Let’s Talk About Worship!
As a Christian, have you ever wondered what it really means to worship God? If I asked you what worship means to you, how would you describe it? Most would link worship to praise and worship at church, others may relate worship to adoration and thanksgiving--I’m here to tell you that true worship is much deeper than that. Worship as a believer is a lifestyle.
Worship can be defined as an outer demonstration of our love for Christ. It’s the act of honouring and glorifying God, both physically and spiritually. In essence, it is the purpose of our existence. Everything we do in this life should be an act of worship unto the glory of God.
We often hear that worship brings us closer to God. You may be wondering, what does that look like? Personally, when I went through a period of demonic oppression as a lukewarm believer, I was told these things. I had a surface level understanding of what that really meant. I, like most believers, thought that to truly worship God, I needed to actively participate in praise and worship at church. In my private time before getting into prayer, I always had my worship songs arranged so that my atmosphere was set to bring forth the presence of God. Even though I wasn’t wrong in my actions, the more I began to grow in relationship with Christ, the more the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me the TRUE meaning of what it meant to worship God in spirit and in truth.
In the book of Romans Paul says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”- Romans 12:1-2 NLT. In this passage of scripture, Paul shows us how we ought to worship Christ even with our bodies. How we treat the temple where the Holy Spirit dwells in us, as an act of worship unto God. It’s much more than singing. That means taking care of our bodies, whether it be eating healthy, working out, getting enough sleep, being mindful of the content that we watch and listen to daily, not having sex outside of marriage etc. These are all acts of worship unto God.
One day in my search to draw closer to God and hear His voice, I was led to study this topic. I thought I understood worship down pat, until the Lord began to show me a deeper revelation taken from the book of John chapter 4. John 4 is about a Samaritan woman who came to the well where Jesus was, to draw water. She was taken aback when Jesus, a Jew, asked her, a Samaritan, for a drink of water. In around verse 9 she responded to Jesus saying, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”. I love the Lord’s response to her. Jesus told her, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” - John 4:10 NLT.
Of course those words intrigued her and she continued in conversation with Jesus trying to figure out how to locate this living water. She even went as far as to ask Jesus if he thought he was greater than Jacob who built the well for their generation. Jesus showed her that anyone drinking water from Jacob’s well would eventually go thirsty again, but those who drank from his living water would never thirst again. He showed her that the physical well built by Jacob wasn’t enough, and that she needed to seek the spiritual well that springs forth eternal life. Like the Samaritan woman, most of us would have thought that Jesus was talking about physical water, so she began to beg Jesus to have some of this living water. At this point, Jesus began to expose his identity. He revealed to her that he knew about her past husbands and the man she was living with who wasn’t her husband. When he did this, she perceived that he wasn’t an ordinary man but a very accurate prophet.
In verses 20 –24, the Samaritan woman switches the topic from her love life to worship and where she felt believers ought to worship God, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4: 20-24 NKJV
Back in those days, location of worship was a source of conflict. The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews worshiped at the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus tells her that there was coming a time where location (where you worshipped God) wouldn’t even matter. He told her that she and her people worshipped a God they did not know but that the Jews knew who they worshipped. What a statement! Of course he was right, but I’m sure the Samaritan woman would have taken offense to that statement. Jesus is the only way to God the Father. Those who knew Jesus as their saviour were located in Jerusalem. Because they recognized Jesus as the saviour and accepted him as God’s son, they also worshiped God the Father, because Jesus said He and His Father are one. Jesus came initially to save the Jews as these are his chosen people, and that is also why He told her that salvation was of the Jews.
Unbeknown to her, Jesus’ strategic encounter with her, a gentile, was history in the making as the Lord demonstrated that He was no longer going to be accessible to the Jews alone but to the gentiles as well. This is what he meant when He said, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”. - John 4:23-24, the word “hour" here refers to his death & resurrection. Jesus who was 100% man and divinity would release his spirit to all (Jews and Gentiles) who would accept him as their Lord and saviour. True worship of the Father would no longer be bound to a specific location or to a specific group of people, but true worship would be accessible to all and established through relationship (worship in spirit and truth)!
What does it mean to worship God in Spirit & Truth?
Worshipping God in spirit and in truth means to worship God by way of relationship with Him. It is to know the Holy Spirit who reveals Christ to us and it is through Christ that we know and have access to the Father. It is to connect to God in his fullness--God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the person of God who reveals Christ to us through the Word of God, the bible. The Word of God is truth – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” - John 1:1 KJV. It clearly shows us Jesus Christ is the Word of God. That means reading our bible with true understanding and interpretation from the Holy Spirit, is an act of true worship unto God. It is through the bible and revelation from the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is revealed to us. Again, we cannot access God the Father without accepting that Jesus is the way to the Father.
Spirit = Holy Spirit
When we accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour, we receive the Holy Spirit. We become born again and baptized with the Spirit of God. When we connect to God in worship through the Spirit, it can happen anywhere at any time. Worship is not bound to a particular location (church) or a particular sound (instruments). You don’t even need instruments or even a good singing voice to worship God. You begin to see that everything you do should give honour to God and that’s true worship. To know Jesus, is to know God. The Holy Spirit reveals this to us. As believers we become a new creature in Christ. We have a new life that is now subject to the will of God. When we imitate Christ and walk in the fruits of the spirit, worship becomes our lifestyle.
Truth = God the Son, Jesus
Knowing Jesus grants us access to God the Father – “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” - John 14:6. Jesus is the WAY, TRUTH and LIFE. How can we worship the Father when we don’t even know Jesus? This is the point Jesus was trying to make to the Samaritan woman who said that her people worshipped God on the mountain.
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me”. – John 15:26. Here Jesus is also confirming that upon his death and resurrection, his spirit (Holy Spirit) would be our HELPER. This HELPER comes from the Father and is the Spirit of Truth who will testify and give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus.
This, my friends, is true worship! To worship God in Spirit and Truth is to worship God in His entirety. Worshiping God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God, the three persons in one. Please read Revelation 4:1-11 in your time of devotion to get a true picture of what worship is like in heaven.
The more we know Jesus intimately, through relationship (reading his word, living a life of thanksgiving, praying without ceasing, fasting, walking in the fruits of the spirit, loving God with every fibre of our being and loving our neighbours as ourselves, this is when we understand how to truly worship God in spirit and truth. This lifestyle of worship can’t be bought but it’s revealed when we draw closer to him. I pray this is a blessing to you. God bless!