One-to-one Week 24.Worship.
Key Question: How do I respond to God to fully lift up His importance?
______
______
______
When we think about worship we mostly think about singing but it is so much more than that. In fact, if I was to choose a verse about worship it would be Romans 12 v 1 which says “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing unto God, this is your spiritual act of worship.” We get the impression here that worship is about a much bigger response to God that involves your whole life.
In the notes here we’ll first define what worship is, we’ll contrast it with singing in church, then we’ll consider how that might be properly lived out and finally make a plan for our own worship.
What is worship?
I’m going to start by quoting A.W. Tozer, from his book ‘Whatever happened to worship?’ where he says that “worship is to be so completely and hopelessly in love with God that the idea of a transfer of affection doesn’t even remotely exist.” I don’t know if you understand that, but he means that worship is about an absolute devotion and admiration for God that values that connection above all other things and won’t allow anything to get in the way of it.
Some people think worship is about feelings over thought, that my enthusiasm for God bubbles over into praise, but worship is actually an act of our will. We commit to God in worship, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, this is a deep-rooted devotion and a committed choice and choices come not from our head or our emotions but our core, our will.
Worship is the admiration of God as Lord over all and the commitment to making Him the centre of everything we are.Worship takes all of who we are and lays it at the feet of God. No other object can compare. Worship has a lot to do with allegiance where I commit everything to partnership with Him.
Worship is giving God primary place in our lives in a real way, to give Him all the honour and glory by submitting our actions to Him, showing that He is Lord in our lives. Worship is all those things that help us recall his pre-eminence and put Him on the throne of our lives. If I am sure that He is worth everything, worth laying down my life for, that is giving Him worth-ship.
Why do we call singing worship?
One of the issues we have in discussing worship is that most people think about singing. We often call it a ‘worship time’ and we use the words praise, honour, glory and worship to describe how we would like to respond to God. I’m not saying it is wrong, but if our worship is not more than this we haven’t understood it. Tozer actually says that the highest form of worship is not in singing praise but in awe-struck silence. The question is ‘do we get more deeply committed to God when we sing?’
What we really need to do is commit more of our lives and our time to God. Singing might encourage us to do that but when someone says they don’t like a particular hymn or tune or style it completely misses the point. What other things help us worship God? What other things point to His majesty and encourage us to submit more to Him? What do you do to honour God and put Him on the throne of your life? How can we grow in the kind of worship that helps us commit more of our lives to God?
How do we worship God in a way that is true?
If singing isn’t the answer then what really do we do to worship God in Spirit and in truth? The verse we read in Romans says it is about laying down our lives. We firstly focus and emphasize how God is good. We remind ourselves that though the stuff of earth competes for allegiance we owe it only to the giver of all good things. We spend time ensuring that our minds, hearts, souls and wills know that God is good, which enables us to trust Him more fully. What things remind you that God is good? What can you do to emphasize that He is trustworthy? Perhaps this is where singing might become important and helpful, or prayers of praise and thankfulness that remind you that He is Lord. I hope that sermons in church remind us of the greatness of God too, do they count as worship time?
We then commit our choices to God. Some people think that it is hard to worship when we are struggling with pain or problems but actually that is where worship is all the more real, because we continue to commit our choices to God when it is hard to do so and that is when it is all the more clear that God is the centre of our lives. What choices might you commit to God more deeply in right now?
What does it mean for you to commit? Is it about taking risks for God? Maybe we need to remind ourselves that we’ve held back from God because we wouldn’t do things, but actually worship is the giving of everything to God. Maybe it means stopping something that might seem good but recognising you have been doing it without His help. Actually anything that distracts us from God is the enemy of worship. Does it help us focus on Him and help others focus on Him?
Worship is also a corporate thing, a thing we do together. How do we build one another up and remind one another of the goodness of God and help encourage one another to commit to God fully? Worship is about coming closer to God so how can we help each other find a stronger commitment? Discipleship like this is meant to be that kind of opportunity, where we fix our eyes on Jesus. Maybe Hebrews 12:1-2 will remind us to throw off those hindrances that would distract us from full commitment to God.
What will you do to worship God more deeply?
At some point we need to have a conversation with God where we say ‘I’ve got nothing left’ or ‘It’s all yours, whatever you want...’ We need to give everything up to Him, that’s what worship really is. Worship with your mouth is nothing compared to worship with your life, actions and whole being.
Living for Jesus is primarily making this choice, to commit all we are to the labour of love that is following Jesus. Worship is that constant choice to sacrifice our plans and desires to serve His purposes. What do you think Jesus might want you to do today? What would help you remember He is God and Lord of all? What can you do to set aside some of the distractions that keep Him from being first in your life? It is really important that we make a plan to put into effect our commitment to Him.
What does it mean to worship God?
How do you commit to worship?
How can you offer your body as a living sacrifice?