The Expression of Worship
“We are a church body who places a high value on the presence of God.”
It is impossible to enjoy and engage with the presence of God if we don’t have an authentic and Biblical expression of praise and worship naturally flowing from our hearts.
John 4:19-26, The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father… 23 But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know when the Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Notice Jesus didn't say the Father is looking for worship. He said the Father is looking for worshipers.
Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord…”
When was the last time you stood in awe of God’s presence?
1. Worshiper who continually delights themselves in Him
“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.” —A.W. Tozer
Revelation 4:10-11, The twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, 11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For You created all things, and they exist because You created what You pleased.”
Revelation 5:11-12, "Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. To receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
We get our English word for worship from the Latin word, “worth-ship.”
2. Worshiper who never forgets His worth
One things that hinders us from remembering God’s worth, is when we fall into the trap of over exaggerating our worth.
Revelation 7:11, All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God…
Worship means; "to stoop down or to make oneself low, to bow down as an act of submission and reverence.”
Psalm 95:6, Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Psalm 99:5, Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool—He is holy.
Matthew 2:11, And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.
Matthew 28:9, And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
"No doubt a major problem that debilitates our worship is pride. Pride is probably the greatest hindrance to worship. Pride has ruined far more worship services than all the forces of hell combined. It is pride that gravitates toward conservative, low-key worship, because the ego is never fed by all-out worship. It is pride that restrains us from lifting our voices without fear in the congregation. Pride will rob us of the joy and release that comes when we dance or lift our hands or bow in the presence of the Lord. Pride will incarcerate us in a self-conscious prison of spiritual bondage. Pride comes up with excuses such as 'Well, that's just not my style of praise.' And Pride never takes the blame or acknowledges the fault.
The very essence of worship is self-abasement and humility. Worship is the humbling of self and the exalting of God. We have developed the remarkable ability, however, to worship the Lord without sacrificing our own sophistication. Pride is highly susceptible to peer pressure in worship. We tend to be more concerned about the opinions of others than we are about the Lord's opinion."
3. Worshiper who has a heart of humility
Job 1:20, "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship."
“The heart of God loves a persevering worshipper who, though overwhelmed by many troubles, is overwhelmed even more by the beauty of God.” —Matt Redman
“We can always find a reason to praise. Situations change for better and for worse, but God’s worth never changes.” —Matt Redman
4. Worshiper who isn’t led by their emotions
“I love to say that not only is the throne room of God a place of reverence, it’s always a place of refuge. So when everything else in life seems to be shifting, or breaking and shaking apart, there’s a place that is always stable, safe, and constant. When we draw near to God in worship and approach His throne, we tap into that. It’s a very reassuring place, where we’re reminded that there’s a God on His throne, and even when we don’t understand everything, we can trust in Him.”