The word “worship” is mentioned for the first time in Genesis 22:5 when Abraham leaves his servants behind and continues the journey with his only son, Isaac, to a place where God directed him. “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” Genesis 22:5. Here Abraham really meant by “worship” that he was going to sacrifice his son on an altar as instructed by God.

What a shocking experience it must have been for Isaac to be introduced to this version of worship! I’m sure you and I today would plan our escape the moment we learned that we were the offering.

However, the concept of sacrifices and offerings was not new to Isaac, and as he understood its meaning—pointing to Christ dying for humanity on the cross—he freely accepted the request to be the sacrifice. Here both Abraham and Isaac denied self and chose to obey God.

What has self-denial got to do with worship? Let us look at the experience of Cain and Abel.

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door”(Genesis 4:3–7).

Here we can see that Adam had taught his sons to obey God and perform sacrifices for themselves. However, Cain did not accept the real meaning of the sacrificial service—the shedding of blood which pointed to Christ’s sacrifice. He thought that the results of his physical labor would be sufficient to obtain acceptance from God. Upon realizing that his offering was not accepted, sin entered his heart—and as it is recorded in Genesis 4:8, Cain slew his younger brother, Abel.

“Cain thought himself righteous, and he came to God with a thank offering only. He made no confession of sin, and acknowledged no need of mercy. But Abel came with the blood that pointed to the Lamb of God. He came as a sinner, confessing himself lost; his only hope was the unmerited love of God. The Lord had respect to his offering, but to Cain and his offering He had not respect. The sense of need, the recognition of our poverty and sin, is the very first condition of acceptance with God. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:3.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 152.

“God is calling upon His people to deny self. We appeal to men, women, and children to deny themselves every indulgence, and use in God’s service the money thus saved through self-denial. Let every one pray earnestly to God for complete victory over self-indulgence and self-worship. ”—Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, pp. 90, 91.

“To become a toiler, to continue patiently in well-doing which calls for self-denying labor, is a glorious work, which Heaven smiles upon. Faithful work is more acceptable to God than the most zealous and thought-to-be holiest worship. It is working together with Christ that is true worship. Prayers, exhortation, and talk are cheap fruits, which are frequently tied on; but fruits that are manifested in good works, in caring for the needy, the fatherless, and widows, are genuine fruits, and grow naturally upon a good tree.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 24.

True worship is only achieved when we decide to deny all—even life itself—as Jesus prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). If Jesus needed help from God to perform the ultimate sacrifice in denying His life, how much more help do we need as sinful beings? Is prayer the key?

The concept of prayer comes to mind when I think of worship. Many of us may even be so familiar with praying that we become agitated by long prayers at family worship, church services, or the dinner table. Perhaps we may be at a point where we no longer feel the need to pray. The true freedom that prayer provides is forgotten and as modern Christians we go through life with 30-second prayers. Surveys on the topic of prayer have recorded that only about 16% of Christians between the ages of 18 and 29 years pray daily. I am sure that the number is even lower for youth under the age of 18 years.

Looking at prayer in the Bible, the interesting thing is that for most of the Old Testament, to pray or have prayer is commonly used in the context of begging or asking for something. Here are some examples:

Genesis 12:13, this is the first time the word “pray” is mentioned, “Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.” [Emphasis added.]

Another example is Numbers 23:27, “And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.” [Emphasis added.]

While Genesis 4:26, “then began man to call upon the name of the Lord” likely included prayer, the first explicit reference to prayer as we know it—speaking with God personally is found in Genesis 20:7, “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.” Also, in Genesis 20:17, “Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.” [Emphasis added.]

So, since prayer isn’t mentioned often in the Old Testament, is it important and is it part of worship? Let us have a look at what the pen of Inspiration states, “Prayer is heaven’s ordained means of success in the conflict with sin and the development of Christian character.”—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 564.

“Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him. . . . Unceasing prayer is the unbroken union of the soul with God, so that life from God flows into our life; and from our life, purity and holiness flow back to God.”—A Call to Stand Apart, pp. 26, 27.

“The idea that prayer is not essential is one of Satan’s most successful devices to ruin souls. Prayer is communion with God, the Fountain of wisdom, the Source of strength, and peace, and happiness. Jesus prayed to the Father ‘with strong crying and tears.’ Paul exhorts believers to ‘pray without ceasing,’ in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, making known their requests to God. ‘Pray one for another,’ James says. ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ Hebrews 5:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16.

“By sincere, earnest prayer parents should make a hedge about their children. They should pray with full faith that God will abide with them and that holy angels will guard them and their children from Satan’s cruel power.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, p. 42.

“In too many households, prayer is neglected. Parents feel they have no time for morning and evening worship. They cannot spare a few moments in which to give thanks to God for his abundant mercies,—for the blessed sunshine and the showers of rain, which cause vegetation to flourish, and for the guardianship of holy angels. They have no time to offer prayer for divine help and guidance, and for the abiding presence of Jesus in the household. They go forth to labor as the ox or the horse goes, without one thought of God or heaven. They have souls so precious that rather than permit them to be hopelessly lost, the Son of God gave His life to ransom them; but they have little more appreciation of His great goodness than have the beasts that perish.”—Christian Education, p. 221.

Without a doubt, we can all agree that prayer is of great importance to our spiritual well-being. In the New Testament we find Jesus introducing the concept of prayer more regularly. He even went further to explain that we should, “pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,” “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Matthew 5:44; Mark 14:38). The example of Christ praying also made the disciples interested to know how to pray, and they were given the now famous Lord’s prayer, “Our Father, which art in heaven” in Matthew 6:9–13.

In summary we learned that prayer is needed in the life of every Christian and is part of worship as it connects us with God through Jesus Christ, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Continuing on the topic of worship, what does it also include?

The psalmist wrote, “Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2). Also read, Ephesians 5:19 20; Colossians 3:16.

“As a part of religious service singing is as much an act of worship as is prayer. Indeed, many a song is prayer. If the child is taught to realize this, he will think more of the meaning of the words he sings and will be more susceptible to their power.”—Child Guidance, p. 523.

“God desires His obedient children to claim His blessing and to come before Him with praise and thanksgiving. God is the Fountain of life and power. . . . He has done for His chosen people that which should inspire every heart with thanksgiving, and it grieves Him that so little praise is offered. He desires to have a stronger expression from His people, showing that they know they have reason for joy and gladness.”—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 75.

“The ability to sing is a talent of influence, which God desires all to cultivate and use to His name’s glory.”—Counsels on Health, p. 481.

May we continue to identify more reasons to praise God!

The concept of worship comes from a time way before sin. It even dates to before the earth was created. Worship, therefore, has been there all along.

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:2, 3).

Here God Himself introduced “rest” to humanity on the seventh day of creation. He showed Adam how to keep the seventh day. “Rest” is typically defined as:

To cease from action or motion of any kind; to stop; a word applicable to any body or being, and to any kind of motion.

To cease from labor, work or performance.

To be quiet or still; to be undisturbed.

After sin, the seventh day continued to be a day of rest for Adam and Eve. However, with the passing of time, it was slowly forgotten. With the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt, God reminded them of the seventh day of rest, the Sabbath. “So the people rested on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:30). To further emphasize the importance of the Sabbath, now to fallen man, God wrote the Ten Commandments and included Sabbathkeeping as the fourth commandment. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8–11).

The fourth commandment, although, is certainly a replication in more detail of what God did on the seventh day of creation. He did not work; He simply rested.

“God would not pronounce the death sentence for a disregard of the Sabbath unless He had presented before His people a clear understanding of the Sabbath. . . . When the foundation of the earth was laid, the foundation of the Sabbath was laid also. When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, God saw that a Sabbath was essential for Adam and Eve, even in Paradise. In giving them the Sabbath, God considered their spiritual and physical health.

“God made the world in six literal days, and on the seventh literal day He rested from all His work which He had done, and was refreshed. So He has given human beings six days in which to labor. . . . By thus setting apart the Sabbath, God gave the world a memorial. He did not set apart one day and any day in seven, but one particular day, the seventh day. And by observing the Sabbath, we show that we recognize God as the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth.”—Christ Triumphant, p. 18.

“The Sabbath was not for Israel merely, but for the world. It had been made known to man in Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of imperishable obligation. Of that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares, ‘Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.’ Matthew 5:18. So long as the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue as a sign of the Creator’s power. And when Eden shall bloom on earth again, God’s holy rest day will be honored by all beneath the sun. ‘From one sabbath to another’ the inhabitants of the glorified new earth shall . . . ‘worship before Me, saith the Lord.’”—The Desire of Ages, p. 283.

“God rested on the seventh day, not merely to furnish an example to the Jews. The Sabbath commandment is obligatory upon all men to the end of time. And not only this, its observance is to be carried into the future world, to be perpetuated throughout eternity.”—The Signs of the Times, July 29, 1897.

“Fathers and mothers should make it a rule that their children attend public worship on the Sabbath, and should enforce the rule by their own example. It is our duty to command our children and our household after us, as did Abraham. By example as well as precept we should impress upon them the importance of religious teaching. All who have taken the baptismal vow have solemnly consecrated themselves to the service of God; they are under covenant obligation to place themselves and their children where they may obtain all possible incentives and encouragement in the Christian life.

“But while we worship God, we are not to consider this a drudgery. The Sabbath of the Lord is to be made a blessing to us and to our children. They are to look upon the Sabbath as a day of delight, a day which God has sanctified; and they will so consider it if they are properly instructed.”—Child Guidance, pp. 530, 531.

“We are not to teach our children that they must not be happy on the Sabbath, that it is wrong to walk out-of-doors. Oh, no. Christ led His disciples out by the lakeside on the Sabbath day and taught them. His sermons on the Sabbath were not always preached within enclosed walls.”—Ibid., pp. 533, 534.

It is such a wonderful thought that God created a special day for us, not only to rest, but to combine all that worship really is. Our sacrifice, offerings, praise, prayers and so much more! There is, however, a work to be done on our part.

“Freedom of choice is given to every soul, but after a man has enlisted, he is required to be as true as steel, come life or come death.”—Evangelism, p. 648.

“Each human being is given the freedom of choice. It is his to decide whether he will stand under the black banner of rebellion or under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel. With deep solicitude Heaven watches the conflict between good and evil. None but the obedient can enter the gates of the city of God.”—In Heavenly Places, p. 361.

“There are thousands today echoing the same rebellious complaint against God. They do not see that to deprive man of the freedom of choice would be to rob him of his prerogative as an intelligent being, and make him a mere automaton. It is not God’s purpose to coerce the will. Man was created a free moral agent.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 331.

“The descendants of Cain were not careful to respect the day upon which God rested. They chose their own time for labor and for rest, regardless of Jehovah’s special command. There were two distinct classes upon the earth. One class were in open rebellion against God’s law, while the other class obeyed his commandments, and revered his Sabbath.”—The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 60.

My dear brother or sister, let us make a decided effort, today, to choose the true worship to which God has invited us. We are free, completely free to choose. My prayer for us is to choose life, and in the love and strength of Jesus Christ, emulate the character of the Waldenses: “They rejoiced in their freedom to worship before Him. Often when pursued by their enemies, the strength of the hills proved a sure defense. From many a lofty cliff they chanted the praise of God, and the armies of Rome could not silence their songs of thanksgiving. Pure, simple, and fervent was the piety of these followers of Christ. The principles of truth they valued above houses and lands, friends, kindred, even life itself.”—The Great Controversy, p. 66.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).