40 Days of Prayer, Worshiping As a Sacrifice Hebrews 13:15, Week 4, Day 6

It’s common that when we hear a word like sacrifice, we immediately think of suffering. Of course, there are many instances where that is true—the sacrifices in the Old Testament, of the Old Covenant, were offerings to the Lord for the atonement of sins (guilt offering, sin offering, burnt offering, peace offering, grain offering) and were an act of worship. Before Jesus humbly and nobly paid the price for our transgressions, those sacrifices were necessary to restore humanity and mend the relationship between God and people.
Because of Jesus, we no longer have to offer sacrifices in the same way, but we do need to continuously draw close to Him. Like the Old Testament offerings, we need to restore our relationship with the Lord, worshiping Him through our actions—through our praise and adoration.
Sacrifice is deeply important—it draws us away from ourselves, reminding us of who we are in Christ. Our sacrifices mean nothing without the profound sacrifice of Jesus—everything we do, everything we offer, must be through faith and proclamation in and to the Lord.
Continuously offering God a sacrifice of praise not only means we are to worship the Lord, but we are to be sacrificial in the manner in which we devote ourselves to Him. Sacrifice and praise are woven together. Praise without sacrifice doesn’t mean much—it costs us nothing. To sacrificially worship means that we lay down ourselves to draw close to Him, bringing forth all we have to offer.

REFLECTION PRAYER

Jesus, we are so thankful for Your sacrificial love. We know that we often lose sight of worshiping You, especially in context of our own sacrifice. Would You teach us to humbly come before You and praise You exactly as You’re calling us to? Forgive us when we believe we’re praising You without any sort of sacrifice. Draw us closer, by Your Holy Spirit, to live our authentic faith in You to praise You in word and deed. Teach us to love You deeper as we openly profess Your name. Amen.

By Hannah Castro