Worship
Author: Dr. Jason Varghese
Category: Popular Read
Publish Date: Feb 9, 2011
Views: 19639
Why We Worship
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true wo rshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:23 The Father is not seeking worship itself, but worshipers. When we offer our worship to the Father it is not worship He seeks but the interactive relati onship with His children. In John 4:23, the word seeking s zeteo in the Greek. In its context it has the added connotation of require or demand. So our Father is requiring or demanding us to worship Him in spirit and truth.
Worship in Truth
In the simplest terms worship is giving back to God that which is rightfully His with a thankful heart. For example, God should be praised and thanked for His creation. He is the one that created it, and He made it for our enjoyment. How silly it would be for us to thank man for it. Yet we often try to take credit for things God is doing in our lives as if we are the ones solely responsible. All the blessing and glory and honor goes to God for everyth ing. Romans 12:1 states that even down to our very lives, we are to give all to God, and that giving to Him is our spiritual service of worship.
When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well in John chapter 4, He told her that God was seeking those people who would worship Him in Spirit and Truth. If we look into the Greek of the words Spirit and Truth, we can gain some insights into what I think Jesus was communicating.
Spirit actually means rushing wind. The word for spirit, pneuma means wind or spirit and is derived from the root word pneo, which means to blow and is a root word which is translated Spirit. Worshipping God in the spirit denotes worshipping under His influence or under His control. Basically the first criteria Jesus speaks of here is that a person have a relationship with God. That they have trusted in Gods work through Christ for salvation and that they are under His control.
Second, Jesus said that God is looking for people who will worship Him in Truth. The word truth here is aletheia which means true, and is derived from the word alethes which literally means to take notice. Jesus was saying that God is looking for His children to literally take notice of the truth about Himself.
Worship is specifically accomplished when those that know God, take notice of all that is true about God. Worship is grounded in truth! The more we know God the deeper our worship will take us. Our worship must never be based on anything except the truth of God. Those individuals that worship solely for the experience, to be noticed, to gain recognition, or for traditions sake are missing the true meaning of worship.
What Worship is Not
Worship is not merely following a church program through the service. God contin ually looks to the heart of men to see if what is being offered to Him is genuine, and not some tradition that is performed for selfish reasons. Isaiah 29:13-14 reads: The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Theref ore once more will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligent of the intelligent will vanish.
The Need for Worship
At least here in the United States, poor planning and scheduling in our private lives has caused an ever increasing problem that robes us of our ability to thank God properly for what He has done. Our lives move so fast, and our schedules are so tight, that slowing down enough to focus on God and to praise Him for what He is accomplishing in our lives is almost impossible. There is a great need for intimacy with God on a daily basis. It is evident in the Psalms that David had an intimate relationship with God. Nearly every Psalm has some reference of praise or worship. A True WorshiperWorship isnt something you acquire, its something you experience. Becoming a true worshiper involves several charactristics aside from our praise and honor of God in a verbal and expressive manner. Because worship is synonymous with salvation, our lives must reflecton a daily basis Christ and His will for our lives. We must beinvolved in outreach (calling others to become worshipers), giving of our tithes and offerings, living lives that are holy and acceptable to God, following the commandments to love our neighbors as ourselves, and seeking to be all that God would have us be. Our lives must reflect Christ in all that we do. How can we give praise to God and hate our brother? Becoming a true worshiper is more than just what we do in our worship times and services itis a lifestyle of evangelism, growth, worship and praise, discipleship and giving of our time, talents, and resources. It is discovering who God made you to be, identifying your lifes mission and calling, and pursuing it with all you are.
Who Worship Applies to...
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord
The Meaning of the word- WORSHIP
W- orthy almighty Father, maker of heaven & earth
O- ffering something youre giving to God
R- ighteous He is the only one who is worthy
S- alvation its synony mous with salvation-our lives must reflect Him
H- eart of worship remembering its all about Him- Jesus Christ
I- ntercession time of personal intimacy between you & God
P- raise for everything & anything because he is our Provider & our Saviour
Conclusion
We should all worship God in truth & spirit with all our hearts, and keep a very close personal relationship with Him. That is all that God requires from us- to worship Him, that is why He created us, but at times we get wrapped up in minor things in our lives and forget to true heart of worship, which is all about Jesus and how we are nothing without Him. When we come to this realization then we will see a difference in our worship and a great change will happen in your life- that is realizing what real, pure worship is about.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true wo rshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:23 The Father is not seeking worship itself, but worshipers. When we offer our worship to the Father it is not worship He seeks but the interactive relati onship with His children. In John 4:23, the word seeking s zeteo in the Greek. In its context it has the added connotation of require or demand. So our Father is requiring or demanding us to worship Him in spirit and truth.
Worship in Truth
In the simplest terms worship is giving back to God that which is rightfully His with a thankful heart. For example, God should be praised and thanked for His creation. He is the one that created it, and He made it for our enjoyment. How silly it would be for us to thank man for it. Yet we often try to take credit for things God is doing in our lives as if we are the ones solely responsible. All the blessing and glory and honor goes to God for everyth ing. Romans 12:1 states that even down to our very lives, we are to give all to God, and that giving to Him is our spiritual service of worship.
When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well in John chapter 4, He told her that God was seeking those people who would worship Him in Spirit and Truth. If we look into the Greek of the words Spirit and Truth, we can gain some insights into what I think Jesus was communicating.
Spirit actually means rushing wind. The word for spirit, pneuma means wind or spirit and is derived from the root word pneo, which means to blow and is a root word which is translated Spirit. Worshipping God in the spirit denotes worshipping under His influence or under His control. Basically the first criteria Jesus speaks of here is that a person have a relationship with God. That they have trusted in Gods work through Christ for salvation and that they are under His control.
Second, Jesus said that God is looking for people who will worship Him in Truth. The word truth here is aletheia which means true, and is derived from the word alethes which literally means to take notice. Jesus was saying that God is looking for His children to literally take notice of the truth about Himself.
Worship is specifically accomplished when those that know God, take notice of all that is true about God. Worship is grounded in truth! The more we know God the deeper our worship will take us. Our worship must never be based on anything except the truth of God. Those individuals that worship solely for the experience, to be noticed, to gain recognition, or for traditions sake are missing the true meaning of worship.
What Worship is Not
Worship is not merely following a church program through the service. God contin ually looks to the heart of men to see if what is being offered to Him is genuine, and not some tradition that is performed for selfish reasons. Isaiah 29:13-14 reads: The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Theref ore once more will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligent of the intelligent will vanish.
The Need for Worship
At least here in the United States, poor planning and scheduling in our private lives has caused an ever increasing problem that robes us of our ability to thank God properly for what He has done. Our lives move so fast, and our schedules are so tight, that slowing down enough to focus on God and to praise Him for what He is accomplishing in our lives is almost impossible. There is a great need for intimacy with God on a daily basis. It is evident in the Psalms that David had an intimate relationship with God. Nearly every Psalm has some reference of praise or worship. A True WorshiperWorship isnt something you acquire, its something you experience. Becoming a true worshiper involves several charactristics aside from our praise and honor of God in a verbal and expressive manner. Because worship is synonymous with salvation, our lives must reflecton a daily basis Christ and His will for our lives. We must beinvolved in outreach (calling others to become worshipers), giving of our tithes and offerings, living lives that are holy and acceptable to God, following the commandments to love our neighbors as ourselves, and seeking to be all that God would have us be. Our lives must reflect Christ in all that we do. How can we give praise to God and hate our brother? Becoming a true worshiper is more than just what we do in our worship times and services itis a lifestyle of evangelism, growth, worship and praise, discipleship and giving of our time, talents, and resources. It is discovering who God made you to be, identifying your lifes mission and calling, and pursuing it with all you are.
Who Worship Applies to...
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord
The Meaning of the word- WORSHIP
W- orthy almighty Father, maker of heaven & earth
O- ffering something youre giving to God
R- ighteous He is the only one who is worthy
S- alvation its synony mous with salvation-our lives must reflect Him
H- eart of worship remembering its all about Him- Jesus Christ
I- ntercession time of personal intimacy between you & God
P- raise for everything & anything because he is our Provider & our Saviour
Conclusion
We should all worship God in truth & spirit with all our hearts, and keep a very close personal relationship with Him. That is all that God requires from us- to worship Him, that is why He created us, but at times we get wrapped up in minor things in our lives and forget to true heart of worship, which is all about Jesus and how we are nothing without Him. When we come to this realization then we will see a difference in our worship and a great change will happen in your life- that is realizing what real, pure worship is about.
Article Charts
Recent Comments
jm (February 18, 2024): A true child of God is not supposed to entangle himself in the affairs of this life (…
a. s. mathew (March 1, 2023): Well narrated about the recent revival started at Wilmore, Kentucky. America and the …
a. s. mathew (December 31, 2022): Met Pastor John Thomas as a young boy while his father Pastor A.T. Thomas was the Church …
pr. regimon jacob. c (September 28, 2021): Heartfelt condolences and prayers. May God comfort and strengthen the family.
philip cherukara family tn (April 25, 2021): Prayers and fond memories are what we have to remember our dearaly departed.Our heartfelt …
Connect With Us
Did you know that God gave the ten commandments and to keep it holy. He say that we should keep the Sabbath day holy ( ex.20:8 31:14)( Lk.4:16) ( matt.12:8)acts18:4, 17:2-3)20:12-12, 20:24-26, 22:26-27)( Matt.7:15) read the Hebrews chapter 4. We need to worship God on the Sabbath not on Sunday. We also need to celebrate the passover to have eternal life. Matt 26:26-29.