Worship 101

“You’ve never worshipped the Lord until you forget about yourself. That’s worship 101. If you know how to do that, you don’t need to go to worship school. Just forget about yourself.”

This message was part of a prophecy given to me by one of Shekinah Glory’s members (This is a music and teaching ministry). In a culture of vibrant praise and worship performances and emotionally stirring music, it’s easy to stay centered on ourselves. Our focus can become solely on our preferences and our emotional responses, believing that we are truly worshipping. We may even worship with the intent to get something out of it. However, while we always benefit from God’s presence, worship is something we give, not something we get.

”But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24, NKJV).

Notice that the Father is looking for worshippers first, not just worship. He is not a prideful God who thrives on the homage of His followers. He longs for relationships with people who will genuinely seek Him in return. Based on His nature, He desires that those worshippers worship Him “in spirit and in truth.” Let’s look at what that means:

In Spirit. We are spirit beings. Our spirits are the ever-living part of us that will live into eternity. This is true of those who are saved and those who are unsaved. But if we want to truly worship, we must first connect with God with our spirits through salvation. God is a spiritual, sinless Person who can only fellowship with us intimately if we are connected to Him spiritually. For this relationship to take place, it must be born again (John 3:1-21), our old, sinful nature removed and replaced by His nature. Once we’re born again, we can worship God through our born-again spirit and engage our souls (our minds, wills, and emotions) to participate.

In Truth. Once our spirits are engaged with God through the new birth (John 3:1-21), we have the responsibility to worship Him in truth. It’s easy to go through the motions of singing a song or two, but when we worship in truth, we are not repetitive for the sake of ceremony or tradition. We don’t express ourselves to show off or to appear more holy. Instead, we worship with sincerity from a heart and mind that desires to minister to our Creator.

The Greek word for worship means to prostrate oneself in homage and to kiss like a dog kissing His master’s hand. This expresses reverence, submission, and adoration. It forgets about us and our desires and acknowledges God as the supreme Master of our lives. Unlike historical kings who reigned with fear and intimidation, our love for Him compels us to surrender and minister to Him.

 

Worship with Our Lives

We may not always be in a worship service. We may not lie prostrate on the ground twenty-four-seven. But worship is not just about singing, musical styles, or location (John 4:21). It’s a lifestyle.

Our born-again spirits are in a constant attitude of worship. Filled with the fruit of the Spirit, it yearns to fellowship with God continuously (Galatians 5:22-2). It desires to follow God’s directives for our lives. But from our souls, we must daily choose to follow our spirits, lay our lives before Him, and say, “Not my will but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). We must choose to honor God with our bodies through holy living and responsible habits (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We must surrender our souls to our Creator, not allowing wrong thinking or negative emotions to override God’s will (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We must leave life’s decisions prostrate at God’s feet, trusting His plans over our own (Proverbs 3:5-8, NKJV). It’s a lifestyle of forgetting our agenda while surrendering to His.

 

Worship with Our Music

 Out of our lifestyle of worship comes worship through our voices, bodies, and instruments. As we read the books of Psalms, we find that this form of worship is not a suggestion. It is a command. God is deserving of every part of it, just as He is deserving of our sinless bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).

True worshippers are not concerned about music style or volume. It doesn’t matter what instruments we play or how bright or dark the environment is. When we worship from our spirits, our only desire is to glorify God. We forget about ourselves and our preferences and ask, “Does the One I worship appreciate this? Does it glorify Him?”

When we truly worship, we don’t take into consideration what others think about us while we worship. Like David in 2 Samuel 6:12-23, we should worship unashamedly—no matter who is watching. God gets our best worship when we forget about our self-consciousness and pride. As we remind ourselves of Who He is and what He has done, our intimidation should melt away because He is the highest priority of our worship.

Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord (Psalm 150).

Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, our bodies and emotions may not always feel like worshipping through surrender. We may not feel like walking in love when someone hurts us. We may want to make our own life decisions without consulting God. We may not feel like raising our hands and singing with our whole hearts because He deserves it. But from our born-again, royal position as children of God, we should come to desire to worship Him selflessly in everything we do.

 

In closing, let’s look at the story of Mary in John 12:

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil (John 12:1-3, NKJV).

She is a powerful example of someone who forgot about herself in worship. Mary recognized Jesus as Savior and gave him what He deserved—a gift that cost her something. She washed Jesus’ feet with her hair, an action that may have repulsed most people. She did it shamelessly in front of everyone, even though it attracted criticism from others. Everything about her actions was sacrificial. It did not immediately bring her gratification or honor. But she did it anyway because her heart was filled with love for the One she worshipped.

Notice the scent of her perfume filled the room. Just the same, when we worship God with our lives, those around us will notice. Our “scent” may draw other people, providing an opportunity for us to lead them to Jesus. It is a witness of our Christian life that will linger, simply because we were willing to forget about ourselves.

”And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” John 12:32, NKJV).