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Romans 8:18-27 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁸ [But what of that?] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!

¹⁹ For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].

²⁰ For the creation (nature) was subjected to [c]frailty (to futility, condemned to frustration), not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it--[yet] with the hope

²¹ That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God's children.

²² We know that the whole creation [of irrational creatures] has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.

²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the firstfruits of the [Holy] Spirit [a foretaste of the blissful things to come] groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies [from sensuality and the grave, which will reveal] our adoption (our manifestation as God's sons).

²⁴ For in [this] hope we were saved. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For how can one hope for what he already sees?

²⁵ But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.

²⁶ So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

²⁷ And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will.

Prayer doesn't have to be shown off with elaborate skills. It doesn't matter whether it is long or short, or how flowery and powerful the language is. God looks at the heart and its true intentions. The Holy Spirit is with us as we pray, and it is the Holy Spirit that gives us our prayer. Even when we are so frustrated and despaired to the the point where we do not know how and what to pray for, God already knows what's in our minds and hearts, he can hear our cry, see our tears.
Prayer is powerful, even the smallest utterance of it with sincere faith can move the heart of God.

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2 Corinthians 3:7-18 (The Message)

Lifting the Veil

^7-8 The Government of Death, its constitution chiseled on stone tablets, had a dazzling inaugural. Moses' face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could no more look right at him than stare into the sun. How much more dazzling, then, the Government of Living Spirit?

^9-11 If the Government of Condemnation was impressive, how about this Government of Affirmation? Bright as that old government was, it would look downright dull alongside this new one. If that makeshift arrangement impressed us, how much more this brightly shining government installed for eternity?

^12-15 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn't notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn't notice. They didn't notice it then and they don't notice it now, don't notice that there's nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can't see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there's nothing there.

^16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Worship is no longer like the past. Now we can enter into the Holy of Holies. Be warned though, when we do enter the Holy of Holies, God will convict us of our sins, because he is pure and so holy. In His presence we need to get ourselves right. When Jesus died on the cross, IT IS ENOUGH for us. He granted us freedom and grace even though we were undeserving. So we are to be Slaves of Righteousness, and to be more like Jesus.
There's no such thing as middle ground between us and God. It's either we obey, or we disobey. It's either we accept, or we reject. In worship, whenever we lift our hands for show, or just because we want to impress the people that we are 'oh-so-holy-and-righteous-and-worshipful', then somehow we have already rejected what God can do in us. Sometimes pure worship to God means not raising up your hands, not jumping around, but to stand still and enjoy Him, being focused on Him, accepting ALL that He has done for us. Worship is a lifestyle, where every single second of your life is given to worship the Sovereign King and Master of our hearts.

One day, One glorious day
I will sing in the presence of angels
Until that glorious day
I offer my life to you
Youth Alive WA

~12:19 am