“Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be His sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights His heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.” Romans 12:2 TPT
What comes to mind when you hear the word “worship?” In Western society, worship is thought of as a religious ritual of singing songs, sometimes with arms raised, perhaps some dancing or waving of banners, celebrating who God is, all that He’s done, and all that he’s given. Actually, that describes praise. The Hebrew words for praise (“halal” and “yadah”) mean to sing, glorify, confess, give thanks, and praise. It’s also a picture of declaring His excellencies in the congregation and to the nations. It’s magnifying and exalting His name.
The Hebrew understanding of worship is more than singing, though. The Biblical words for worship (“shachah” and “proskyneo”) mean to make oneself low, to bow down before another and show honor, respect, or reverence. Worship is a humble surrender of my heart to One who is superior. It’s a position of reverent fear and awe, prostrating myself to acknowledge majesty and lordship. There’s nothing passive, indifferent, or complacent about worship. It’s not done with coffee cup in one hand, and swaying to the music. It’s a rending of the heart in sold-out surrender. It’s an entwining of a heart with His.
When I make room for God and position myself in an attitude of true worship, I invite His presence to fall. I open myself up to receive a fresh revelation of His glory. When I behold God in His holiness, I recognize my unholiness and welcome His cleansing, filling, anointing, and commissioning. Worship is meant to be a divine encounter where the supernatural occurs, and I am transformed by the revelation of His glory.
Worship requires taking my eyes off of myself, dethroning idols, and becoming undone before Him. It’s letting go of anything that hinders my walk with Him – anything that I’ve allowed to come between us. It’s giving Him access to my heart, to break, shape, and make me more like Jesus. It’s more than a church service; it’s a lifestyle of communing with Him. It’s believing His Word and obeying it. It’s a choice to run the race marked out for me, keeping my eyes on Jesus, no matter what’s going on around me. It’s living in sweet surrender and dependence on Him. It’s leaning not on my own understanding but acknowledging Him in all my ways, letting Him direct my paths. It’s loving unconditionally, forgiving freely, and delighting myself in Him. It’s making it my aim to please Him in all that I say and do. It’s giving Him permission to prune, discipline, and correct me to keep my heart aligned with His. True worship costs me something. It’s sacrificial. It’s putting myself on the altar and purposing to walk in holiness, co-labor with Him, and experience all that delights His heart.
Jesus gave a scathing rebuke to the religious leaders of His time saying, “These people honor me only with their words, for their hearts are so very distant from Me. They pretend to worship Me, but their worship is nothing more than the empty traditions of men.” Matthew 15:8-9 TPT He told the woman at the well, “God is a Spirit, and He longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore Him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24 TPT) Let’s bring Him more than a song. Let’s be done with empty worship. Let’s get low, give Him our hearts and worship Him in spirit and in truth. He is worthy of it all.
“Abba Father, forgive me for thinking that worship is just about singing songs. I bow before You and offer myself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to You. I want to make room for You. Be pleased to inhabit my praise and f ill me with Your Spirit. Entwine my heart with Yours, and lead me in the good works prepared in advance for me to walk in. Have Your way in me. I am Yours.”
Lisa Moore