"The hour cometh," Jesus said, "when the true worshippers SHALL worship." All other things of importance will be set aside for worship. Mere rituals will give way to meaningful worship. This promise follows the earlier pledge that "... the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14 NIV- emphasis mine)
The well of water is the gift of the Holy Spirit who would flow out of a person like "rivers of living water" (John 7:38). Jesus promised an inflow into you that would become an outflow back to its source. When the Holy Spirit flows through you back to the Father, it is worship at a priceless level.
We are commanded to praise the Lord, but since worship is fundamentally love responding to love, it cannot function out of command; it must be a willing response to a spiritual stimulus. Jesus assures us that the love we feel and the flow of the Holy Spirit that we experience will not frustrate us, but we will find fulfillment when we release them back to God in worship. Jesus told the woman at the well about "true worshippers."
"Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:21-24 ESV)
Jesus expanded this promise by saying:
"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (John 16:13-14 ESV)
Jesus affirmed that the Holy Spirit would glorify or worship Him through us, a divine promise with an accompanying provision. But it is not only a promise of the Son; it is also a provision of the Father, for everything that Jesus promised, the Father had to provide, even the Holy Spirit, who would become the key to becoming worshippers.
The word 'worship' is used as both a noun and a verb in the New Testament. The worship of God is not defined anywhere in Scripture.
As a Verb, it means to make sincere respect, homage, worship, adoration, reverence, awe, devotion, humbly serve, honor, and submission.
As a Noun, "it denotes an object of devotion worship" or "to will-worship" (Vine's)
In the Old Testament, when the word is used towards God, it means to worship by prostrating oneself, bowing down, and blowing kisses of thankfulness to Him.
The words "worship," "worshipped," and "worshippers" are recorded over 270 times and are the central theme of the Bible. All of God's creation has been called to worship Him. The Bible does not give a direct definition of worship because that would make it an empty ritual by any definition that could be given. The foundation of worship is love poured from God and is difficult to define. The closest definition of worship found in the Bible comes from the lips of Jesus;
"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31 ESV)
Worship is God's provision to fulfill the deep-seated drive within us that can only be fully satisfied when we remain in the presence of God. God's love releases the heart's adoration and explains the mind's determination to utilize our emotional, physical, and spiritual strength.
At the moment of salvation, we receive the fulness of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to contact God, the Father. Not only have we received the new life of Jesus, but we have received His mind, which enables us to both know and worship Him. Our fleshly, natural minds don't know God or His ways, "but we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16 ESV).
Worship is our response to the living God who has made Himself known to us in His words and deeds. Worship is a work of God that comes from Him and flows through us back to Him. Most of our worship expressions are directed to Jesus or in His Name.
- Worship is the "key" to God's presence and the "secret" to true joy and happiness. (Luke 4:8; John 4:23)
- Worship is the most important thing we can learn to do. (Psalm 100:4-5)
- Worship is expressing our love to God for who He is, what He's said, and what He's doing. (Romans 12:1-2)
- Worship is our response to the revelation of God's love for us. (John 4:24)
- We can only worship the Lord to the degree that we love and are surrendered to Him. (Hebrews 12:28)
- True worship comes out from walking daily in humility and includes the willingness to sacrifice themselves. (Matthew 6:34;1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 2:4,4:6)
- The goal of worship is the enjoyment of God. (Genesis 9:13)
The true essence of worship is when the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit, triggering us to respond in love and adoration to God, who made that provision. The Christian Iife is designed for worship because God created us with a desire and a need to worship. In our new birth, He enabled us to perform worship because when we were Born-Again, we received the life of Jesus that allows us to stand before a holy God.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 ESV)
When we were made a new creation, we were also reconciled to God, and out of this glorious reunion came the challenge and capacity to worship God in spirit and truth. The ministry of every Born-Again Christian is to help others exchange the ways of their old life for the new life of God's favor found in Jesus.
Worship is fundamentally God's Spirit within us, contacting Him. He has made a marvelous provision for worship in sending the Holy Spirit to live within us. The indwelling Holy Spirit shares with us the character of God to help ripen the fruit of love, which is joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance so that we can worship in a manner that is most consistent with the way He is worshipped in Heaven (See Galatians 5:22-23).
The Holy Spirit also aids our worship through the operation of the Gifts of the Spirit. He has provided nine special abilities divided into three groups of three, each enabling us to know, do, and say supernaturally to restore, edify, and build up those around us. By action of the gifts of the Word of Wisdom, the Word of Knowledge, and the Discerning of Spirits, we can understand things that relate to God and the spirit world where worship emerges. Through the manifestation of gifts of faith, healing, and miracles, we are divinely enabled to be active participants in the works of God. The last gifts have to do with speech: Prophecy, Interpretation, and Tongues. Fundamentally, tongues is twofold: first, the divine ability to speak in the language of another to share the Gospel, and second, a communication with God under divine enablement in the language of Heaven. Prophecy is God's communication with us under the anointing of the Holy Spirit (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). These gifts become beautiful assets to worship in the life of every Born-Again Believer because, through them, we can think with God's thoughts, function in His power to help others, and speak and understand the language of Heaven.
Throughout the Bible, the beginning of worship lies in the object rather than the subject. God is both the object and inspiration of our worship. He initiates it and enables us to perform it. We can worship because we can come to the Father in the name of the Son since that Name has been given to us. We can worship because the Spirit of God that provides worship has taken up residence in our spirit, mind, and body, and it is further enhanced because Jesus, seated in the heavens, enables us to offer acceptable worship. Jesus made a provision for mixing the incense of Heaven with our incense of worship to have the right fragrance when it rises to the Father (See Revelation 8:3).
Worship is the Purpose for Gathering at Church
The goal of music at the beginning of a service is to bring people into the worship experience and escape the problems and cares of the world. That can only happen if the worship leaders and pastors have prepared themselves by entering the holy place through repentance and prayer.
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" (Psalm 100:4 ESV)
The initial steps to entering God's presence are thanksgiving and praise through worship. There is a difference between the two. Praise is thanking God for what He has done; worship is thanking Him for who He is.
Jesus is the Proper Object of Our Worship.
Jesus is our High Priest who enables us to offer acceptable worship to Him. Our salvation becomes the basis of our rejoicing, and the finished work of Jesus becomes the foundation of our worship because the roots of worship are found only in the divinely established relationship of God with us.
Human emotions and reactions are involved in worship, but they are not the controlling factors because they do not constitute the true essence of worship. The renewed relationship with God forms the basis of our loving response to Him. No longer is our reaction to His presence "depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord' (Luke 5:8 ESV), but like the Shulamite maiden, we cry, "Take me with you; come, let's run!" (Song of Solomon 1:4 NLT).
When Jesus accepted worship, He was admitting and declaring Himself to be the Creator of all things; He is worthy of all worship (Matthew 2:11,14:33, 28:9-10,16-17; Luke 24:51; John 9:37-38; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 22:3).
Even the Angels are instructed to worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6). In Heaven, the Elders and the living creatures worship Him (Revelation 4:9-11). The Bible declares that everyone shall worship Him (see Revelation 15:4 and Philippians 2:10-11).
Expressions of Worship
In the Book of Revelation, praise and worship of God stands second only to the revelation of Jesus Himself. It starts with the worship of the four mighty creatures whom the twenty-four elders join and, later, "many angels." Then, a group so large that no one could number them unite with them only to be joined later by "all the angels." As they walk through the streets of Heaven and ascend higher and higher into the presence of God, they continuously praise Him with a "loud voice" and finally reach the throne room to see God seated upon His throne. As soon as they see Him, this shouting, singing multitude becomes speechless as the majesty, glory, power, and radiant energy of holiness that emits from God causes them to fall silent in awe. Then, "... from the throne came a voice saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great." (Revelation 19:5 ESV). They had been praising and worshipping God until they saw Him. He is simply saying "don't stop now, my beloved; I grant you my sovereign permission to worship me.
When permission to bless was granted, John records that the expressed worship reached such high decibel levels that he could not measure or describe it. He Iikened it to the sound of many waters or the voice of many claps of thunder. God gave His people the right to express wonder and adoration in worship by simply granting permission, and they responded enthusiastically.
Divine Invitation
A call to worship is an invitation, a summons, for the church to turn its attention toward God.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20 ESV)
"Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people!" (Psalm 3:8 ESV)
We Can Draw Near in Confident Boldness Before the Throne of God
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV)
The blood of Jesus bought the right to "come boldly to the throne of grace" so that we "may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." The word "come" means approaching and drawing near in an attitude of worship. The word "boldly" means to be outspoken, frank, and blunt, with confidence and assurance. We are now welcome to "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" and enter into the intimacy of His inner chamber "through the veil, that is, His flesh" (Hebrews 10:19-22 NKJV).
We Must Come Before God in Humility.
The very first time the word ‘worship’ is used in the Bible was when God told Abraham to take his son, Isaac, to be offered as a burnt offering. Abraham told his men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and WORSHIP (Heb: ‘shachah’) and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5 ESV - emphasis mine). His willingness to do what God asked was done in obedient humility as an act of worship. As a result, God sent an Angel to tell him to “not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me”(vs. 13). God provided the sacrifice in place of Jacob because of His obedience. The Prophet Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to OBEY is better than SACRIFICE, and to LISTEN than the fat of rams” ( 1 Samuel 15:22 ESV – emphasis mine).
"But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me." (Psalm 5:7-8 ESV)
"Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!" (Psalm 95:6 ESV)
We Must Come with a Heart full of Thanksgiving.
"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High" (Psalm 9:1-2 ESV)
"For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 1:11 ESV)
We Are to Have a Heart full of Joy!
"Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name." (Psalm 66:1-4 ESV)
"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." (Psalm 100 ESV)
Praise and worship are a powerful part of our walk with God and is appropriate for every day and every hour! (See 1 Chronicles 23:30; Psalm 59:16, 92:2)
The Attitude of Worship
Worship is always a NOW act flowing from a genuine and vital relationship with Jesus. It is our expression of extravagant love towards Love Himself. Many variations of observance can help bring us to the place of worship. Still, the expression of correct attitudes enables us to step from formality to intimate communion with God.
The original words for worship in the Bible speak of an attitude expressed with action. They infer the depth of feeling, closeness of partners, and a covenant relationship. Worship is communicated affection between you and God. It involves motion and emotion, but true worship is far more profound than either of these and merely uses them as a channel of release for the depth of love and adoration that generates in your heart and draws you into the presence of our good and loving God.
There is an inexplicability to worship truly and an inexpressibility of worship. We have difficulty expressing it because worship is basically the outpouring of inner attitudes to God with a subsequent release of emotional and accompanying expressive body action and a commitment to obedience.
God must be worshipped in the beauty of holiness because He is Holy. (1 Exodus 15:11; Chronicles 16:29; 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 29:2,96:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:3,7-8)
True Worship is both Expressed and Released through:
1. Brokenness (Psalm 51:17; Jer 23:29; Mark 12:30)
2. Humility (Isaiah 57:15; 1 Peter 5:5)
3. Love (Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12; Matthew 22:37; 1 John 4:16)
4. Giving (Exodus 23:15, 34:20)
"…and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment." (Luke 7:38 ESV)
True Worship will Flow out of Proper Attitudes.
The key to maintaining the attitude of worship is:
"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30 ESV)
There is no greater place to receive trusting-faith than while worshipping at the feet of Jesus. No matter what, we may need to be saved (Gk: 'sozo' means "deliver, protect, heal, preserve, be whole, do well), from our complete salvation is entrusted in Jesus. There is no peace like that found when we have wholly poured out ourselves upon Him.
Ten Benefits of Praise and Worship
1. It Invites the Presence of God (2 Chronicles 5:11-14; Psalm 139:7)
2. It Draws People To God (John 12:32)
3. It Helps Us Find Rest and Satisfaction for Our Soul (Psalm 63:1-5; Matthew 11:28–29)
4. It Helps Lift Us above Our Problems (2 Chronicles 20:15-20; Psalm 27:4)
5. It Brings Us Deliverance from Our Enemies and Drives Away Depression (Psalm 18:3, Isaiah 61:3)
6. It Helps Us to Receive the Promises Of God (Isaiah 11:10, 49:6)
7. It Brings Liberty (Acts 16:25-26)
8. It Brings Joy (Psalm 16:11,100:4)
9. It Helps to Strengthen Our Faith (Romans 4:20)
10. It Helps to Bring Us Closer to God (James 4:8)
Begin the Journey!
Extravagant worship is the first step to begin the journey to an intimate relationship with the Creator of the Universe! We are going to spend eternity worshipping God - just as the Angels!
"And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God. They said, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and forever. Amen!" (Revelation 7:9-12 NLT)
God is a relentless pursuer and lover who desires to ravish His people with His love. We must become relentless in our pursuit of His passion and presence. He is looking for radical worshippers. A person can only worship in the degree of their revelation. Worship takes us deeper into the revelation of who God is. The deeper we move into worship, the greater the degree of the revelation of His glory, and the more we will enjoy Him. As a result, we will become a greater reflection of His beauty in a world that is lost in a darkness that is only getting darker.
We must become like Joshua who refused to leave God’s presence so that he could remain with Him in worship.
“Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.” (Exodus 33:11 NLT)
Joshua was never content to boast of his previous experience with God. The place he lingered in God’s presence, became the grounds of his commissioning into greater service to Him and His people. Every spiritual transformation, every promotion and advancement comes because of worshipping the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Worship truly is a way of life worshipping and being a worshiper by living a pleasing life to Him, no matter where you are or what you are doing. The secret to greater intimacy with Jesus is learning to focus on Him - breath by breath - and what He has done for you - not on what you can do for Him!
You can become lost in the ecstasy of intimate embrace! You can press into Jesus and let Him hold you so close that He takes your breath away. You take His breath away every moment of every day. The Cross proves He loves so much it hurts. God isn't mad anymore. He is madly in love!
It is time to come to that place in worship where we begin to enjoy Him (because He enjoys us!) and are overwhelmed with His presence - His beauty - His majestic splendor – His infinite love. He desires to love us so intimately that the waves of passion from His flaming heart will make a casual observer blush.
CONCLUSION - The Best is Yet to Come
We could never implement God's provision to allow guilty sinners to worship Him if He had not made a further provision to lift us from our depravity and restore us to fellowship with Him. Only those who have received the forgiveness of Jesus can step from dread and fear of God to worship and adoration of Him.
Becoming a true worshipper is possible based solely on the divine atonement provided at the Cross. Through the self-offering of the Triune God, when a person repents of their sin and receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, they become Born-Again and now stand in a personal relationship with Him based on a new birth. At that moment, prayer ceases to be merely a plea for mercy and becomes the praise of our good and merciful God. We can only worship to the degree of our revelation of God. Worship takes us deeper into the revelation of who He is. The deeper we move into worship the greater the revelation of His glory.
Our churches must become places of extravagant worship and teaching - places of training and mentoring to empower and send out a bunch of revolutionaries to take every city for the Kingdom. Pastors must teach what it means to be truly loved by God, not just as His servant but as His Bride. We must ask God to make us dry wood so His fire may burn brightly and consume us and every life we touch.
It is time to cry out for God to move with each breath, not just when He speaks! We must break the chains that hold us back from knowing Him more so we can be released into the anointing that breaks every yoke! If you are ready and willing, you must pray the Gethsemane prayer; ".. not MY will but YOURS be done" (Luke 22:42 NIV - emphasis mine).
If you want to be just like Jesus and flow freely in the anointing and power of the Resurrection to proclaim His liberty to the lost, heal the sick, and mend the brokenhearted then you must also be willing to share in the fellowship of His suffering by dying to self which is no easy task, and it will take a lifetime! (See Luke 4:18-19; Philippians 3:10)
Never, ever forget that God is good and merciful and wants only the best for you! He has already laid out His plan:
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest." (Jeremiah 29:11-13 LB)
"When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May He be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT)
No matter what has - or will - happen in your life - no matter what you have done or anything you will ever do - can stop Jesus from being head over heels and madly in love with you, for He takes great "delight in you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride" (Isaiah 62:4-5 ESV). The inheritance of God has been guaranteed (See Ephesians 1:11-14).
Jesus longs for you to go deep into the Inner Chamber of worship so that He can consume you with His love. Experiencing a deeper relationship with the Creator of the Universe is possible! If you are ready to worship in spirit and truth and journey deep into the Beauty Realm and loving arms of the Savior - then it is time to make Him your ENTIRE life - not just a 'part' of it. It is time to fall madly in love with Jesus. The Bridal Chamber of deep intimacy – the secret place of God - is hidden within the wilderness. Coming to the end of yourself is when it is found.
