Throughout his letters, Paul offers some incredible prayers. They are highly instructive on how to pray, as well as chock full of great truth. One particularly rousing prayer is Eph. 3:16-21:

16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

More good things at Chasing Hats.

This piece by John Carswell fits in nicely with David dancing before the Ark in celebration.

i wholeheartedly agree with the need to cherish beauty, and praising God is all about cherishing His beauty . . . tasting and seeing that the Lord is good . . . shouting for joy to the Lord . . . allowing the Spirit to flow like a river throught us just like in Rev. 22 and Eze. 47. And this cherishing of beauty is not a passive, stoic, lifeless, emotionless experience. Real beauty touches our hearts deeply, and it should, for that is how God made us. In the presence of real beauty we cannot be unmoved.

Come, glorify the Lord with me.

i have always been intrigued by I Chronicles 15 and 16, in particular, I Chr. 15:29, which says:

As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.

The whole scene is fascinating to me. David and the people are celebrating God, His goodness, His blessing, His glory. And as the Ark is being brought into his city, David is moved to praise God. It is a reminder to me that being in the presence of God should move me, as it moved David. Yet, it is also a reminder that others can take offense at something which is truly offered to God in sincerity of heart.

As the story continues into Ch. 16, David is full of praise and it is beautiful. He offers a lengthly psalm of thanks in I Chr. 16:7-36.

The early days of David's kingship are inspiring for their devotion to God.

i was visiting Francis Mooney's site and followed his link to Chuck Colson's essay on beauty and a Christian aesthetic.

After you read Colson's essay, visit Chasing Hats and read all three parts of the essay Doxology. We really need to recover a proper understanding of art, creativity and beauty.