way I can think of describing my seeking God is in a song we used to sing. The lyrics go like this:-

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart

I will enter His courts with praise

I will say this is the day that the Lord has made

I will rejoice for He has made me glad

 (Composer unknown)

 

A couple of years back up to now, the way I can describe my hunger and search for God’s face are amazingly articulated in the below song:-

              Take me past the outer court, into the holy place

Past the brazen altar, Lord I want to see your face

Take me past the crowds of people and the priests who sing their praise

I hunger and thirst for your righteousness but its only found one place

So take me into the holy of holies, take me in by the blood of the Lamb

So take me in to the holy of holies, take me close, cleanse my lips

Here I am…. “Prophetess Juanita Bynum”

God takes us on a spiritual journey which I think never ends until we die or meet with Jesus in the sky. I am amazed at God and how He can continue to teach and direct you to greater and greater heights and from glory to glory in the spiritual journey. I have read and watched many testimonials of people of God crying out to God for more of Him. Others even take days or weeks away from everything but seeking His face. One thing is for sure though, He initiates the hunger and thirst according to what He has called a person to do in life.