TRUE WORSHIP

“True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worshiper him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24, ESV).

Many contemporary churches have unwittingly damaged their congregants by not teaching them to worship. People need to be taught the value of worship and how to enter into worship, and the worship leaders need to actually lead rather than perform. True worship prepares the heart to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word. Those who are not taught how to enter into worship leave church with an appreciation of good music but with much less of the Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives than they should have.

Carol and I have visited several contemporary churches in our area and it is our observation that about 75-80 percent of the crowd does not participate during worship. They watch, they listen and then they do nothing else. So little instruction comes from the leaders that most people literally have no idea how to enter into worship, so they don’t, and they fail to gain the help and blessing that worship was intended to bring.

True worship is not about style—it’s not about performance—it’s not about how tight the worship band is or how energetic the musicians are. True worship is not Pentecostal or Baptist; it’s not liturgical; it’s not Black gospel. No, it is not just one of the above or it may be all of the above. True worship is an act of humility and adoration as we acknowledge who He is, His greatness, and His place in our lives.

In ancient times when a subject came into the presence of a monarch, he came humbly and bowed low. The monarch indicated his acceptance and pleasure by stretching forth his hand or scepter. So it is when we come into God’s presence; we come humbly and yet with the confidence of knowing that He has invited us.

We approach God with humility, as we understand we don’t deserve to be there. It is highly inappropriate for us to charge into God’s presence and act as though we are His equals and He should be glad we showed up. We should come boldly, but there is a big difference between being bold and being arrogant. Arrogance finds its genesis in pride—and pride finds its genesis in hell. Boldness is the quiet confidence that says, “I am a child of God and He has invited me to be here.”

True worship is both the gateway to the road of success and the foundation upon which the Word and the Holy Spirit can build your life. True worship prepares the soil of our hearts to receive the Word of the Lord and the ministry of the Spirit.

The story in John 4 of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman is remarkable on several counts. First, the fact that a Jewish man was talking to a Samaritan woman was extraordinary, as this just did not happen in ancient days. The Jews and the Samaritans disliked each other intensely and Jewish men did not talk to Samaritan women! Second, the accuracy with which Jesus displayed what we would call “the word of knowledge” about the woman’s promiscuous life was noteworthy. Jesus talked openly about her multiple marriages and the fact that the man she was with was not her husband.

In verse 19 the stunned woman says, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship” (John 4:19-20, ESV). She posed a legitimate question from a hungry heart: “Where is the correct place to worship?” Jesus never clearly answered her because that question is a dead-end road—there is no correct place to worship! Instead, Jesus went to the heart of the issue and established the kind of worship that the Father responds to: “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Wherever God’s people are and wherever worship is done in spirit and in truth is the right place for worship!

God is pure Spirit and the worship that He delights in is spiritual worship, the sacrifice of a humble, contrite, grateful and adoring child. This sincere heart-devotion, whenever and wherever it is found, is the worship that God delights in and accepts. This is true worship!

The word spirit as used here stands in opposition to rites and ceremonies—external worship. Spiritual worship is the offering of the heart and soul. Truth is speaking of the access which we have been granted through Jesus Christ, who is TRUTH.

It’s time to worship!