A Compelling Testimony: Maintaining a Disciplined Walk, Christlike Character, and Godly Relationships as God's Servant

252

A Compe l l i ng Tes t imony

c. The healing is the result of the confession and prayer before the saints.

6. Follow your conscience and respect your tradition in regards to the more formalized Confessional and the sacrament of penance.

a. To whom do we confess?

b. How often do we confess to them?

c. What is the process of “absolution,” that sense that “once I do the following, I am forgiven for that wrong”?

7. Whatever your conviction and tradition, affirm the power of confession before others, not to create forgiveness but to receive that which God has provided us in Christ.

II. The Discipline of Worship

The praise which overcomes is not merely occasional or spasmodic praise, praise that fluctuates with moods and circumstances. It is continuous praise, praise that is a vocation, a way of life. “I will bless [praise] the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34.1). “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be still [always] praising thee” (Ps. 84.4). It has been pointed out that in heaven praise is so important that it constitutes the total occupation of a certain order of beings (Rev. 4.8). God gave to King David such a revelation of the importance and power of praise upon earth that, following the heavenly pattern, he set aside and dedi cated an army of four thousand Levites whose sole occupation was to praise the Lord (1 Chron. 23.5)! They did nothing else. One of the last official acts of King David before his death was the organization of a formal program of praise. Each morning and each evening a contingent of these four thousand Levites engaged in this service. “And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening” (1 Chron. 23.30, New Scofield ). To the shame and defeat of the Church, the significance of the massive praise content of the Word has been largely overlooked. To be most