The same was true for Isaiah who "saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted." The worship scene he depicts is almost indescribable. Winged seraphs chanting, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty." Doorposts and thresholds shaking. The Temple filling with smoke. His anguished voice crying, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." The burning coal. The touched lips. The guilt removed.

Then, and only then, does Isaiah respond, "Here am I, send me" (Isa. 6:1-10).

Our Lord wants us to come to Him in worship before we engage in busy activity. He wants us to draw near, to fall on our knees in humble adoration and unfettered worship before we get our passports stamped and our passage booked.

Without a personal encounter with God, an inner experience of His majesty, our message is flat and our evangelism ineffectual. But when mission springs from hearts bowed in worship, it possesses the power of God and will not return to Him void.