I had driven many miles to attend a prayer conference of an internationally-known apostle who was teaching on prayer. 

After the morning session, another apostle, who happened to go to my church and was at the conference, came up to me and asked if I had any questions about prayer. I struggled and said "No," even though I did.

My "question" was actually several: Why have I started worshiping in the middle of prayer so many times? Wash't that an interruption? Why can I not seem to pray for a long time without interruption, like I'd intended to?

For some reason, even though this man was kind and wise, I was intimidated about asking him these things. After all, shouldn't I know all these things already, with all the training I'd had, and all the teaching I'd done in writing and more? 

Ah, the enemy and the flesh will forever try to keep us in a loop of condeming ourselves, until our gracious Father God turns on the light in our hearts! 

I noticed that, even in church, during deep corporate prayer, I'd often have songs rise up in me, and I'd start humming them softly.  At home, or in the car, when I took prayer drives on the interstate (where there were no distractions and I just wanted to be alone with the LORD to focus on Him), my prayers would always turn into worship, or, if I worshipped before prayer, then I'd still wind up worshiping!

As Romans 8:1 (and John 3:18) says, "Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit."

I finally had a breakthrough. My dear Daddy God was my good Shepherd, Whom I trust to lead me in right paths (Psalm 23 and Psalm 25), and I also knew that, every morning when I prayed for Him to fill me with Himself and make me sensitive and obedient to His dear Spirit, that He heard my prayers and thus answered them (I John 5:14,15). So I had been whipping myself in my mind, and God did NOT have a problem with it!

It was my own sense of religion or legalism, and I repented of that! I truly am a daughter of God, led by and obedient to His Spirit, and I do desire to worship Him in Spirit and Truth; if worship rises up in me almost uncontrollably, when I start to pray, from now on I flow with it! I go with it, for it is surely and only the Spirit of God--not my flesh/own human desires, and certainly not the enemy (who cannot stand to hear Jesus praises, by the way! That's why our praise and worship drives him out, that jealous defeated foe, and prepares our hearts and minds to receive the living water of the Word of God! Hallelujah!)!

So go with Him and flow with Him. We are to always be careful never to interrupt a church service where anything we do would be a distraction in any group, especially where  the pastor or other spiritual speaker or leader were in command. God is a God of order, and a Gentleman, and we are to control ourselves, of course.

Otherwise, we are free to worship our God, in prayer, in praise, and however else He leads. So get your praise and worship on today!

Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. They lift Him up in books (P.O.W.E.R. Girl!; LEGACY; Visions of the King; Your Holy Health; more); presentations; service in church, community, and the world; and via the "River Rain Creative" (309 videos) and "POWERLight Learning" You Tube channels.