Aradhana (Worship) – "The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity."
Needless to say, God has been speaking to me a lot about what worship means, and what it looks like.
We lived at a worship school this month.
It was amazing.
We worshiped with the men from the school for about an hour every morning. Then we had two hours as a team that were set aside for us to pray and worship. In the evenings we would go out into the community with men from the school worshipping, sharing testimonies and the Word, and praying for everyone we met or had another worship time with the students.
Worship was continuously taking place around us this month.
To be honest when we got to the school I felt inadequate.
We were working at a worship school and:
I can't play an instrument.
I don't like to sing in front of people.
I'm not artistic.
I don't even speak the language.
But is that what worship is really about?
Is it the music? Is it the words from the songs? Does it matter what language it is in?
What is worship?
God has begun to reveal certain truths to me about worship over the past month and these truths have completely changed how I approach worship and how I take part in it.
He has showed me that worship is about the heart in which I come before Him. It is about bringing glory to His name. He delights in the fact that I desire to sit before Him and spend time with Him. He doesn't care about the words, if they are not coming from my heart. Worship is not an act, it is a way of life.
It does not simply begin and end when the music does.
This month I experienced freedom in worship:
I danced.
I wept.
I prayed.
I sang in Telegu.
I sang in English.
I sang songs that God placed on my heart praising Him.
I sat silently in His presence.
But most importantly I experienced intimacy with my creator, my Papa, my Lover. I saw atmospheres changed and chains be broken in my life and in the lives of those around me all through the power of pure worship.
Psalm 150 ends saying, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
I want to praise God with every breath I breathe. I want to see the people of India and the world come to praise God with their every breath.
Speaking of worship our team had the chance to learn a Telegu worship song and lead it for the students one Sunday. Take a look:
