I want to take a few minutes today to talk to you about a subject that I have been meditating on lately. The area of praise and worship! You know…the first part of the service that is taken lightly and treated like it is the opening act of the main event. You know…the part of the service that people miss because of running late and doing important things before the service starts.
Yeah…praise and worship.
Two quick things to point out at the beginning of this article:
- ) Praise and worship isn’t JUST to be done at church. it is a lifestyle!
- ) Praise and worship IS TO be done at church, because of the increase of the anointing that happens when two or three are gathered in His name! This is what I am focusing on today.
Worship is an essential part of every Christian’s life. If you don’t have a life of worship and praise then you are missing the key element of your life. Christianity isn’t just about getting to heaven…it is about a relationship with the love of your life…the God of the universe…the One who gave His life for you. In John 4:23 Jesus says, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” Notice what God is looking for… He isn’t looking for the worship, He is looking for worshipers.
All He wants are the worshipers… those who value Him highly! Those who have a heart that is set on Him! The overflow of a worshipers heart will be worship and praise. Also notice how He says we need to be is flowing out of you freely. In other worshiping Him… in spirit and in truth! words, your whole self…everything you What exactly does that mean? Your spirit is the part of you that is directly in touch with God Himself. Your spirit isn’t in touch with the world around you..it is NOT affected by the world adoration to God Himself. It is totally connected and loosely going through the motions to affected by God Himself. Your spirit isn’t in touch with the world around you. it is NOT affected by the world around you. It is totally connected and affected by God Himself. Your praise and worship should be directed by your spirit… not by your flesh. Which means that you are not worshiping based on how you feel in your soul or your flesh (tired, frustrated, etc.). It also means that your worship is not being used as manipulation to get what you want (that is soulish and earthly), but is your LOVE RESPONSE to the LOVE of your life! Worship is love, not manipulation. You may say, but can’t I receive things from God in praise and worship. The answer is absolutely, but that flows out of a love relationship and the open access that comes from that relationship. The word “truth” actually means reality
John 17:17 tells us that the Word of Got is Truth… so we can understand this to mean that we are to worship the Lord the way the Word tells us to worship Him. Using His promises to love on Him. That works and we should do that. however, I want you to see this a bit deeper. The word truth means that you are real…that you are not holding back your real feelings or passion, but that it is flowing out of you freely. In other words, your whole self..everything you have. not holding anything back! Getting REAL with the God of the Universe, with the Lover of your soul! A passionate outpouring of love and adoration to God Himself. Not mindlessly going through the motions to simply say that you have worshiped, but aggressively and whole-heartedly pursuing Love Himself!
In 2 Samuel 24 it tells of a sacrifice that David was going to give God at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
Araunah saw the king coming and was honored that the King was going to give the sacrifice on his property. He was so grateful that he told David to take, as a gift, whatever he needed (cattle, goats, etc.) to make the sacrifices. But David replied, “Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” He did not consider the sacrifice a good sacrifice if it didn’t cost him something… it HAD TO cost him something!
Beloved, that is what praise and worship is. they are offerings. We offer them to God because of our overwhelming love and passion for Him! When we come into the sanctuary for praise and worship and “just” sing the songs, half-heartedly, or walk in and out of the service without in, or just stand/sit and wait for it to get over. our praise and worship have not cost us anything. There has been NO REALITY, no SPIRIT-BASED worship that has come from you… only fleshly or soulish actions that has NOT touched the heart of God. It is not what He is looking for.
He wants all of us in our praise and worship. Bill Johnson said it this way, “The only true worship is extreme worship, and only extreme worship brings extreme results.” That is what God is wanting from each of us. To ENTER IN to His presence and TOTALLY focus on Him. Honor Him for Who He is and ALL HE has done!
Allow me to encourage you today to examine how you view praise and worship. Is it pre-game. is it “just” singing songs… or is it you and your LOVE one-on-one! Celebrating Him and gazing into His eyes! Revealing His value through a heart-felt response to all that He has done.
