Acceptable Worship (1970)
Source: Kamal Habib, Acceptable Worship: A Handbook and Guide to Individual, Domestic and Communal Prayer (1970): 6–9.
This short essay on “acceptable worship” was written by Kamal Habib (the future Bishop Bimen of Mallawi) in 1970, two years before becoming a monk, as an introduction to a book of prayers for use individually, in family settings and in group settings.
Introduction
On Worship and Its Conditions
Acceptable worship is the worship of a person who is acceptable before God. There are many who pray to the Lord, but whose prayer is hateful to Him because their manner of living is not pleasing to Him, their ways crooked and their goals not upright. Therefore, it is necessary for us — if we want to offer worship to God that pleases Him — to examine ourselves and ask, are we acceptable to Him? Does the Spirit of God within us reassure us that we are God’s children and that we are pleasing to Him?
If we find any wavering or crookedness in our hearts, we must bring it out and let the heart be united in the fear of God,[1]Cf. Ps 86:11 whereupon the sacrifices that come from it become holy and pleasing to Him.
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Acceptable worship is the work of the Spirit within us. We do not know how to pray; it is the Spirit of God alone who intercedes within us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.[2]Rom 8:26 Prayer that comes [only] from the intellect or the lips is prayer that has no hope of reaching the Most High,[3]A non-literal translation, ṣalāa lā yu-ṣ‘id fawq asṭaḥ amākin-hā
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but prayer that is driven by the Holy Spirit — [prayer] which is fed by Him, purified by Him, offered by Him — is the only prayer that is acceptable before God. Therefore, we must have a relationship and friendship with the Holy Spirit, so that He might teach us how to pray and how to pray well.
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Acceptable worship is worship offered in the name of Christ Jesus, for He alone is the way to the Heavenly Father. For this reason, the Lord commanded us that when we pray to the Father, we should offer the prayer in His own name. To pray in Christ’s name does not simply mean to add “in Christ Jesus our Lord” to the end of the prayer, like some well-known cliché or matter of routine. Rather, it means that it should be the person of Christ Himself who is at work in the prayer: the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ, and Christ leads to the Father, and this is the work of the Holy Trinity in prayer.
The name of Christ means the person of Christ. It is the person of Christ alone who is able to take all our prayers and acts of service and draw them into the sacrifice of Himself, which is the only sacrifice that ever found acceptance and approval before the Heavenly Father. It is in Christ, and only in Christ, that our prayers and worship become acceptable before the Father.
If our prayer is to be in the name of Christ, then it must be in accordance with the will of Christ. For this reason, He taught us not to ask for worldly things like food or clothing
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for after all these things the Gentiles seek. But we seek the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things are added to us.[4]Mt 6:31–32.
Prayer whose aim is the glory of Christ and the expansion of His kingdom is acceptable prayer. But prayer whose aim is selfish gain and personal matters is not prayer through Christ, and such prayer does not please the Father.
If our worship in Christ is to be acceptable, then it must fulfil the conditions which He taught us with regard to petitionary prayer. These include:
- That it should be with faith and confidence and conviction, without any doubting The Lord praised the faith of many people who asked of Him and received, and He is still saying to us now, Ask that you may receive, and that your joy may be full.[5]Jn 16:24.
- That it should be with persistence and obstinacy.[6]bi-lajāja wa ilḥāḥ This persistence is a sign of faith and confidence in God’s gifts and the faithfulness of His promises. The Lord gave us the parable of the widow and the unjust judge in order to teach us how to pray with persistence.[7]Lk 18:1–8.
- That it should be with thanksgiving. Worship that is void of thanksgiving is rejected, and for this reason, the Church has ensured that in her rites, the Prayer of Thanksgiving (“Let us give thanks to the beneficent and merciful God …”) is prayed in every circumstance, whether joyful or sorrowful, in liturgies and in every service. The Apostle too commanded us to give thanks always.[8]1 Th 5:18.
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- That it should be in a spirit of perfect surrender and submission to God’s will. Let Thy will be done, not our will. This submission pleases the heart of God and allows Him to accomplish His intentions within us with ease and facility. When this happens, the response is swift: the heart feels that God has answered it, and a man goes out of his room assured that all things work together for good.[9]Rom 8:28.
- That it should come from a pure heart, void of all malice, guile, deceit and hypocrisy, filled with love for the Lord and all people.
- And finally, that it should be in secret, without showiness or Pharisaism or seeking people’s admiration. But when it is done in secret, the Lord God rewards and answers the believer openly (see the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector).
Let us take care to worship God from all our hearts and consecrate our lives to Him, so that there is no love for anything foreign within them, and that He might accept our worship — whether individual, domestic or communal — through the prayers of our saintly and pure fathers.
I have collected and prepared the prayers in this book from spiritual books published by Maktabat al-Mahabba al-Urthudhuksiyya.
We ask God to make use of them for the benefit and edification of souls, that His great and holy name be glorified, blessed and exalted, amen.
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How to cite this text (Chicago/Turabian):
Habib, Kamal. “Introduction” in Acceptable Worship: A Handbook and Guide to Individual, Domestic and Communal Worship [al-‘Ibāda al-Maqbūla: dalīl wa murshid li-l-‘ibāda al-fardiyya wa-l-‘ā’iliyya wa-l-jamā‘īyya]. Cairo: Maktabat al-Mahabba al-Qibtiyya al-Urthudhuksiyya, 1970. Translated by Samuel Kaldas, edited by Baher Mikhail, in Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/bbim-aw1970/.
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