What does worship mean to you? How do you worship? When do you worship? More importantly, why do you worship? Worship is something so much more profound then corporate singing or a music set of 20 minutes on a Sunday. It’s more than the event. 

mt_exodos_pic7Tony Robbins once said, “The quality of your questions determines the quality of your answers.” 

My question to you is this: 

What does worship mean to you?

How do you worship?

When do you worship?

More importantly, why do you worship?

If we’re not careful, worship can become something we do versus something we become. Though it does include a song set on a Sunday morning, it is so much more profound than corporate singing for 20 minutes. I’m sure we’ve all seen an event, full of Christian songs, without any actual worship going on at all. So what gives? And how do we ensure we are connected to the heart of worship?

 

The Heart of Worship

Biblical worship, based in Biblical principles (and commands), are way more profound than being confined to a single geographical location. Though corporate worship is important, it’s the heart of worship that impacts our lives… not the building or the room or the song choice or even the worship leader. Worship is a matter of the heart. 

John 4:24 says, “God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” That does not say “…must worship him in beautiful buildings” or even with perfect song sets or Brandon Lake voices. It says, “…in spirit and in truth.” 

Let’s unpack this a bit: 

What is worship?

David Platt, a pastor and author says, “We desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical.”

Preach!

How do you worship?

“…in spirit and in truth.” 

That word spirit means “whole heart.”

In Deuteronomy 6:4 we see this truth: “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.” KEEP THEM IN YOUR HEART it says. Why? Because “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45. We want you to adore the Lord alone… the essence of the character of God, because when you focus on the character of God, it causes your heart to keep in alignment with him, and when you are in alignment with him, then you are able to love with with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, and ALL your might. 

That word spirit also means “breath.” Breath and spirit are interchangeable. 

This is fascinating to me because we breathe without thinking about it. Breathe in, breathe out. All day, everyday. Yet, if you’ve ever taken a breath class, you see how ACTIVATING the breath creates a totally different experience. Your cells start to turn on, your body gets tingly, your brain and organs are stimulated. It’s not that you weren’t breathing before, it’s just that you are proactively activating what was already happening and giving space for it to do even more in and through you. 

OH YES. You know exactly where I’m going don’t you. 

The spirit of God is the same way. The Holy Spirit is always moving, always supporting us, always surrounding us. That is never the question. But are we activating him? Are we proactively inviting him into each and every situation, moment, in both good and hard?! If so, I would like to propose he can turn the light on within us and flow through us in new ways! 

This also means, we can “worship in spirit” at any time! Not just on a Sunday morning. Not just in a corporate setting. Not just at a Christian concert. Anytime! All the time! With our whole hearts. 

On a hard day, worship him, with your whole heart! Activate the spirit. 

On a good day, worship him, with your whole heart! Activate the spirit. 

On any day, in any moment, worship him!

John goes onto couple that word “spirit” with TRUTH. “…in spirit and in truth.” That word “truth” means the knowledge of God.

Worshipping in spirit alone can cause an emotional and sometimes hype-driven experience. 

Worshipping in truth alone can cause a passionless and sometimes legalistic-driven experience.

Yet, worship in spirit and in truth brings heaven to earth. 

This is such an important piece and ultimately answers the question, “Why do we worship?”

 

Why do we worship?

Scripture invites you to worship “in spirit”, with your whole heart, and “in truth”, the knowledge of God because when you know God, you can’t not worship him! I’ll say that again:

When you KNOW God, you can’t NOT worship him!

Our worship of God is not due to the here and now or circumstances. Our worship is due to our belief in and love for him, no matter what. We don’t worship him because he does good things for us, we worship him because HE IS GOOD. That means worship is founded upon gratitude. Gratitude in the character of God, not the acts of God. 

This helps us reframe why we worship on hard days or why we worship despite heartache or loss. We worship him because we believe in him and love him and depend on him, not because he did all the things we wanted him to do, in the way we wanted him to do it. 

I’d like to propose your worship will go to a whole new level when you consider this. When you worship him for his character and not what he does for you, you will find yourself falling on your knees in the midst of the storm because you can trust him and in the midst of the best day or your life because of his goodness. This is why you will bust through the limitations of a Sunday service or a Christian conference to worship him… because you’re like “I can’t wait until Sunday!” Good! Don’t. Worship him now!!

This is why we worship. And this determines ultimately what worship is. 

What is Biblical worship? 

I loooooooove studying God’s word. And I have loved my study of worship. Unpacking every word, and the meaning behind the words. Looking at translation after translation, and here’s how I would summarize what worship is: 

The posture of the heart that agrees with who he is!

Worship is your awed response to the character of God, informed by scripture, that releases a joyous appreciation as a lifestyle! 

And it is from this place, we magnify the glory of God because we can’t NOT tell the whole world!!

This means: 
The more we know God, the more we appreciate him. The more we appreciate him, the deeper we worship him. The deeper we worship him, the more he is glorified!

When you worship him, his holy, perfect, true nature you sing of his glory to a world who needs him so bad! 

When you worship him despite circumstances, you sing of his goodness and it releases truth of his character to those around you!

This is why worship cannot be a moment, it has to be a lifestyle. Romans 11:36 says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory.” 

COME ON CHURCH! 

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” Habakkuk 2:14. How do you think this is possible?!?! First, all we need to do is look around and recognize that our world sings of his glory and then second, we need to be the voice of his goodness. We need our worship to fill the world with the knowledge of the GLORY of the Lord… the perfect, holy, pure nature and character of God! 

I pray you worship him today. I pray you worship him “in spirit and in truth” and I pray “TO them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of his mystery, which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory” Colossians 1:27 (emphasis mine). 

Christ in you is the hope of glory… now that’s something to worship about!

To listen to the morning devotional, CLICK HERE. 

PLUS: To dive into my full morning routine which is a faith-based, 15 minute morning devotional to bring heaven to earth and gives you the steps to awaken your breath (and the spirit) into every part of your day, download my FREE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE. You’ll thank me later.