Question. What is worship to you?
2 Samuel 6:14 “Then David danced before the Lord with all His might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.” (So basically he praised God in his underwear.)
Psalms 99:3 “Let them praise your great and awesome Name, He is Holy.”
Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.”
I would have to say worship is my biggest passion. I would be lost if I couldn’t worship my Heavenly Father. (and I don’t just say this because I’m apart of a worship team. haha) A true form of worship, in my opinion; is humility, surrender, trust, and freedom. Worship is giving up yourself, and letting God take control. Worship is kneeling at the alter, going to the cross, letting go of pain, guilt, anger, burdens, and giving it to the One that can carry it for you. Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”
Worship is freedom.
Worship is forgiveness.
Worship is letting go and letting God.
We were created to worship!
But this is the problem in today’s church. Everybody seems to think they worship once a week. And when nothing happens, they assume God never showed up.. First off, God will never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). And He loves to spend time with us. So I see Two problems:
1) We have a mentality to think worship is on Sunday. No, worship is everyday, all day. We should continuously be connected to God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” So in our everyday lives, we should be doing everything to Glorify God. Don’t just go to church on a Sunday and feel through your emotions. When you go to church, be already connected to God. I know some people like to say “they have to warm up to worship…” But that wouldn’t be an issue if you worshiped God everyday, like you worship God on a Sunday.
2) Remember Adam and Eve? (Genesis 3) God showed up to walk through the garden with them. It was a reoccurring thing. So when we encounter God and not “feel” His presence, we assume He didn’t show up. And we hide from God, just like Adam and Eve did. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever thought God never showed up in worship or it wasn’t very powerful this time? Think about this, have you ever considered you didn’t go all the way to meet God?
I hear this all the time and it breaks my heart. Worship needs to be you giving your everything. How can God meet you where your at, if you don’t meet God where He’s waiting for you to meet Him at? To many people are concerned with who is watching them, so that dictates there worship. The only person you should be concerned with watching you is God. Here’s a story that happened to me recently.
During worship, I knew I needed to go to the alter. But I don’t really like going to the alter. I’m more of an introvert, so when God tells me to go up, I always hesitate because then everybody would be looking at me. (I’m actually getting a lot better at listening and obeying when He says move.) But anywho, when I didn’t go up that Sunday night, I knew I’d regret it.. And next week, God moved.
During worship that following week, I felt like my heart was coming out of my chest and as I still stood by my chair, I honestly felt like my breath was being taken from me. I thought I had walked up to the alter and my friend said I ran up there! As soon as I sat down, the holy spirit came over me and I could not stop shaking. It was so peaceful and captivating! (Side Note: during that time I had three good friends praying over me. God had showed me that He has me covered. I had somebody on my right, on my left, and behind me. And God was in front of me! It’s a beautiful picture of how God surrounds us and keeps us safe.)
God wants to encounter us everyday, not just on Sundays. And if you ever hesitate, God will find a way, as you can see. Worship should be pure surrender and pure praise. It should be between you and God and you need to worship how you feel you need to. Don’t worry about the people around you. You shouldn’t miss an encounter with God because you were afraid of what other people were thinking of you. That is a lie from Satan!
So what is worship to you? God is so good and He wants nothing more than to captivate you and love on you. He wants to speak with you and show you new things. Don’t be afraid to encounter God. I find it best to get down on my knees, because it’s the most humbling position. (In my opinion) Never compromise your worship because of judgement, the only judgement you should be worried about is God’s. His opinion matters way more than the people on earth. Remember, our faith can’t grow if it is not exercised.
I have never prayed and worshiped as much as I have after my decision to go on this amazing world race. God is working on me, hard core. I love growing and being stretched, but it has been a hard process! I know God blesses those who bless others. He will provide if we keep our eyes fixed on Him.
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
God is good! Exodus 14:14 God will fight for you, you need only be still.
