I used to think worship was just the thirty minute part of Sunday morning church service when we sing.
That all it took for me to worship was to repeat the words that I saw on the screen.
And that I was done with “worship” when I stepped out of the doors of my church building.
But the truth is… that’s when most of my worship really begins.
It took me some time to realize that I’ve had it all backwards for so many years.
That worship was more than singing words off a screen.
That is isn’t a Sunday morning routine that we must repeat.
No, worship is so much more than that.
It is the daily lifestyle that we live.
A lifestyle in response to the greatness of our God.
I love how Lauren Demoss puts it: “Worship is born in our hearts, not on our lips. It is a life-style, not only a segment of a church service.”
According to Michael Morrison in his article on worship the Hebrew and Greek definition of worship include two types of ways that we can worship.
The first way is to bow down and to kneel as an act of respect and submission and the second way is to serve by doing something for God.
As Billy Graham says “the the highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service.”
To worship means to recognize the worth of another and to respond to it.
When I think about worship a story that vividly comes to mind is the one in Matthews 13 of the man who finds a treasure hidden in a field and then he sold everything he had just to buy that field for himself.
Even though it may have seemed irrational to the people around him, to him it was worth it and he did whatever he could to get it
In the same way, God is our greatest treasure here on earth and in heaven and because of that it is our life purpose to show Him as well as the world around us what He is worth to us.
And the way we show it is through our priorities, through our words, through our choices, through our actions, and through our lifestyle.
True worship is honoring God above all, putting Him at the center of our existence and giving our life away to serving Him by serving others just like He first served us.
True worship is stewarding our money in a way that better serves His kingdom, not just ourselves.
True worship using our abilities, our gifts, and our talents not for our own glory or gain but for His.
True worship is giving Him the best of ourselves.
Just like in the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4) we must give God what matters most as Abel did when he gave God the first fruits of His flock instead of Cain who gave Him some of his fruit.
God should always be getting the first of our everything, not the leftovers.
Not the leftovers of our time, or our energy, or our money.
As Rick Warren says, “our calendars and credit cards reveal what we worship.”
It’s that simple.
It’s not just the words that we sing on Sunday morning that reveal who worship, it’s the life that we live the rest of the week.
Worship isn’t just where you are lifting up your hands to heaven praising God, it’s also where you use your hands to lift the burdens of people around you and to bring glory to God through the way you love and serve others.
Worship is so much more than singing words to God, it’s living them out daily to the people around us.
It’s evident through our behavior more than in our words.
Today, are you worshiping God with more than your words but also with your works?
Do you give you Him first priority in your time, in your thoughts, in your plans?
Have you like the man who discovered the treasure in the field, chose to live a life of seeking Christ with all your heart and giving away everything to glorify Him?
Next time you are at church raising your hands and singing praises to God remember lifting Him up with your words is only a small (but very important) part of worship.
The rest of your worship begins outside the door of the church in your home, at your job, in your school, and everywhere you go.
Make sure to worship Him well there just as much as you worship Him in your prayer closet and at church service.
Be blessed and never stop worshiping Christ!-Anna…♥
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” –Romans 12:1
we might all be surprised as to what real worship looks like
This was a great thought about worshipping God, sis. So true, we oftentimes have mindset that raising worship to God in the church only. This is great reminder to always worship God wherever we are. Thank you and blessings to you 🙂
Thank you Karina! My thoughts on what worship is have changed drastically over the years. I’m glad that I’ve learned that even though worshiping Christ with my words and by raising hands is important, it’s just as important to worship Him with my actions and my every day life. Both are needed. May you have a blessed rest of your week!
“To worship means to recognize the worth of another and to respond to it.” I love this thought, Anna. I will be chewing on this one for a time. I think you’re right on, but I hadn’t thought of it in exactly those words. Nice post!
Thanks Rebeca! I’m glad the post helped you see worship from a new perspective 🙂 Hope you have a lovely day! 🙂
Great post! I went to a youth conference a couple years ago that had the theme “Living a Life of Worship”, and it was pretty much exactly what you’re talking about. 🙂 Plus, being on my church’s worship team, I think I was challenged early on to discover what worship really means. You summed it up perfectly! Worship is how we live; it’s honoring God with our everyday lives. God bless! 🙂
Thank you dear! That’s a conference I would have loved to attend! 🙂 I’m glad God’s been teaching you from your early days what worship truly is (especially with being on the worship team). May you continue always worshiping Him on stage and off stage! Be blessed!
yes, it truly IS a lifestyle . . . it easily flows from the depths of our grateful hearts to our Creator . . . even those ‘tough’ days when we don’t “feel” like it, praise your way through . . . it is a POWERFUL weapon of our spiritual warfare! \o/ Praise Him, Praise Him, Jesus our blessed redeemer!
It really is one of the most powerful weapons we have. Choosing to worship Christ despite our circumstances shows that we trust and honor Him and are rooted so deeply in Him that no storms in life will have the power to destroy us when He is next to us. May we never cease worshiping Him!
Hi Anna
A great post on worship. I was so challenged by what you said. Worship during a church service is only a small aspect of worship. The real worship starts when we walk out of the doors of church and live our daily lives…..! Thanks for sharing……
Rolain
Thanks Rolain! I’m glad it challenged you (as it always does me). May we invest even more into our worship outside of church during our week as we do inside of it on Sunday! Have a blessed day!
Loved it! I was so going to do a post about living a lifestyle of worship. Well said! 🙂
Thanks Courtney! Have a lovely day! 🙂
Amazing! And so true…so much of worship music can be focused on having a self-centered “emotional experience” where we want worship to be all about us..but it’s not! Relevant magazine posted an article about how when we come to worship, we should expect nothing for ourselves but offer everything to God. Thanks for the fresh perspective–I always need to be reminding myself of this.
Thanks Becca. I love Relevant. I’ll have to check out that article! 🙂 Worship really is not about us (although we tend to make it so). Once we realize that it goes so much deeper than feelings and singing at church on Sunday we will learn to truly worship Christ in all that we do. 🙂 Hope you have a blessed day!
LOVE this!!! I’m recording some songs and the name of the “album” is called more than a song…wow it’s just God speaking to me!
Wow. That’s amazing!!!! 🙂 I will need to get that album once you’re finished with it!!
Hehe ok. All is need is a piano player and I’ll be done 🙂
Ann, am blessed of the Lord through you. Am in Kenya and a born gain lady of Christ. Get me in touch through +254718238583
Anna I was literally just dwelling on this exact thought. A word in season.
As I am an old man, I do not like too much noise and think that many people make a lot of noise and no worship at all.
Another problem I found is that many people think they are Christians because they belong to a church, they give money, they do a lot of work and feed some poor people etc…
Some of those people do not know God the Creator at all.
Because we do not have the modern music and instruments, we use the old hymnals and enjoy those hymns that are forgotten by most churches; we are not accepted as “Christians” today.
I like your post and my prayer is that you will know my Lord in all you do and be separated from the world that is corrupted.
I know a few churches in our area who stick to old hymnals for services as well (which I think is fantastic!) Everyone has their own style and preferences to the kind of worship we do within church. It always changes with times, but that’s okay as long as who we worship never changes and that we continue worshiping God long after church service is over. 🙂
You are spot on! Love this post! Thank you!
I am trying to live my life as a Christian the way you do beautifully explained it…it was a wonderful post and I will be rereading it!
I do have a question though that I am hoping to get some thoughts from you and others on. I am struggling with the opposite …ie: I have stopped going to Church to worship and I would truly love to hear your and others thoughts on why it is still important, if it is or if it is such a small aspect of true ongoing love of Christ while living our lives for Him daily is of the utmost impotance? Is worship and praise at a church service important? If so, but only nominally so, please tell me reasons to return to services.
Thank you! And again. Thank you for THIS affirming and heart touching post!
God bless you!!
Kate