Worship.

Prayer and worship. Last week I talked some about what the Lord has been teaching me about prayer, this week I wanted to share what He’s been showing me about worship over the last eight months… For years worship has been a gateway for many to the heart of God. Believers all over the world encounter the heart of God in private or corporate worship, through music, art, dance, and song, in our churches, our homes, or at revivals and conferences etc. It goes way back to Abraham worshiping God after the Lord had promised to give him the land of his descendents. In Genesis 12:7-8, it says “…he built an altar and dedicated it to the Lord and he worshiped the Lord.� Worship has been perverted too, from the worship of idols like Baal in the Old Testament to the “shows� we tend to put on nowadays. It may take risks to worship; we risk our reputations, our tradition, and our comfort. But there is still the call of David, a challenge to all believers:

God’s love for us…Our love for Him. This is the out flow of worship. We make a choice to worship. Yes, there are moments when the Holy Spirit comes in such power there is no response but worship. However many times we choose to lift our hands we choose to sing loud no matter how off pitch, because God is love, and when we worship we have a unique chance to love Him back. In Psalm 36 He calls us to drink from the river of His delights, we have delights of the Father inside of us, from HIM to give back to Him. I have come to believe that’s what worship is…to give His delights back to Him. I believe the Lord took a long time thinking of each of us and then putting us together. Just imagine the artwork that went into forming each of us. The spirit of God who created you lives inside of you…that blows my mind. The creativity of our Great God is in us- RELEASE IT. That is worship. Release it in cooking. Release it in art. Release it in song. Release it dance. Release it in writing. Release the delights that the Father has given you back to Him. Worship God.

We don’t worship so God will love us, we worship because God loves us. We don’t lift our hands so God will love us and accept us, we lift our hands because God loves us and we desire to surrender all, even when it’s difficult. I don’t beat my tambourine and spin around so God will love me or be impressed with me, I beat my tambourine and spin around because God’s love brings such freedom; so why wouldn’t I want to dance for Him!?!