I think it is evident in our daily life that humans are all worshipful beings. You just need to go to a football game to realise that we love to worship! Chanting, singing songs about the team, jumping up and down when the goal is scored, clapping and even crying if it doesn't go your chosen teams way-the passion! Even if we aren't football fans, there is always something in someone's life which we elevate to number one importance in our life. We obsess over it, think about it all the time, change ourselves and our lives in order to fit around this thing we worship. This could be academia, music, a girlfriend/boyfriend or even something as simple as being liked by those around you. All these things in themselves are not bad-personally they are all important to me-but they should not have the role in our life of being worshiped. Famous theologian A.W.Tozer states in his book 'Whatever Happened to Worship,' 'What happens when people lose God? They find something else to worship?'So what is it that we should be worshiping? Well I think that is probably an answer that all of us know inside ourselves- In Romans 1v 20 it states:
'Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both eternal power and his divine have been clearly seen, they are perceived in the things that God has made-so there is no excuse at all!!'
Basically what this passage is saying is that all around us in God's creation-there is God. It is difficult to deny a creator, and most people believe in something bigger- a greater power, but are not sure what that power is. Where does this feeling of a greater power and purpose come from? It comes from God himself, who placed it in all created beings so there is no excuse! So who are we to worship? God. As A. W Tozer states:
'The chief role of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.' Furthermore, Jesus states in Luke that if no human would to worship him even the rocks would cry out worship! (No excuse not to worship ourselves- rocks are mch happier being silent... and it's much less creepy if we do it!!)So we know we are worshipful beings, we know who it is who we are supposed to worship- so how do we worship? To aid us in this topic, I have split it down into 7 areas conveniently (and purposefully!) spelling worship.
W is for Wholeheartedness. The best example n the bible for wholehearted worship is David. hen the Ark of the Lord returned to Jerusalem, it states that David danced with all his might! Even when his wife nagged and scowled him, he states ' I will come even more undignified than this!'
David didn't give a monkeys what he looked like- the more important thing was worshiping God with his entire heart. Another way David does this is through incredibly emotive Psalms which come straight from the heart.
Psalm 63 says: ' My whole being desires you, like a dry, worn-out and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you.'
David doesn't just go through the motions of worship- he is real and gives his entire heart to it. Which ls us on to:
O is for ourselves. God has made us all individually. God has made you, you and there is no point than you worshiping as anyone else other than yourself. As I've said before, David was always incredibly real with God and in the book of Job, God honours Job for being honest to him. It is important to come to God as we are, but also be open to changing through what he has to say to us. However, always remembering that God thinks you are worth more than many many sparrows! As Tozer says: 'Worship is a completely personal love experience between God and me.'R is for Rightness (I really wanted Truth but unfortunately worship isn't spelt wotship..)
When I lead worship at my church, the most important thing as far as I'm concerned is making sure that all the songs chosen are biblically sound. It is important that we worship God in Spirit and in truth. We are worshiping God, not singing songs for ourselves, whether that be dressed up as worship songs or not. The primary focus is God,not the Holy Spirit and not saying: 'bless me, bless me!' If we look to the Psalms we see chapter after chapter of stating truths about God aloud for all to hear. We all like to hear about how great we are- God is infinitely greater than any human- so we need to tell him so.
S is for Spirit. In John 4 it states the importance of worshiping in Spirit AND truth. The Holy Spiirt is there as a helper for us to communicate with God. He is a tool for the equipment of the church and can be used to help us worship. We can follow him prompting, listen to his voice and be open. Tozer states in his book:
'When a person yielding to God and believing the truth of God is filled with the Holy Spirit, even their faintest whisper will be worship.' What a beautiful picture of how important the Holy Spirit is in our worship.
H is for His Son. When I want to praise Gaz for the good things he has done, I ry and work out exactly how he would like me to do it. Maybe I buy him his favourite beer, or tell him I am proud of him. Either way, I work out exactly what I think he would like the best. God's favourite thing in the whole world is his son Jesus. In the Gospels he states on numerous occasions, 'This is my son whom I am well pleased.' The best way to worship God then is to give him his son-to say how fab Jesus is and to use him as the intercessor that he is. I is for In Gratitude. Psalm 118 states: Give thank to the Lord, for he is good his love endures forever.'
This is quite an obvious and easy point- how much do we like to be acknowledged by a simple thank you? How much more does God?
P is for personal. There is not one way to worship God, however it does involve ourselves. IN Psalm 150
it shows many ways to worship:
'Praise God in his Temple. Praise his strength in heaven. Praise him for th mighty things he has done. Praise his supreme greatness. Praise his with trumpets. Praise him with harps and lyres. Praise him with drums and dancing. Praise him with harps and flutes. Praise him with cymbals. Praise him with loud cymbals. Praise the Lord all living creatures!'
What a lot of different ways to worship God-and you can choose what is your chosen way!I'm not brilliant at playing the lyre- but I love to worship God with my voice. The most important thing is that you are giving of yourself and the best way you can do that is by physically using your body whether by playing a musical instrument, singing or dancing.
In conclusion, we should all be aware of the need to put God first, to worship him in our lives. We need to worship him wholeheartedly, in truth with the spirit, bringing his son to him in gratitude in our own way which we prefer. Don't just go through the motions-let's get this right and give God all the glory.
