We Live to Worship God!

To Worship You I Live... 

Worship Service. New Hope. 8:00 am. A scene of huge, beautiful hats and smiling faces comes to mind. I think of the choir singing and everyone listening quietly in their seats and occasionally waving a hand to show their agreement or approval. One person might stand up and shout a hallelujah. Only one person though. We all grew up in this kind of atmosphere, no one really explained to us what worship is, we just knew that it was the kind of service we were going to.

We, as humans, were CREATED to bring God glory and to enter into this wonderful relationship with God. Since we were created to worship him, if we are not doing so, it is very easy to fall into the trap of worshipping something other than the one true God (Matthew 6:24). We are creatures of worship and praise, so it is impossible not to honor anything (Joshua 24:15). Even if we think we are not honoring anything, we are probably honoring ourselves. Fickle humans... Anyways...

What I have found is that we grew up not really understanding what it means to worship. We grew up just going to the service and thinking that that was worship. We might have gone to other churches and seen that they worship differently as well. Until we understand what worship REALLY means then we will never truly be able to do it. 

Worship- adoring reverence or regard; reverent honor and homage paid to God

Worship is giving your all to God. It is giving him everything you have, whether it is in song, in dance, in clapping, in speaking, in living, etc. There is no right or wrong way to praise him or worship him. 

There are SOOOO many words in the Hebrew language that are related to praising and worshipping God. This means there are SOOOOO MANY WAYS to worship him!!!

The Bible says in John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in Spirit and in truth. 

Holy Spirit will lead you in how you worship. He will teach you the way that HE wants you to praise him. But in order for this to happen, you have to make the decision that what God thinks is more important than what ANYONE ELSE thinks. The decision must be made that worshipping God is more important than your church members disapproving, your parents looking at you crazy, and people not understanding. This is about God, not people. 

Everyone worships differently. EVERYONE WORSHIPS DIFFERENTLY. I know some people who literally get up and dance to worship God. Like real dancing! Like pirouettes and jumping and twirling!  That is how they connect with God and how they show him their love and adoration. Some people sing to worship God, that is perfectly fine. My boyfriend sings to worship God and it is the most beautiful thing because every single word he sings really comes from his heart. You can literally see his love for God when he sings to Him. Plus, he doesn’t care AT ALL who hears him singing God’s praises. I think the worship that we are most familiar with is the worship that we see in our church, which is basically just sitting down and relaxing and waving a hand when we feel the spirit. This is wonderful, absolutely wonderful! However, I know I found that, in growing up, I just thought worship meant I sit in a church and kinda pay attention. I listen to the choir if they are singing a song I haven’t heard before, if they don’t then I continue to not pay attention. I thought that was the way the adults were worshipping!! When you look around at them, they kinda seem to be glossy eyed when looking at the choir sometimes, as if they are reliving “the olden days” or something... but I digress. We love our parents, don’t we?? 

When you don’t understand how to worship, it becomes problematic. 

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your true and proper worship.

If you don’t understand what worship is... you won’t be able to offer your body up for worship. I can hear you saying now: Wait, Analise, wait a second, I am not trying to get sacrificed today, this has to be a metaphor!

Well, it is. This verse means that you LIVE YOUR LIFE in worship to God. You live to worship him!! Everything you do is to worship God!! If you are living a life that is true to the Bible, it is an act of worship! It is truly giving God your all! You see, worship doesn’t just stop in Church service. It can’t! We literally live to worship him!! (That’s definitely a song haha) 

So worshipping in worship service is literally a smaller version of what we are doing with our entire lives. If we don’t understand how WE worship in church, how will we be able to apply the same principle of giving God our everything to our lives? It is REALLY hard to do so!

Here are a couple of things that people do with their lives to worship. 

You give food to the poor. Act of Worship. 

You ask your boyfriend to come to church with you. Act of Worship.

You choose to go visit someone who is sick and shut in. Act of Worship.

You share the Gospel with someone who is desperate for more in life. Act of Worship.

You choose to have integrity on the job. Act of Worship.

You strive to be excellent in your field so you can tell people that God is the reason that you are so cool. Act of Worship

Worship is acknowledging that since you gave your life to Christ, your life is not your own anymore (That’s definitely another song). You live your life to the glory of Christ.

When you choose to worship God with your entire life, others can see Christ through you!! It is so easy to see someone who is completely surrendered to God!! It is absolutely beautiful and really attractive! The true unadulterated Gospel shown through someone’s life is what draws people in!! 

So How do we know how Holy Spirit wants us to worship?

1. Ask him!! He is a real person! He will answer you! I promise! If you aren’t comfortable yet, or you are afraid... then feel free to worship him by yourself when you are starting out! I know I do it all the time! I sit in my room, put on some Jesus Culture and allow Holy Spirit to lead me. I know I have danced several times, I sing all the time, I lift my hands, I lay down on my face... Whatever! It really doesn’t matter. I understand that it is a little scary to worship how we please in church, but I will get to that later.
2. Find what songs you like to listen to! I know that I don’t always listen to gospel when worshipping. That’s fine! This is not religion, this is relationship! You don’t have to worship God to Southern Baptist hymns if you don’t want to. God loves it when you rap Lecrae to him as well!! Just make sure it it glorifying God... 
3. Read up on worship! Ummm... basically read all of the Psalms... David was ALL ABOUT praising and worshipping God. We can all learn a thing or two about worship from David! The man danced in public in his birthday suit for goodness sake!! (Not that you should do that... just saying, he is bold). I will list some more verses about worship at the end.

So guys, I encourage you to find the way YOU worship! Don’t put it off! Worshipping God is a way to get closer to him! When you are not worshipping him, you lose purpose in life. Take it from me. I’ve been there.

Love you guys!! 

Sincerely,

Lise, A4C

P.S. Sooooo some things that are in the works... 

Bible Study for A4C! Yay!! I will definitely let you guys know when we are meeting and what we are doing and stuff! It will be really fun!  

We are also thinking about having a worship night... This would be where you guys could come and worship and be comfortable with worshipping how you please! It would be a safe place to worship without all eyes being on you because you are standing up and singing to God (or whatever it is that you do).

P.P.S. Really take some time to find out how you worship this week! It will change how you see things, really. There is no right and wrong way, and this is between you and God!