What is Worship?

It seems as of late I have spent an unusual amount of time preoccupied with "Worship." When asked what worship is, most peoples' minds would immediately fill with images of darkened churches, PowerPoint presentations with lyrics, bands playing the latest praise songs, and perhaps clapping or raised hands.

True worship goes far beyond the sanctuary- it extends past Sunday from week to week. Worship as God prescribes it is a heart attitude, a motivation behind every action, and a desire to glorify God in every action. It is a desire that is directed towards a known God, and is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end- the Creator of the universe.

Worship is my response to the Creator, it is me treasuring the things of God so highly that I will give everything I have in exchange for them. It’s an attitude that says, "whatever it takes for me to know and experience God, I will do."

Worship isn't about the music only (most of us think this is where worship begins and ends). We can worship God in prayer, in studying of His Word, in service to others, while listening to the sermon on Sunday morning, we are able to worship while we hang out with other believers and just fellowship with them, we can even worship while we give our tithes and offerings. So worship can literally take place at anytime and any where.

True worship isn't confined to the 20 minutes we give on Sundays with our four songs, true worship takes place all week long, all day everyday.

Sunday morning should be absolutely the best hour of our week because we are able to come together and corporately worship the Father. What really excites me about doing this is the promise... "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20. This means as we worship God through Word, Prayer, Service, Song, and Fellowship on Sunday (or whatever day you gather), He is there with us! Now that's exciting!

This is a worship video from ORU. I heard this performed live while I was on the campus and wanted to share it with you, hope and pray you enjoy it as much as I have.

Give Thanks

I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name

of the Lord Most High.

— P s a l m 7 : 1 7

From the very beginning of the book of Psalms, David gives thanks. Of all people in the Bible, David knew what it meant to experience trials of every kind. Remember he will be tempted with and fall victim to adultery, lying, and eventually murder. But he knew that one day he would be king of Israel. But while he was waiting to take the throne, he was a walking dead man.

King Saul, the current king of Israel, had a hit out on David. Even though Saul had watched David defeat Goliath and save the Israelites from the Philistines and was soothed by David’s skills on the harp, Saul knew that the Lord had rejected him as king and that David was to be next in line (see 1 Samuel 16:1).

So David hid. In mountains, caves, enemy towns, and any place that Saul’s men wouldn’t find him. For me, this means no BlackBerry service, no laptop, no cushy job, food to eat, Starbucks, or warm place to live. Can you imagine? And yet David still praised Jesus and still became the next king of Israel.

Today and every day start by giving thanks. The same God who spared David’s life can and will spare yours too.

Just simply pray this prayer:

Dear King Jesus, You are worthy of praise. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Help see us through our trials from the moment they make us hide to the moment we begin walking in freedom again. By the power of your name we pray. Amen.

To Read Further: Psalm 30:12; 75:1