Exodus 23:25
John 4:24
What comes to your mind when the word worship is mentioned?
Music, lifting up holy hands, prayer, kneeling down, clapping, and dancing. Maybe, I missed out something that came into your mind. But those are some of the most common things that come to mind when we think about worshipping God.
There are so many different ways that we can worship our heavenly Father. Great worship music plus a great worship leader that knows how to coordinate everyone, and everything causes us to enjoy worship, right?
But did you know that there is more to worshipping God than singing, kneeling, and raising your hands up? Worshipping God starts from the heart. It is not really about what is going on outwardly but about what is going on in our hearts.
God had a problem with the children of Israel because they worshipped him with their lips, but their hearts were far from him. It is easy for us to get caught up with religious acts and start worshipping God with our lips and not our hearts. But God sees our hearts, and he knows us inside out.
See, it is one thing to clap or lift your hands because the worship leader has told you to do that. It is another altogether when you are doing it out of reverence for God. True worship causes us to stop focusing on ourselves and what is going on around us. It draws us to God alone.
Our worship should be out of reverence, not mechanical. As we go before God’s presence, we need to know the truth about him so that our worship can be based on the truth found in God’s word and not guesswork or religious duty.
When we make it a point to incline our hearts to God and be fully submitted to Him, our intimacy with him deepens, and we are able to enjoy our relationship with him. This, in turn, ignites a flame for Christ in our hearts and lives. Note that you do not have to be perfect for you to worship God in spirit and truth. Go to God just the way you are and allow him to work through you and in you.
Action:
From today make worship part of their everyday life. It should not be something that you do on Sundays only. Let your actions, thoughts, and words bring glory to God. When you go to church, do it because you want to go and spend time with God. Let it be an act of worship and not a way of keeping your parents from nagging you or seeing friends. As you spend time with the Lord, be real with him about your thoughts towards him and allow him to refine you so that you can worship him in spirit and in truth.
In your free time, listen to worship music and sing along. This will stir your heart, and the messages in those songs will cause you to see Jesus in a different light.