Getting To The Heart of Worship

Dear Sisters in Christ, 

Even in the best of times, worship isn't always easy. When we sit in that pew (or at home, like most of us are at the moment!) it can difficult not to treat worship as another "spiritual checklist" item that we just have to do. 

I believe the best direction for this is to go back and dig into what it really means to worship, and what it is all about. Worship falls into two categories and there are some differences. One, there is worship with other believers where there are two or more. Then there is worship that occurs when you're on your own. 


Worship in a Group

Ephesians 5:19

Worship with other believers is extremely important. God has told us so. We read especially in Ephesians 5:19 as well as Colossians 3:16 as to why it is so important.

For one, singing as a group is encouraging and uplifting. We are collectively "speaking" to each other about God's word and His glory. As Colossians 3:16 says that when we sing together, we are "...teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom".

Think of worship as a group of people who are teaching each other about God all at once. When we use our voices collectively, and our hearts are all in it to encourage, it's a very powerful thing. In this situation, God's word is amplified and reinforced inside of our hearts. We praise God together and lift Him up together.

This is one reason I am a big proponent of congregational, a capella singing in worship. It is simple, but powerful. I don't want to go into the more technical reasoning for this particular article, such as historical and things having to do with translations from the Greek New Testament. But, I would be happy to talk about those things in a private message if you're interested.

But the basic point here is that, singing together as a group is obviously important. The Holy Spirit would not have moved Paul to state such in his writings if it were not the case.

The key thing to remember is that, when it comes to our worship, God must be at the center of it all. Worship is not meant to be a performance or to put any one person on a pedestal. This is one big reason I believe in for keeping worship as simple as possible. 

I don't want to judge people's hearts, nor am I trying to. I just believe that it is a very slippery slope to walk on by turning worship into more of a performance to where we put so much emphasis on people leading the worship. That can, and does happen. The more we can make it about God, and less about the people, the better.

Worship becomes a truly beautiful thing when people's hearts are engaged to praise God with thankfulness and sincerity. It is also truly beautiful to encourage and teach one another. This is what it means to worship in Spirit, and in truth. (John 4:24.)

Worship By Yourself

How often do we take for just us and God?

Really think about it. We need other people, yes. But we also need to cultivate our own relationship with Him.

Jesus died to have a reconciled relationship with us. With YOU.

When you pray, is it just a list of requests? How often in our prayers do we really take the time to praise and also really thank Him?

When you find yourself in awe of something in nature, whether it is a summer thunderstorm, the blossoming of the flowers in spring, or the beating of a hummingbird's wings...how often do we pause to praise God for it? God is so infinitely amazing. He deserves so much more than the scraps we give Him!

Do we thank Him for the little things: The joyful giggle of a child we love? That our refrigerators are overflowing with food, even if it isn't fancy? That we live in a safe place? That we have a roof over our heads? He has blessed us so much, and it should humble us that He has thought of us. 

But He does. We are His precious children, and He is our beloved Father. Every good and perfect gift is from above. (James 1:17, 1 John 3:1.) When God has given us so much, done so much, why wouldn't we thank Him and praise Him for it? Why wouldn't we want to know more about this incredible Father who can number every hair on our heads and grains of sand along the beaches?

The time we spend by ourselves praising God and praying to  him in nature, on our front porches, and in our rooms is precious time. We should be taking more time to commune with Him in that way. If we don't have the time, well, your life is far too busy, my friend.

When we read the Psalms, we see people describing their relationships to Him. We see people, such as David, writing Psalms in worship to God based on things He saw in nature, and prayers of thankfulness. (Psalm 19:1, Psalm 138:1-2.)

We don't have to be eloquent writers like David to praise God and worship Him on our own. I challenge you to take a little time every day to really dig deep with Him, and praise Him. You will be immensely blessed by it, for sure.

 

Sing about it. Pray about it. Lift up His Holy name!

The more we make worship a priority in our life, the closer we get to God. Look and see the fruit He can bear in our lives when we put Him first.

Love,

Chelsea