True Worship

Some thoughts on "worship" after reading the book "Teaching Kids Authentic Worship" by Kathleen Chapman... 

Whenever we hear the word worship, we often think of the kind of worship that we may have experienced. This may entail singing a gospel song over and over or raising up our hands with tears streaming down our cheeks. However, worship is much more than these actions.

For us believers, we still remember the time when we made the decision to commit our lives to Jesus. We were definitely excited to grow in our relationship with God so we attended camps that resulted in “mountaintop experiences” or retreats that gave us a warm feeling all over. There were times when we would be stirred in our hearts to love God more after listening to a very good sermon. These wonderful feelings are usually equated with worship. Sadly, these things are not worship.

According to A.W. Tozer, “worship is to express in some appropriate  manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of our Father which art in heaven.” This simply means that worship is speaking or expressing God’s worth, and our responsibility to adore Him. It is not about music or singing, and it’s definitely not about us. It’s not about what we enjoy doing for Him.

Worship is more than just faithful service. It is more than just reading your Bible from cover to cover or singing loudly in a church service. Worship is focusing only on God and never thinking about ourselves. God is so awesome and wonderful that our prospects for worship are limitless. Nature alone already speaks of God’s greatness. Yet, there are still a myriad of other things around us that show us God’s grandeur.

Practicing true worship can bring us closer to God. It can bring us so close that nothing or no one can come between us and God. May we learn to practice worship in its true form, not focusing on ourselves but focusing on God alone.