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G8
Serving, Worshiping, Praising, & Praying to God

G8

We are to serve, worship, praise, & pray to God.

Category: God & Yeshua

Type: Positive

Form: Explicit

Source dataset: Old Testament

Uniqueness: Not unique

Classical commandment: Yes

New Covenant Literal Application

Applies to Person Categories: Everyone

Literal Application: mandated

More explanation about New Covenant Literal Application

The New Covenant Literal Application Code (NCLA) is an interpretive guide used by the authors to indicate which person categories a mitzvah applies to, and at what level of literal compliance.

It combines person categories such as Jewish, K'rov Yisrael, and Gentile, together with male/female distinctions and an application level such as mandated, recommended, optional, or prohibited.

This code reflects the authors' interpretive opinion and is provided for prayerful consideration. On this page, the technical code is summarized into plain language to help new readers understand it more easily.

Detailed codes: GFm - Gentile female, mandated | GMm - Gentile male, mandated | JFm - Jewish female, mandated | JMm - Jewish male, mandated | KFm - K'rovat Yisrael female, mandated | KMm - K'rov Yisrael male, mandated

Read the full explanation from the source

Bible references

Key NT Scriptures
  • Colossians 4:2
  • Hebrews 12:28
  • Hebrews 13:15
  • James 5:13
  • John 4:21-24
  • Luke 4:8
  • Mark 11:24
  • Matthew 4:8-10
  • Matthew 5:15-16
  • Matthew 5:44
  • Matthew 6:9
  • Matthew 21:13
  • Philippians 4:6
  • Romans 12:11-12
  • Romans 14:11
  • Romans 15:11
Key OT Scriptures
  • Deuteronomy 6:13
  • Deuteronomy 10:20-22
  • Deuteronomy 11:13-14
  • Deuteronomy 13:5
  • Exodus 7:26
  • Exodus 23:25
  • Psalms 20:8
  • Psalms 29:2
  • Psalms 30:5
  • Psalms 34:2
  • Psalms 95:5-6
  • Psalms 117:1
  • Psalms 122:6
Supportive NT Scriptures
  • Hebrews 9:13-14
  • James 5:14-16
  • John 12:26
  • Luke 6:12
  • Philippians 2:9-11
  • Philippians 3:3
  • Revelation 4:9-11
  • Revelation 5:13-14
  • Revelation 19:5
Supportive OT Scriptures
  • Deuteronomy 9:26
  • Genesis 20:17
  • Genesis 25:21
  • Isaiah 45:22-25
  • Numbers 11:2
  • Numbers 21:7
  • Psalms 5:3
  • Psalms 5:8
  • Psalms 95:2
  • Psalms 135:1
  • Psalms 150:1-6

Bible verses copyright: PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

Despite the numerous Scriptures in both the Tanakh and the Kitvey B'rit Chadasha that exemplify and exhort to worship, praise, and prayer, there is no explicit commandment in the Torah that requires any of them. The overall message of Scripture embracing them is unmistakable, however, so the early Rabbis and codifiers of the Law decided to list (in their mitzvah compilations) Scriptures that command giving service to God, and to treat "service" as encompassing prayer. I chose to do something similar in this Mitzvah by joining worship, praise, prayer, and service, and letting "worship" be the umbrella that encompasses the other three. Scripture (in particular Zechariah 4:6 , Romans 8:26-27 and Philippians 3:3 ) is clear that true worship and its components can only be entered into with the power and assistance of the Holy Spirit. If one understands worship as being a complete giving over of oneself to another, it is easy to see how praise, prayer, and service can be components of worship. It is not always the case, however; whether they are part of, and contribute to worship, depends upon the degree of "giving over", and their intensity. For example, merely complementing someone (praising him) does not constitute worship, and neither does asking an ordinary favor of someone (old English usage of praying), or serving someone as an employee. That notwithstanding, requesting something of a person while continuously praising him, showering him with unsolicited service, and pursuing him with an attitude of submission and adulation, may very constitute worship. In common modern usage, the word "prayer" is generally understood to mean petitioning God but, as I have indicated, in "old English" usage, it was a request made to anyone. For example, in Job 33:1 (rendered in the King James Version of the Bible) we read of God saying:: Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words. God was certainly not "praying" to Job as we understand Job to have prayed to God. Serving another is similar, in that whether or not it constitutes worship depends upon the degree to which the service is rendered and the attitude that accomanies it. We read in 1 Peter 4:10 : As each one has received some spiritual gift, he should use it to serve others, like good managers of God's many-sided grace. This exhortation to serve others is clearly not an invitation to worship them, whereas Yeshua's answer to Satan in Luke 4:8 : The Tanakh says, 'Worship ADONAI your God and serve him only.' illustrates how giving service to God does (and should) rise to the level of worship. Serving another with abandon (as a willing slave) is what constitutes worship, and it is only appropriate in our rendering service to God. An additional word concerning prayer: It has been taught, in certain circles, that Mark 11:24 (and similar Scriptures) can be used as a way of getting God to give us what we want, the theory being that, if we believe for something enough, God will give it to us. It is called "faith" by those who advance this view, but it is a mistake because true faith requires first hearing from God, and then believing and praying for what God wants - not for what we want - unless the two coincide. A Scripture that must be applied when interpreting Mark 11:24 is Jude 1:20 : But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith, and pray in union with the Ruach HaKodesh. Praying in union with the Holy Spirit is the key (see also, Hebrews 11:1 ).

Classical commentators

Whereas Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch express themselves somewhat differently, they essentially agree that prayer is linked to service. Because they cannot find anything in the Torah explicitly commanding prayer, they treat praying to God and rendering service to God as being essentially the same and only quote Scriptures that command service. The only reference to worship is found in the caption of Maimonides' Commandment #RP5, as translated by Charles B. Chavel in his two volume work, "The Commandments." 1 Meir captions his Commandment #MP7 as "Praying Every Day to God," and HaChinuch captions his Commandment #C433 as "The Precept of Prayer to the Almighty." Despite Chavel's caption, Maimonides does not discuss worshiping God at all, but rather exhorts us only to serving Him and to prayer. Of the three, Meir is the only one of the commentators that connects praising God to prayer and service. He states that the commandment requires a sequence in addressing God: (1) praising Him; (2) petitioning Him; and (3) both praising and thanking Him. He also says that, in praying to God, it is necessary to do so with "focused intention of the heart." This is known as praying with kavanah . HaChinuch begins his mitzvah #C433 by referring to the Scriptures commanding that we give service to God, and then quotes Maimonides: Now, R. Moses b. Maimon of blessed memory wrote: Although this mitzvah is one of the all-inclusive precepts - in other words, those which include the entire Torah , since the service of God includes all the mitzvot - it likewise contains a specific detail: namely, that God commanded us to pray to Him ... HaChinuch then proceeds to explain our responsibility to pray three times a day, corresponding to the times when sacrifices were conducted in the Temple. He uses the term "prayer services", which links prayer with service, and expresses that predominant Jewish understanding that "prayer services" are meant to give "service" to God. As in the case of the other commentators, HaChinuch does not refer to worship even once. All three of the commentators, Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch, rely on Talmud Bavli Ta'anith 2a as their authority for linking prayer to the Scriptures commanding service to God. 1. Charles B. Chavel, The Commandments , vol. 1, (London: The Soncino Press, 1967).


Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

Related Law of Messiah commandments

Classical sources

Maimonides

Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 12th century) organized all 613 Torah commandments into a structured list. These linked items show where this Law of Messiah commandment overlaps with that classical framework.

Meir of Rothenburg

Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (13th century, Germany) was a leading Talmudic authority. These reference numbers link this commandment to his halachic rulings.

MP7, MP7

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

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