WORSHIP

When you hear the word worship what do you think of? For me my mind associates worship with singing and raising our hands to glorify our God. Worship can be found in believers singing together before the sermon is given at church. Worship can be seen through the songs on the radio in the car ride on the way to work or school.

Worship can be found in so many places, but I feel like we are missing out on the true definition of worship and what it looks like. While worship encompasses the songs we listen to and sing out, it is so much more than that.

Worship is the ability to give praise, honor, and respect to God.

It is the foundation of our lives.

It is our response and posture to how good God is no matter the circumstances.

In Romans 12:1 Paul states, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship”.

True and proper worship is found when we humble ourselves in front of the Lord by giving Him our full attention. True worship means putting complete focus and glorification on the King.

Whenever we are singing and worshipping in church we are setting aside everything else going on in our busy lives and letting our minds and mouths fully focus on our Creator.

This example is exactly how worship is supposed to look and how we are supposed to live our lives: humbling ourselves and glorifying the King.

Psalms 85:6 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker”

As Christians, we are called to be in a constant state of worship.

This does not mean that we have to sing all day to give glory to our Creator, but it means to glorify Him in all things. It is the ability to let every word that comes from our mouth honor Him. It means to constantly humble ourselves and glorify Him. It is removing the worry we have and focusing on His promises. It is thanking Him for all He has given us instead of always wanting more.

Worship is everything you do in your life to glorify God which in turns builds your personal relationship with Him. Not only should worship build our personal relationship with Him, but encourage others to seek the God we are pursuing so vigorously.

Worship is not only an external characteristic of praise, but an internal element of praise. The outward flow of joy and praise results from a deep internal joy that comes directly from the Lord

When we are living our lives in a constant state of worship, believers and non-believers will see God through us and not ourselves.

When we put away our selfish ambitions and exalt the King there is no room in our lives to glorify anything or anyone other than our God.

In Luke 4:8 it states, “And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”

Jesus himself said it best. God is the only One we should spend our time worshipping.

One of the most beautiful aspects of worship is that God has been inviting us to worship Him from the beginning and we will be doing it for the rest of eternity.

In Genesis 24, Abraham’s servant praised God immediately after God presented him Rebekah to take to Isaac as his wife.

In Exodus 34, Moses bowed down to the ground and worshipped after being in the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai right after the people of Israel broke the covenant.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God while they were in prison.

All throughout scripture the people worshipped God. During our earthly lives into eternity we will continue to worship how amazing our God is.

Worship is not a conditional action based on mountaintop moments and moments in the valley. It is a constant expression of how great our God is.

Chapter 7 in the book of Revelations paints a clear picture of eternal worship:

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throneand before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

Internal worship builds our relationship with the King.

Internal worship fills our lives with joy.

External worship makes believers and unbelievers more aware of the King.

External worship shares joy with others.

So today turn your worry into worship.

Turn your anxiety into prayer.

Turn your busyness into stillness.

Turn your glorification into His glorification.

Worship in every moment.