“But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth”, John 4:23-24. Jesus spoke these profound words to the woman at the well, prior to her conversion.
How do we define worship? Jesus nailed the criteria for worship in the above text, in spirit and in truth, but worship can take many forms. Many mainstream churches have a group of people on a platform leading others in song. Most can testify of being a part of this and have been blessed and uplifted by the freedom experienced through offering praise and worship in song to the Lord. The gates of praise swing wide the gates for the King of Glory to manifest and bring direction and breakthrough in our lives. But true worship is not just a song. God will come for the words we put on our lips under His anointing when we are in the mundane of the school of life. Here is where we make the truths we sing so sincerely under the anointing our own. The lyrics to the Matt Redman song “The Heart of Worship” clearly define the errors we have made in singing truths our walk with the Lord have not lived up to. His lyrics proclaim “It’s all about You, Jesus”, when we have sadly so often made it all about us!…….and what we want!
Worship has to become a lifestyle. I can worship the Lord in menial tasks, joyfully. I can worship the Lord when I pay my bills, thankfully without complaining. We do well to remember the children of Israel never made the Promised Land because of their murmuring and complaining hearts, apart from Joshua and Caleb because they were of a different spirit. They were true worshippers. I worship the Lord when I turn the other cheek, pray for those who persecute me, love the unlovely, stop judging others, refuse to speak ill of people and most importantly, present a thankful heart to the Lord. Yes, we all fail at times but we can be quick repenters and respond diligently to the Holy Spirit’s nudges of conviction when He prompts. Incrementally, the old nature in those areas become past history as we respond to the new Life within us, allowing Christ to become our lifestyle more and more.
In our continuing pilgrimage towards maturity, we find the Holy Spirit initiates something and awakens a motivation in direction for us, and then awaits our response to the Lord. As we choose to make ourselves available to Him, He enables and equips us to move with His plan and prove God is, who He says He is. “Prove me now”, says the Lord. We only prove Him as we walk WITH Him.
The image I think of myself, the image I like to present before men to be thought well of, are just rags to be laid at the foot of the Cross. True worshippers abandon such and respond to the Holy Spirit’s nudges when we exaggerate, project ourselves as important, desire for others to speak well of us and be noticed……all uncrucified flesh seeking to rob God of His glory! If I stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit, He examines my motive: Is what I am doing to please and glorify God, or make me look good in men’s eyes?
A lifestyle of worship is to walk before God in humility. This is the lifestyle that glorifies God.
The words of the last verse of the song penned by Willie Moffat, Dying to Live, could be presented as our prayer:
“Let not our pride, our sin, our failure cause us to miss and sink,
Such a wondrous gift and blessing more than we could ever think.
For a heart that’s tuned to worship, honed with thankfulness and praise,
Tuned to You alone, my Master, tuned by You for endless days”.
Lord, may I be a quick responder to every call and conviction of your Holy Spirit. Tune my ear to hear Your voice. Tune my heart to worship You, in all I do. Amen.
Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash
